After a second messenger from Grant arrived around noon with word to move out, Wallace's division of approximately 5,800 men began their march toward the battlefield.Stephens, pp. 82, 87. Between 2 and 2:30 p.m., Colonel William R. Rowley, sent by Grant, rode to where Wallace's division first was; there was only a supply wagon departing the scene. Riding on further, Rowley found Wallace along the Shunpike road at the head of his column near Clear Creek, positioned on high ground. He informed Wallace that Sherman had been forced back from Shiloh Church and was fighting closer to the river, near Pittsburg Landing. Grant had ordered Rowley to "tell him to come up at once" and that "if he should require a written order of you, you will give it to him at once".Stephens, pp. 87–88; Boomhower, pp. 60–61.Richardson, 1885 p. 243 Rowley pulled Wallace off to the side and warned him of the danger that lay just ahead, exclaiming, "Don't you know that Sherman has been driven back? Why, the whole army is within half a mile of the river, and it's a question if we are not all going to be driven into it." Wallace, stunned by the news, sent his cavalry ahead to assess the situation, and upon returning, it had confirmed Rowley's claim.Groom, 2012, p. 305 The Union army had been pushed back so far that Wallace was heading toward the rear of the advancing Southern troops.
