April 4, 1862

April 4, 1862: On the road to Shiloh, the Confederates are having a tough time. Heavy rains lash the columns and make the roads impassable for wagons and artillery. Also, the confusing array of highways lead to confusion and blocked routes. Johnston and Beauregard decide that an attach on the morrow, April 5, is impossible. The troops camp where they are.

—Alexander G. Downing, an infantryman in the Army of the Tennessee, under Grant, writes in his diary:
Friday, 4th—It rained and hailed this afternoon, and by night it got very warm. We were ordered under arms at 6 p. m., and we formed a hollow square on the parade ground. We remained in line until 10 o’clock, when we were ordered back to our tents. It was reported out in front that the rebels were advancing in force from Corinth, but at 10 o’clock the word came that they had bivouacked for the night.

—Josiah Marshall Favill, an officer in the Army of the Potomac, writes of his division’s advance deeper into Virginia, and how the Virginian people behave in inconsistent ways towards the dreaded Yankees:
On the 25th, we marched to Warrenton Junction, meeting with no resistance, the cavalry alone doing a little skirmishing. Blenker’s division of Germans marched with us, and appeared to be a bad lot of fellows, without order or discipline. . . . This advance to Warrenton has been a regular romance, brilliant weather, enemy running away, plenty to eat, and as we are now accustomed to sleeping in the open air, we all feel well, and enjoyed it immensely. We remained in and about Warrenton until the 1st of April, having our headquarters at a fine large mansion house, still occupied by the ladies of the family. We spent the evenings in the parlor, with the young women, who entertained us with rebel songs and music. They were very rebellious, but quite delighted with the attention they received from so many of us; besides we stocked their larder, supplied them with coffee, tea, sugar, placed guards over their barns and stock, and in many other important respects, greatly benefited them. Nearly all the inhabitants had fled, those remaining being exclusively women and superannuated men. These Southern men, although heaping most outrageous abuse upon the Northern armies, seem to have no fear for their wives and daughters, whom they leave behind in charge of their property with apparent confidence, which proves that they do not really believe what they say about us. A little politeness on the part of these women invariably brings safety to their fences, horses, and barns, and a full supply of coffee, sugar, and tea, which in the confederacy are already an expensive luxury.