DK - The American Civil War

Born in Kentucky, Johnston fought against

Mexico as a general in the Texan Army

and the U.S. Army. He was commander

of the Pacific Department in California

when the Civil War broke out, making a

hazardous crossing of the southwest to

join the Confederacy. Much admired by

President Davis, he was appointed a full

general and commander of the Western

Department. Although the loss of forts

Henry and Donelson had harmed his

reputation, his death at Shiloh was still

a blow to the Confederate cause.

I

n the run-up to the battle, Grant was

culpably complacent. The Union

encampment among creeks and

swamps at Pittsburg Landing was not

protected by field fortifications, one

Union division under Lew Wallace was

positioned 5 miles (8km) away from

the rest, and Grant’s headquarters were

even farther away, at Savannah. The

march of 42,000 Confederates from

Corinth was slow and ill-conducted, but

Union commanders failed to detect the

threat of an imminent attack. The first

of Buell’s troops reached Savannah on

April 5, but there was no rush to move

them to Pittsburg Landing.

Dawn attack

At first light on April 6 the Confederates

attacked, achieving almost total surprise.

The brunt of the onslaught was borne by

two previously unblooded divisions under

generals William T. Sherman and

Benjamin M. Prentiss. Their hastily

improvised response bought the Union

forces time and averted a rout. Grant

arrived from Savannah by steamboat

around 8:30 a.m. and found the position

on the 6-mile (10-km) wide battlefield

desperate. Many raw troops had fled the

battle, cowering along the riverbank.

Leaving Sherman in control of the Union

defense on the right flank, Grant ordered

Prentiss to hold the line in the center in a

position that would become known as the

Hornet’s Nest. By early afternoon the

Union left flank was collapsing, some

units having sustained in excess of

50 percent casualties. Confederate

losses were also high, however. General

Johnston was riding forward to urge his

exhausted men to press for victory when

he was wounded and bled to death.

Beauregard took over command.

The Union onslaught

The defense of the Hornet’s Nest ended

around 5:30 p.m., when 62 Confederate

field guns were trained upon the few

thousand defenders. By then, Union

reinforcements were arriving to help

Grant hold a last-ditch line along a

ridge overlooking a steep ravine. In

gathering twilight, Beauregard soon

abandoned an attempt to assault this

strong defensive position in the face of

a concentrated artillery barrage and fire

from river gunboats.

The two exhausted armies endured a

night of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Many shaken officers on the Union side

BEFORE

After taking Fort Donelson, the Union Army
of West Tennessee advanced toward Corinth,
Mississippi, where the Confederates were
planning to strike back.

THE ROAD TO SHILOH
On March 4, 1862, the victor at Fort Donelson
❮❮ 104–105, Ulysses S. Grant, was relieved of his
command by Henry W. Halleck for alleged neglect
and inefficiency, but the decision was reversed
under pressure from President Lincoln. By early
April, Grant was back in command at Pittsburg
Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee.
Halleck ordered Don Carlos Buell to march his
Army of Ohio to join Grant’s six divisions.
Confederate generals Albert S. Johnston
and P. G. T. Beauregard concentrated their
forces at Corinth. Reinforced by 15,000 troops
under Braxton Bragg, they intended to attack
and destroy Grant before Buell arrived.

in the Battle of Shiloh, the Union army lost

over 13,000 men—casualties and prisoners—

while the Confederates had fewer than 11,000

losses. It took time for the reality of the

Confederate defeat to be acknowledged.

AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE

Ulysses S. Grant came under severe criticism

in the Northern press, with reports

exaggerating the unpreparedness of Union troops.

It was even rumored that he had been drunk.

Lincoln continued to support him, however,

stating,“I can’t spare this man, he fights.”

After the battle, Halleck, relegating Grant to

second in command, led a cautious advance on

Corinth. Rather than face a siege, Beauregard

withdrew south to Tupelo, Mississippi, in late

May. For this, he was fired by President

Davis, who appointed Bragg in his place.

The Union fleet engaged in a series of actions

on the Mississippi ❮❮ 100–101. On June 6, they

took Memphis, where Grant, restored four days

later as commander of the Federal Army of

the Tennessee, made his headquarters.

AFTER

CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

The Battle of Shiloh

The battle fought at Pittsburg Landing on April 6–7, 1862—and usually named for the nearby Shiloh

Church—was by far the most bloody up to that point in the Civil War, leaving some 20,000 men dead or

wounded. The Confederacy came close to a major victory, but instead suffered another crushing reverse.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL 1803–62

ALBERT S. JOHNSTON

The second day of the battle

After the first day, many Confederate troops moved back

from the front line to sleep. The next morning, the Union

onslaught caught them unawares, driving them back

over the ground they had won the previous day.

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SHERMAN
McCLERNAND
HURLBUT
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BUELL
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BEAUREGARD
Pittsburg
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Savannah
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⑤ Apr 7, 5 p.m.:
Breckinridge covers Rebel
retreat. Union troops are too
exhausted to pursue
② Apr 7, dawn:
Union counterattack
takes Confederates
by surprise
KEY
① Apr 6, sundown:
Union forces are driven
back to this line, but are
reinforced during the night
③ Apr 7, 11 a.m.:
Confederates reorganize
line, but are now seriously
outnumbered
④ Apr 7, 3:30 a.m.:
Beauregard orders
retreat toward
Corinth
Union forces at dawn, Apr 7
Union gunboat
Confederate front line
at dawn, Apr 7
Confederate forces 11 a.m.
0 m
0 yds 500 1000
500250
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felt beaten, but when Grant was asked
if he intended to retreat he replied,
“No! I propose to attack at daylight and
whip them.” Buell’s and Wallace’s fresh
troops continued to arrive throughout
the night. By the morning of April 7,
the Union army had the superiority of
numbers to launch a counteroffensive.
This time it was Beauregard who was
caught by surprise. Rebel troops fell back
in disarray as Union forces advanced
across the previous day’s corpse-strewn
battlefield. After hard fighting in the
early afternoon, Beauregard, fearing a
rout, ordered a general retreat.
Grant did not attempt a pursuit, but
on the next day he sent Sherman on a
reconnaissance mission to see whether
the Confederates were regrouping for
another attack. This led to a clash with
Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest’s
cavalry at Fallen Timbers, in which
Forrest was seriously wounded. This
skirmish marked the end of the fighting.