As Alex Doiron marched along with the rest of the 5th Louisiana infantry he thought to himself; “This isn’t as fun as I thought it would be”. In spite of the fact that he was wearing new socks and fairly comfortable shoes, his feet hurt and it felt like there was a blister forming under the ball of the big toe of his left foot. Added to this was the fact that he was sweating profusely and that even at nineteen his back hurt from carrying his gear, not to mention his rifle sling was digging into his right shoulder. All of this made him very discouraged.
Back home when the news came that Louisiana had seceded from the Union, many of the young men in West Baton Rouge Parish rushed to join the 5th La. The unit was formed by Fontaine Duplessis, a wealthy planter who owned a large plantation in the area. Funding the unit mainly from his own resources and with help from the wealthy fathers of some of the boys, he organized the unit into companies, they elected officers, and headed to Camp Moore in Tangipahoa Parish for training.
That was months ago. Since then they had marched, drilled, camped and performed grueling tasks such as digging trenches and building fortifications at places they had never heard of. All of this made Alex and his fellow soldiers wonder if they would ever see combat, also known as “Seeing the Elephant”. Eventually, at the end of a long day, they bivouacked for the night.
The next morning, to the excitement and relief of the 5th, they received orders to march as quickly as possible to Corinth, Ms. to join the newly formed Army of Mississippi in an attempt to halt a Union force, headed to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River in southwest Tennessee. “Yes!” said Alex to Jean Benoit, his best friend since they were children, “Now we get to do what we joined to do”. (Alex and Jean were the only children of their respective parents because the other children had died of disease.
Being lonely, they became best friends, or more accurately, like brothers.) “Why are you so anxious to go and get shot at?” “You always were the timid one hey Jean?” “I prefer the word “cautious” he answered. “Well” said Alex,” I don’t relish the thought of being shot at, but I do relish the thought of showing the Yankees what we’re made of!” “What are we made of?” Alex looked at Jean and angrily said; “If you don’t know who you are or why you are here, maybe you should have stayed home!”
Regretting the words as they came out of his mouth. “Maybe so” mumbled Jean as he walked away, hurt that Alex would speak to him in that manner. “Easy” said Theodore Besson, one of Alex and Jean’s friends from home, as he approached. “He will do fine”. “Maybe” sighed Alex, “But right now I’m regretting what I said and I need to apologize”. He headed to the camp fire where Jean was sulking. “Jean, I’m sorry for what I said. I got angry when, what you asked, made me think you were not with me in this thing”. “Are you with me?” “Yes, you should know that I am”.
Sighing again Alex said “Well, I do now, please forgive me for doubting you”. After a pause Jean said “Sure, all is forgiven”. The two boys shook hands, and went to eat breakfast. Soon after, the 5th headed out, and after a long hard march of several days they arrived at Corinth, and joining the rest of the units, left for what they called Shiloh. (The Union called the place Pittsburg Landing).
The morning found them at a quickly improvised Mass and after that, they ate breakfast. Soon they were ordered to form with the rest of the Army of Mississippi for an assault on the Union position, beginning at 6 A.M. Jean was very nervous, but Alex was anxious and excited. “Here we go!” yelled Alex. “Um, yeah” said Jean. As soon as all was ready, the order was given to advance. The attack was a complete surprise to the Yankees. There was nothing but confusion as many ran while others tried to organize against the attack. All in all, the Union army was being pushed to the river by the force of the Confederate assault. “Look at um run!” yelled Jean. Alex didn’t hear him because he was screaming at the top of his lungs, and because the sound of the battle was deafening. He was sure he had hit one of the enemy because he had aimed and fired his rifle at one, and the man fell to the ground. This excited him into a frenzy, he reloaded, fired again and ran forward. Jean had not yet fired his rifle, forgetting to do so because he was focused on the chase.
Around 9 A.M. a portion of the Union army organized a stubborn resistance at what is called the Sunken Road. Several assaults by the Confederates proved futile against it at a great cost to them. (The bullets were flying so thick and fast, that the Confederates said it sounded like hornets buzzing by their ears. That confrontation would be known later as “The Hornet’s Nest”). Jean and Alex took part in several of these assaults, their excitement quickly fading as they experienced and witnessed the fruits of intense combat for the first time.
They saw what cannon and rifle shots do to the human body in stark, gory detail. They saw and heard men screaming, fighting like animals just to survive. The men on both sides engaged in a hellish ordeal that just didn’t seem real, or even possible. It all seemed so inhuman to them. Finally, after a concentrated artillery barrage on the Union position, it fell and the Confederates took the field. As Jean and Alex headed back to their own line, severely traumatized, exhausted, and dirty, sick to their stomachs, they spotted a familiar form on the ground.
It was Theodore Besson. He had been shot in the stomach and was moaning in great pain, mumbling something about wanting to go home and calling for his mother. It was almost too much for them to bear. They did their best to get him to the makeshift hospital in the rear, but by the time they got him there, he was dead. At that moment the war became even more real and very personal for them. As they both stared at Theodore’s lifeless body, Jean said, “Alex?” “Yeah?” “Remember you said you wanted to show the Yankees what we were made of?” “Well” responded Alex, “Didn’t we?” “We sure did. But it seems they showed Theodore what they are made of”. Alex slowly turned, looked at Jean, bowed his head and walked away. Alex Doiron had seen the Elephant.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.