But he, himself, did not reach the field of Shiloh until 10 o'clock, when the fiercest battle yet known on the American continent had been raging for several hours.
Grant and his staff, as they rode away from his headquarters, heard the booming of cannon in the direction of Shiloh.

Some of them thought it was a mere skirmish, but it came continuously, like rolling thunder, and their trained ears told them that it rose from a line miles in length.
One seeks to penetrate the mind of a commanding general at such a time, and see what his feelings were.

Again the battle had been joined, and was at its height, and he away! Those trained ears told him also that the rolling thunder of the cannon was steadily moving toward them.

It could mean only that the Northern army had been driven from its camp and that the Southern army was pushing its victory to the utmost.

In those moments his agony must have been intense.