Part of the Collection:
"The ball is in motion." Sunday, April 6, 6 a.m. - noon
It's 6 a.m., and you're just sitting down to eat breakfast when you hear cannon fire in the distance. Drop your fork -- it's time to get moving.
(You might want to say something cool and official at this point, like, "Gentlemen, the ball is in motion. Let's be off." That's what Grant did before he boarded his riverboat, the Tigress, and headed up the Tennessee River.)
Now you're at Pittsburg Landing. It's 8 a.m. and things don't look so good. Most of your troops have never been in battle before -- and they're acting like it. Some are wandering around in confusion. Others are running and hiding near the river. When Union general William T. Sherman asks one private why he is running away, the man shouts, "Because I can't fly!"
Check out the map to find out what the Rebel forces are doing.
Buell's force and Wallace's division should show up soon. The question is: how soon?
Things are getting ugly. What are your orders, General?
A - Order an immediate retreat
B - Organize the men into defensive lines.
My American Experience
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