urst out of the woods so early that Union soldiers came out of their tents to fight. The Confederate army drove the Yankees back eight miles that day. One area that was especially troublesome for the South was nicknamed the Hornet’s Nest and was commanded by Union General Prentiss. The area was a sunken road that Federal troops rallied behind and mowed down wave after wave of Rebel attackers until General Prentiss finally surrendered. The Hornet’s Nest got its name from Southern soldiers who reported that the sound of bullets and mini-balls flying through the air sounded like hornets. Prentiss fought, as he states, until "half-past five P.M., when finding that further resistance must result in the slaughter of every man in the command, I (2)had to yeild the fight. The enemy succeeded in capturing myself and two thousand two hundred rank and file, many of them being wounded" (The Rebellion Record, 1865 p 258). Prentiss was captured along with 2200 Union troops. In an interview with General Beauregard after being captured, General Prentiss stated concerning the Union Army at Pittsburg "I am afraid that all of our men will be taken" (New Orleans, Times-Picayune, 1862). When a bystander asked him about General Buell he stated "Buell is not coming here, and if any forces are on the way they must be very small. I know nothing of them" (New Orleans, Times-Picayune, 1862). Both sides had suffered devastating losses and injuries. That evening soldiers from both armies wash their wounds in a small lake. The pond took on a red tint from the troops blood loss. From then on, it was known as Bloody Pond. The South suffered a terrible loss at 2:30 in the afternoon of April 6, 1862. General Albert Sydney Johnston bled to death from a bullet wound to his leg. Beauregard sent a telegram to Jefferson Davis stating "Loss on both sides heavy including our Commander in Chief, General A.S. Johnston (3)who fell gallantly leading his troops into ...
