I've seen the elephant. Last week, Gen. Johnston 
gathered his army near Pittsburg Landing, Tenn.  
The scouts located the Union army, and the day
before yesterday we attacked at a place called 
Shiloh's Church.  At first, I thought the Yanks 
were going to turn tail and run like they did at 
Bull Run. A couple of units did take off and on 
the 6th, it looked like we had a great victory.  
I've got to hand it to those Yanks.  They came 
back the next day and gave as good as they got.  
We had to retreat from the battle in the end.

Don't let anyone tell you war is glory.  We lost 
15 men from our company with about 30 wounded.  
War is death, and pain, and being scared.  It's
having men fall around you while you stand, load, 
and shoot until your musket blisters the palm of 
your hand.  It's hearing musket balls whiz by 
your ear sounding like big bees, or seeing a 
cannon ball hit and roll through a group of men 
before it explodes.  It's listening to men cry 
for help and not being able to help them.  I went 
out at night with several others and picked up 
wounded that first night.  I hope I never again 
have to do some of the things I did yesterday, 
or see so many friends killed or hurt!  

After the first day, we lost Gen. Johnston.  
General  G.P.T. Beauregard took command in his 
place.  We did  the best we could, but I hear 
we lost over 10,000  fightin men in those two 
days.  With so many men gone,  the chain of 
command got real confused sometimes.  The Yanks 
must have some reinforcements, because a lot of 
the fellers coming at us yesterday had clean 
uniforms, and the companies were full strength.  

The Yanks must have lost a bunch of men too, 
because they weren't too eager to press us too 
hard when we fell back from the battle ground.  
I know one thing, a lot of good men from both 
sides will not be going home after yesterday.  

If the Yanks keep fighting the way they did at 
Shiloh, this is going to be a longer war than I 
figured.  Right now, I just hope we can get a 
little rest before we have to fight another 
battle.  We've been in a couple of small fights 
with Yank companies since the battle, and heard 
other small fights goin on. Nothing big has 
developed, however, and I guess the Yankees are 
just be-deviling us to keep us on edge.  We will 
withdraw south and regroup.

As soon as I get the chance, I'm gonna write 
another letter to Elizabeth and tell her I'm 
alright and how much I love her.  After the last 
couple of days, my family means more than I ever 
thought possible.  I just hope I live through all 
of this and get back home.