Now, though, it is only the evening before the day. Johnston and Beauregard meet with their corps-commanders By the wagon-cut Pittsburg road. The march has been slow. The marching men have been noisy and hard to manage. By every rule of war, Grant must have been warned Long before now, and is planning an ambush for them. They are being marched into an open Union trap. So Beauregard thinks and says⁠—and is perfectly right According to rules. There is only one difficulty. There is no ambush. Sherman has just reported The presence of enemy troops in front of his lines But says he expects nothing more than some picket-firing And Grant that evening telegraphs General Halleck, “I have scarcely the faintest idea of an attack.”

So much for the generals. Beauregard makes his point And is overruled. The April night comes down. The butternut men try to get some sleep while they can. They are to be up and fighting by five in the morning.