He also had the forethought to send word to the general in his rear to close up the gap between him and the next general in the line.

Then he shifted one of his own brigades until there was a ravine in front of it to protect his men, and he hurried a battery to his flank.
Never was Napoleon's maxim that men are nothing, a man is everything, more justified, and never did the genius of Sherman shine more brilliantly than on that morning.

It was he, alone, cool of mind and steady in the face of overwhelming peril, who first faced the Southern rush.

He inspired his troops with his own courage, and, though pale of face, they bent forward to meet the red whirlwind that was rushing down upon them.
Like a blaze running through dry grass the battle extended in almost an instant along the whole front, and the deep woods were filled with the roar of eighty thousand men in conflict.

And Grant, as at Donelson, was far away.
The thunder and blaze of the battle increased swiftly and to a frightful extent.