Before dawn on April 7th, 1862, the combined armies of Major Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Don
Carlos Buell begin to edge slowly forward from Pittsburg Landing in a massive counterattack.
Major General Lew Wallace’s Third Division of the Army of the Tennessee, on Grant’s extreme
right flank and overlooking the broad valley of Tilghman Branch, leads off the combat with an
artillery duel with Captain William H. Ketchum’s Alabama Battery - part of Ruggles’ First Division
in Bragg’s Second Corps - posted in a portion of McClernand’s camp in north Jones Field across
the ravine. Positioned to Lew Wallace’s left are the remnants of Sherman’s Fifth Division,
then McClernand’s First, along with the remainder of W. H. L. Wallace’s Second
Division - now under Colonel James Tuttle - and Stephen Hurlbut’s Fourth Division
stretching the line eastward toward the landing. Deployed forward of Grant’s left are Buell’s
troops from the Army of the Ohio - the Fourth Division of Brigadier General William “Bull”
Nelson on the left, Brigadier General Thomas L. Crittenden’s Fifth Division in the center,
and Brigadier General Alexander M. McCook’s Second Division on the right.
First moving Bull Nelson’s troops across Dill Branch, Major General Buell finishes his initial
battle deployments by advancing Crittenden and McCook inland on the Corinth Road. With his left
flank anchored on the river, Buell’s front extends westward for over a mile, where his right flank
forms astride the Hamburg- Savannah and Corinth road junction, one mile southwest of Pittsburg
Landing. In all, Grant has over 45,000 men in line, nearly half of them are in fresh units.
The Confederates are so badly intermingled that little corps, division, or even in some
cases brigade organization and cohesion exists. It takes two hours for aides first to locate,
and then mobilize, General Polk and his command, which had unfortunately retired the previous night
to a point well south of the rest of the army, four miles inland from the river. Therefore,
as Beauregard hastily sets about locating and then deploying his scattered troops,
only General Breckinridge would manage to form all three brigades
of his corps side by side in line of battle. Meanwhile, Generals Hardee, Bragg, and Polk
each again lead groups of commingled commands on different sectors of the broad three-mile front.
By 10:00 AM, General Beauregard has established a stable front, which runs across the field from
southeast to northwest, about a mile and a half inland from the river. Hardee, with
his forces formed along the Hamburg-Purdy Road, directs operations on the right, where he meets
Buell's advance on the River Road. On Hardee's left comes Breckinridge, where the Southern
front angles northward from the Eastern Corinth and Hamburg-Purdy road junction. Breckinridge's
corps holds the Confederate center along the old Hornets' Nest front. Further north, Bragg
assumes command of the far left flank, anchoring the Southern front on the bluffs overlooking Owl
Creek. Once General Polk returns to the field from the rear, he assumes command of the left center,
between Breckinridge and Bragg. On this front, Beauregard manages to deploy about 28,000 men.
The sheer power of the Federal thrust jolts the unsuspecting Southerners.
A member of the Crescent Louisiana Regiment of New Orleans later noted, "They appeared
to me like ants in their nest, for the more we fired upon them, the more they swarmed about;
one would have said that they sprouted from the ground like mushrooms," For the first time,
Mississippi Private A. H. Mecklin recorded in his diary, "I began to have doubts as to the
issues of this contest. I knew that the enemy were reinforced and stoutly." Observed Private Thomas
C. Robertson of the 4th Louisiana: "At daybreak our pickets came rushing in under a murderous
fire and the first thing we knew we were almost surrounded by six or seven regiments of Yankees."
Bull Nelson's division leads the advance on the Federal left
south along the Hamburg-Savannah Road. No serious opposition is encountered
until his troops arrive at the Widow Wicker's Field after 8:00 AM. Suddenly,
Colonel William B. Hazen's 19th Brigade is fired on by General Chalmers's troops,
who have moved up from their bivouac in Colonel Stuart's captured camps. Chalmers,
joined by several other Southern detachments, blocks Nelson's further advance along the road.
Heavy skirmishing continues for the next hour and a half as both sides await reinforcements.
Crittenden's and McCook's divisions, which move southwest and west into the Hornets' Nest thicket,
astride the Eastern Corinth and Corinth roads, follow Nelson's advance. By 10:00 AM,
troops from both divisions are heavily engaged. Lew Wallace's division on the right had opened
the day's fighting by sparring with Colonel Preston Pond's brigade in Jones Field. Pond
is soon ordered to move his men to the opposite flank in the fight against Buell. This movement
allows Wallace to advance his division across Tilghman Branch into the north end of Jones Field.
In front of Wallace, S. A. M. Woods's and Randall Gibson's Confederate brigades are hurriedly thrown
forward to contest further Union advance south through Jones Field. As on the Federal left,
the Union advance here stalls as Wallace is forced to wait out Grant's promised support from Sherman
and McClernand on his left. Those troops had not yet advanced over Tilghman Branch. About 9:00 to
9:30, General Ruggles brashly orders both Wood and Gibson to counterattack Wallace's division.
The Rebels are driven back by the fire of Morgan L. Smith's and John M. Thayer's brigades,
along with the five guns of Thurber's Battery I,
1st Missouri Light Artillery, which supports Wallace's hold on Jones Field.
Buell, meanwhile, begins to make headway on the left. After 10:00 AM, his divisions
advance to the Sarah Bell peach orchard, the sight of such heavy fighting the previous day.
Here they encounter a reinforced Confederate line under Hardee along the Hamburg Purdy Road. Colonel
Sanders L. Bruce's 22nd Brigade of Nelson's division attacks south across the Sarah Bell
Field, but is driven back by musketry and a heavy right flank enfilade crossfire from Hodgson's 5th
Company, Washington (Louisiana) Artillery, and McClung's Tennessee Battery, both positioned
to the west in Daniel Davis's wheat field. General Hardee orders a counterattack, which is
spearheaded by Bowen's brigade in Breckinridge's corps, now commanded by Colonel John S. Martin.
However, they in turn are swept back to the Hamburg-Purdy Road by the advance of
Colonel Hazen's brigade. Hazen's Indiana and Ohio troops, joined by Colonel William Sooy Smith's
14th Brigade of Crittenden's division on their right, surges southwest into Davis's wheat field,
where they overrun part of Captain Hodgson's Washington Artillery.
The Crescent Louisiana Regiment, along with the 19th Louisiana, rushes forward
to assist the hard-pressed cannoneers. In a frantic melee of hand-to-hand fighting,
the Louisianans retake the battery. With heavy Confederate pressure on both flanks, Nelson's
entire division is forced to retire to Wicker Field and regroup. Breckinridge's men have held
firm on Hardee's left, therefore Crittenden, like Nelson, is forced to retire Smith's brigade back
into the Hornets' Nest thicket, where he busies himself reforming his lines within the thicket.
As midday approaches, the fighting along the Confederate right seesaws back and forth.
Before noon, General Crittenden again attacks Breckinridge's front. As his left presses down
the Eastern Corinth Road, Crittenden's right, along with McCook's division to their right,
advances west across Duncan Field. This drive captures Southern cannon and breaks the back of
Breckinridge's resistance at Duncan Field. Having lost a large number of men, Breckinridge's corps
retires from the fighting toward the southwest. From noon until 2:00 PM, the Northerners gain
the upper hand astride the Eastern Corinth Road, where Crittenden, reinforced by detachments from
Grant's army, advances south to the junction with the Hamburg-Purdy Road. Meanwhile, General McCook
presses west along the Corinth Road toward Water Oaks Pond and Woolf Field. On Buell's left, Nelson
has also been reinforced with small detachments from Grant's army. Once again, Nelson's division
enters Sarah Bell's Field and attacks south toward the junction of the Hamburg-Savannah
and Hamburg-Purdy roads. By 2:00 PM, Nelson's men have pushed Hardee's front southward into
Prentiss's camp and seized the Hamburg-Purdy Road. This time. Nelson's men are here to stay.
Since midmorning, fierce fighting has raged on the Union right, where Confederate forces under
Bragg and Polk fight unsuccessfully to halt the advance of Sherman, McClernand, and Hurlbut across
Tilghman Branch. By 11:00 AM, the Southern left was retiring south from Jones Field under the
mounting pressure from Grant's army. From his headquarters at Shiloh Church, Beauregard works
frantically to form a new line north of Water Oaks Pond. Beginning at noon, some of the heaviest
fighting of the day occurs in this sector. With Hardee starting to give way on the right,
most of the Southern resistance is located west of the Eastern Corinth Road, in a line
extending west along the Hamburg-Purdy Road to Owl Creek. Just after noon, Brigadier General
Lovell Rousseau's brigade, joined by the brigades of Colonels Edward Kirk and William Gibson, all
from McCook's division, attack westward through Woolf Field astride the Corinth Road. Meanwhile,
further west, Lew Wallace and Sherman continue to apply pressure on the Southern left flank.
As the Federals sweep forward through the center of McClernand's recaptured camps,
Beauregard commits his remaining reserve - Preston Pond's brigade. Pond arrives at
Shiloh Church with only two regiments, but several other disorganized detachments are pieced together
to form a conglomerate attack force. Colonel Robert Russell stated that the assault was led by
"General Beauregard, who bore the colors in front of the line under the fire of the enemy." Several
times during the day, Beauregard exposes himself to great harm by leading units into battle.
Scolded by his aides, who argue that he is unnecessarily endangering himself,
the army commander bluntly fires back, "The order must now be 'follow,' not 'go!'" Unfortunately,
Colonel Jacob Thompson of General Beauregard’s staff noted, "the fire and animation had left
our troops.” Many Southern soldiers are disconsolate and refuse to respond to
further pleadings by their officers. Beauregard observes this change in morale, and as the
bitter contest wears on, he increasingly attempts to rally his soldiers in person.
A last-ditch Confederate counterattack proves momentarily successful. Southerners surge back
across Water Oaks Pond and enter the southern portion of McClernand's camp, forcing McCook's
men to give ground. Riding up to Colonel James Veatch's brigade of General Hurlbut's division,
which stands in support of McCook, General Grant personally orders Veatch forward to stabilize the
faltering Union front. Moving steadily forward, Veatch's men advance across Review Field past
McCook's left and strike the Confederate right flank. Caught within the Federal vise, Colonel
Russell remembered that despite the "courage" displayed by Beauregard, "human endurance could
stand no longer against such odds, and our forces were compelled to fall back to the . . . church."
It was now evident to a troubled Beauregard that the Federals had received heavy reinforcements,
and his exhausted Confederates would be unable to prevail. Colonel Thomas Jordan inquires of the
general: "Would it not be judicious to get away with what we have?" The Louisiana general replies:
"I intend to withdraw in a few moments." About 3:00 PM, on the ridge across the valley of Shiloh
Branch, south of Shiloh Church, a Confederate rear guard of some 5,000 men from Breckinridge's corps,
mixed detachments, and about a dozen guns is formed. This line holds the Federals at
bay on the Corinth Road until 5:00 PM, while the Southerners conduct an orderly withdrawal.
At 5:00 PM on April 7th, 1862, the bloody two-day Battle of Shiloh - or Battle of
Pittsburg Landing - finally comes to its end with the retreat of the final Confederate regiments
from the battlefield. Grant and Buell have successfully recaptured all ground lost the
previous day, thus concluding the bloody engagement in a decisive victory for the
Union. The Battle of Shiloh is a major turning point in this early phase of the American Civil
War - the body count proves to both North and South just what the cost of total war will be,
and also demonstrates the changes in tactics and strategy with the advent of industrial warfare.
Another smaller skirmish erupts the following day, April 8th, between elements of Major
General Sherman’s Fifth Division, conducting a reconnaissance in force, against Colonel Nathan
Bedford Forrest’s cavalry detachment at Fallen Timbers. Grant had sent Sherman south down the
Corinth Road to confirm whether the Army of Mississippi was in fact retreating, or rallying
for another day of fighting. Six miles south of Pittsburg Landing, Sherman’s men are defeated
in a brief, sharp skirmish with Forrest’s charging cavalrymen. However, this clash is but a rearguard
action by Forrest, protecting the retreat of the Army of Mississippi back towards Corinth.
The
“Butcher’s Bill” at Shiloh sends shockwaves through the divided nation.
The casualties are staggering - the Union has lost 13,047 men, including 1,754 killed, 8,408 wounded,
and 2,885 captured or missing. The Confederates have lost 10,699 men, including 1,728 killed,
8,012 wounded, and 959 captured or missing. It is the bloodiest battle of both the Civil War
and American history up to this point - in fact, more casualties have been sustained at Shiloh
than the total losses of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Mexican-American War combined.
In the North, newspapers and the press are quick to focus the blame of the battle
on Major General Ulysses S. Grant, the man who, just two months prior, had been praised
as a hero for his victories at Forts Henry and Donelson. Many credit General Buell with taking
control of the broken Union forces and leading them to victory on April 7th. Calls for General
Grant’s removal from command overwhelm the White House. In response, President Lincoln
replies with one of his famous quotes regarding Grant: “I can’t spare this man; he fights.”
In the South, the Battle of Shiloh proves to be a devastating loss and a complete disaster
for Confederate fortunes in the Western Theater. The Army of Mississippi retreats back to Corinth,
Mississippi, where in the coming weeks, it will be besieged by the combined armies of Grant,
Buell, and Pope, under overall command of General Halleck. General Albert Sidney Johnston’s death at
Shiloh will prove in hindsight to be another great loss to the Confederate war effort in the West;
believed at the time to be the South’s greatest general, his loss will deprive the Confederates
of a competent and capable commanding general to lead the Western Theater’s armies. Indeed,
Johnston may have well been the closest thing to a Robert E. Lee in the West, and his loss will pave
the way for further Confederate disasters in the Western Theater, in both campaigns and leadership.
The Battle of Shiloh is a watermark moment in the early Civil War.
Although the Battle of Manassas awakened the American people to the realities of a long war,
the Battle of Shiloh truly opened their eyes to the horrors of modern industrial war.
Many believed before the Battle of Shiloh that the beginning of the end was at hand. However,
the Battle of Shiloh would prove to be just the end of the beginning of a long and terrible war.