Two Days at Shiloh in Corp. Newlands’ Words

John B. Newlands was 10 when his family arrived in Quincy
in 1850. Both his parents, Dr. James B. and Jessie Barland Newlands, were born
in Scotland, came to America in the 1830s, and first lived in Troy, New York. They
moved to Kentucky, Mississippi, and Missouri, before coming to Quincy. Alcoholism
caused his death in 1851, leaving Jessie with five children and little money. She later married Eben Moore. The well-to-do Moore,
Quincy’s first mayor, was an attorney turned banker.

The
Panic of 1857 saw Moore’s bank, like many others, fail. Years later

The Quincy Herald

explained that “the
commercial revulsion of 1857 involved him [Moore] in the common ruin. The
accumulations of a life time were swept from him in a day.” The combined family
remained in Quincy four more years, but eventually Moore “found it difficult to
provide for . . . his family.” Senator Browning aided Moore by obtaining a
position for him in the Treasury Department. The Newland/Moore family moved to Washington,
D.C.

Jessie’s
second son, John B., left Quincy in 1860 and was living in Polo, Ogle County,
Illinois when the War Between the States erupted. John enlisted in the local
company.

The Polo
men became Co. H, 15th Illinois Infantry and were sent to Missouri,
becoming part of the Federal effort to hold the state in the Union. But on Feb.
1, 1862, the regiment’s time in Missouri ended when the 15th became
part of Grant’s army capturing Forts Henry and Donelson. Grant wasted no time
following up on his victories and forwarded troops down the Tennessee River.

When Grant
assembled a force at Pittsburgh Landing to move on Corinth, Mississippi, the 15th
was one of the first to arrive there. Mostly unbeknownst to the Union troops at
Pittsburgh Landing, a Rebel army was also moving toward them and planning to
catch Grant by surprise—-which it did. The ensuing Battle of Shiloh was the
bloodiest encounter to date in the war.

Corp.
John B. Newlands’ letter to a friend, passed to the

Whig

, and was soon in print. Newlands articulated one man’s
observations of two days of hell. On May 10th the

Whig

editor prefaced the letter by
saying that “the detail of incidents and hair-breath escapes in the terrible
battle near Pittsburgh will possess a strong and personal interest.”

Newlands
began: “On Sunday . . . just as we had
finished eating our breakfast, we heard heavy firing . . . and knew by the
continuous firing that we were attacked by a large force. The ‘long roll’ was
immediately beaten, and we were formed in a line of battle. . . . An aid-de-camp rode up and we were soon on our
way to the scene of action. As we neared the battle-field the roar of artillery
and the rattling of musketry were almost deafening. I can hardly tell you what
my feelings were just then—-thoughts of home, thoughts of self, and a
determination to stand as long as anyone, [all] came crowding through my brain,
but [when] we were ordered to take our position, I forgot everything and only
waited to get a good sight at some rebel.”

“We had
hardly been in line ten minutes,” Newlands explained, “before the enemy charged
upon the battery in front of our regiment, and they, to save their pieces, ran,
and broke through our ranks, causing considerable confusion. . . .” To prevent
the 15th from stampeding too, Newlands wrote that our Colonel “drew
his sword, and swore that he would kill the first man that ran.”

The
regiment on the right of the 15th fled, leaving the 15th in
a crossfire. Looking for cover, Newlands found himself “standing behind a tree
with five others all strung out one behind each other …. loading and firing as quick
as possible.” He was not aware of the position he was in until the two just
behind him were shot dead, and the one in front of him was hit in the chest and
fell against him. Newlands kept the man
on his feet and began assisting him to the rear; when he looked about, he saw
“the enemy pouring in on all sides,” and what was left of the 15th
retreating.

Hours
later Newlands said that “our regiment again formed in line of battle, this
time nearly three miles farther back than where we fought in the morning,” and he
“heard one of our Generals say that if they whipped us here the day was lost.” It
was about 5 p.m.

The Union
held. Reinforcements arrived during the night. In the morning Grant attacked and
began driving the rebels back until they broke and withdrew.

“Our
brigade . . . was held as a reserve, and was not under fire until about 3 o’clock
in the afternoon, when the enemy endeavored to rally. . . . We were then
ordered to charge, and Gen. Grant led us himself,” Newland explained. This was
the only time he was excited commenting, “… was enough to excite one, three or
four thousand charging ‘double –quick’ and yelling like devils. My highest
ambition was to get my bayonet into the rear parts of some rebel and assist him
in his running, but they ran too fast; we couldn’t begin to catch up with them.
We run them for about two miles. . . . So
the battle of the 7th ended in enemy’s being completely routed.”

Newlands
summed up the letter by describing the close calls he had during the two-day
battle. A bullet passed through his canteen, lodging in his cartridge box.
Another went through his hat, and a third passed through the side of his coat. He
was not through. While hugging mother earth a grape shot struck nearby,
spattering dirt all over him and buried itself in a tree behind him. Another shell
burst over him cutting the branches off the tree he was behind.

Newlands
would become his company’s first lieutenant. When his 3-year enlistment was up,
he left the army, mustering out on July 1, 1864. He then joined his family in
Washington, D.C. where he died on March 31, 1871.

Sources

Asbury, Henry,

Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois

.
Quincy, Illinois: D. Wilcox & Sons,
Printers,

1882.

“The Battle of Shiloh.”

The Quincy Whig

, May 10, 1862, 1.

Guide to the Barland Family Papers, 1825-2003

. University of Wisconsin, Eau
Claire,

Illinois Civil War Muster
and Descriptive Rolls Detail Report, Illinois State Archives.

https:/

A Newlands Family Tree

. Chevy Chase Historical Society,

.

Obendorf, Betty and
Pasch, Kathy,

The Gallant 15th
of Illinois, History of a Civil War Volunteer

Regiment

. Polo, Illinois: Historical Society, 2019.

The Quincy Daily Herald

. November 13, 1862.

The Quincy Daily Herald

. December 26, 1862.

Rowley, Williams D.

Reclaiming the Arid West, The Career of
Francis G. Newlands

, Bloomington,

Indiana: Indiana
University Press, 1996.