No sound, much fury at the Battle of Iuka.

As Confederate General Braxton Bragg headed into his campaign in Kentucky, he worried Union General William Rosencrans in Mississippi might come north to join with Union forces in middle Tennessee. To prevent that, he ordered Confederate General Sterling Price to advance on the Union storehouses at Iuka, where the Union commander (later court-martialed) simply set fire to the supplies and marched his men away. Price’s army rushed in to save valuable rations and ordinance, while a furious Grant decided to strike immediately. He sent General E.O.C. Ord from the west and General Rosencrans from the southwest, but because he wanted a coordinated attack, he gave Ord the command to hold his charge until he heard the sound of Rosencrans’ army engaging.

On the next day, and well into a brutal night, Rosencrans did engage with Price, in fighting that intense by all accounts. But, incredibly, because of a north wind that blew toward Iuka, a so-called “acoustical shadow” that swallowed the sound, Ord’s men stood by idly, hearing nothing, as only a short distance away the fighting raged. Eventually, Price’s army was able to slip away and join General Earl Van Dorn, now planning a strike to retake Corinth.