Civil War Journal: Ruffed Grouses

April 7, 1862

The rest of Delta company arrived today. Benjamin, Chance and Ethan were all exhausted but ready to put up a stiff resistance. At 5:30 AM, we got into position and scared the Confederates stiff with the shots of our rifles. It took most of the day, but we eventually recaptured the Hornet's Nest after much fierce fighting. The ground was littered with the dead and dying. Many times I crossed paths with a Confederate trying to lift his gun and shoot at one of our men only to be shot back and killed. I heard the tragic story that General William Hervey Lambe Wallace had been fatally shot in the head and I had a bad feeling he was going to expire very soon. Our ranks soon regrouped and held off repeated attempts by the Johnny Rebs to push us back. Eventually, they scattered and ran for the border of Mississippi. We didn't pursue since our primary objective was to just retake the camps captured the previous day. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the gruesome sight that came next. About 8 of our ranks were killed and 2 were severely injured. One had a minié ball shot through his hand but miraculously wasn't expended while the other tragically had a shot go through his right leg and had to have immediate amputation. I noticed the limbs of other dead soldiers literally piled up and it was somewhat of a sickening sight yet for some reason I could not look away. All I can say for sure is that the 4 of us made it through unscathed and I pray that the same thing will happen to us every time. We then received our new orders from General Buell: we were to remain garrisoned at Pittsburgh Landing until further notice. I just hoped we wouldn't miss the big attack into Mississippi.