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In the aftermath of the Battle of Shiloh, many veterans recounted their experiences of the battle in letters to loved ones back home. One such veteran was George W. Squier, 44th Indiana Infantry.
The Hoosier soldiers were assigned to the division of Brig. Gen. Stephen Hurlbut, and took part in the ferocious fighting in Sarah Bell’s Peach Orchard. Of the 478 men who entered battle on the morning of April 6, 1862, 34 were killed and 177 wounded.
In a detailed letter to his wife, Ellen, he recounts his part in the battle:
“Right here you may wish to know how I ‘stood fire.’ I will tell you while laying on the ground and just before we recd. order to fire I simply breathed faith: ‘Ever kind Father preserve me.’
“Right here you may wish to know how I ‘stood fire.’ I will tell you while laying on the ground and just before we recd. order to fire I simply breathed faith: ‘Ever kind Father preserve me.’
“When I arose and the firing [began I] was as cool and composed as if sitting down for a chat or shooting squirrells. The bullets whistles over our heads, shells bursting all around us, balls whizzing past, tearing trees, etc.”
![“When I arose and the firing [began I] was as cool and composed as if sitting down for a chat or shooting squirrells. The bullets whistles over our heads, shells bursting all around us, balls whizzing past, tearing trees, etc.”](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVB6GZ0WkAInuDj.jpg "“When I arose and the firing [began I] was as cool and composed as if sitting down for a chat or shooting squirrells. The bullets whistles over our heads, shells bursting all around us, balls whizzing past, tearing trees, etc.”")
The above wartime sketch depicts the 44th Indiana’s fight in the Peach Orchard. Squier continues:
“We had taken position on quite a raise of ground. There were few trees and no underbrush either in front or rear, and we were in full view of the enemy...
“We had taken position on quite a raise of ground. There were few trees and no underbrush either in front or rear, and we were in full view of the enemy...
...exposed to the most deadly fire from infantry and artillery. Here is where fell many, very many of the brave sons of Indiana. We held our position for hours, advancing and retreating by turns until about 4 o’clock, when the enemy succeeded in a planting a battery...
...to our left and a little in the rear. When we were subject to a most deadly crossfire besides the fire in front, this was moore than even Indiana valor could withstand, and we were ordered to retreat.”
An official perspective from division commander Hurlbut:
“For five hours these brigades maintained their position under repeated and heavy attacks, and endeavored, with their thin ranks, to hold the space between Stuart and McClernand...”
“For five hours these brigades maintained their position under repeated and heavy attacks, and endeavored, with their thin ranks, to hold the space between Stuart and McClernand...”
When ordered to retire from their position, the withdrawal was covered by two 20-pounders, who, by Gen. Hurlbut’s estimation, kept the attacking rebels at bay for close to half an hour.
The story of George Squier’s Civil War service is well told by him in his collected letters, published by the University of Tennessee Press in 1998 as “The Wilderness of War: The Civil War Letters of George W. Squier, Hoosier.”
