This  state  of  afiairs  continued,  until  the  treasonable  speech  of
some  of  the  Southern  women  residing  in  Chicago,  who  were
freely  admitted  to  see  and  comfort  their  friends,  obliged  the


APPENDIX.  455

months  before  the  appearance  of  Swintoh's  twelve  decisive
battles  of  the  war,  and  his  view  of  its  magnitude  and  im-
portance is  fully  confirmed  by  -those  taking  part  in  it.  He
writes:

"The  Union  forces,  on  their  part,  without  seeking
to  conceal  their  chagrin  over  the  first  day's  battle,  justly
claimed  victory  in  the  second.  Accordingly,  thanksgivings
went  up  all  over  the  North  for  the  timely  arrival  of  Buell,
and  his  final  repulse  of  the  Confederate  army ;  and  never
was  gratitude  for  what  seemed  a  providential  interposition
more  fittingly  rendered.
"It  was  not,  however,  until  much  later,  that  the  true
import  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh  was  discovered,  and  it  was
found  that  the  immediate  revelations  of  the  battle-field  were
of  small  consequence  compared  with  subsequent  develop-
ments. In  order  to  comprehend  the  full  significance  of
Shiloh,  we  must  know,  on  the  one  hand,  the  great  Confed-
erate possibilities  which  were  forever  buried  on  that  field,
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  great  Union  actualities  which
thence  took  rise  and  grew  to  maturity."

See  page  429.
This  statement  concerning  the  battle  of  Mission  Bidge  is
fully  confirmed  in  Gen.  Grant's  official  report,  which  says:

**  These  troops  moved  forward,  drove  the  enemy  from  the
rifie-pits  at  the  base  of  the  ridge,  like  bees  from  a  hive,
stopped  but  a  moment,  until  the  whole  were  in  line,  and
commenced  the  ascent  of  the  mountain  from  right  to  left,
almost  simultaneously,  foUotoing  closely  the  retreating  enemy
without  farther  orders.    They  encountered  a  volley  of  grape


^  M9  THE   BOTS   IN  BLUE.
