Shiloh, Tennessee (1st day of battle)

Following his capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Grant’s army of 40,000 soldiers was ordered to move south, up the Tennessee River, to Pittsburg Landing. Buell was ordered to join him there with 35,000 troops. Once united, they could …

1862-04-06

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Following his capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Grant’s army of 40,000 soldiers was ordered to move south, up the Tennessee River, to Pittsburg Landing. Buell was ordered to join him there with 35,000 troops. Once united, they could attack the important railroad junction at Corinth, twenty miles to the south. This would cut deep through the Confederate defense line in northern Tennessee. With just over 42,000 soldiers, Johnston knew he must act quickly before Buell arrived. The Confederates attacked at daybreak on April 6 and threw back the Union line. At the center of the Union line stood the remnants of the Sixth division, under Prentiss, along with Wallace’s fresh Second division. They had taken up a strong position behind an oak thicket. Initial rebel attacks were repulsed. During one of these attacks, Johnston was killed while urging several brigades forward. Confederate soldiers dubbed the position the “Hornet’s Nest.” By midafternoon, realizing that repeated infantry attacks were suicidal, General Daniel Ruggles amassed over 50 guns to bombard the Union positions. At about 5:30 p.m., with Union troops falling back on their left flank, the defense finally collapsed. Wallace was mortally wounded and Prentiss was captured along with 2,250 Union soldiers. As the victorious Confederate troops cheered, a defiant Prentiss called out, “Yell boys, you have a right to shout for you have this day captured the bravest brigade in the United States Army.”

Shiloh, Tennessee

The Battle of Shiloh was a battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union force known as the Army of the Tennessee had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped principally at Pittsburg Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee River, where the Confederate Army of Mississippi launched a surprise attack on Grant's army from its base in Corinth, Mississippi. Johnston was mortally wounded during the fighting; Beauregard took command of the army and decided against pressing the attack late in the evening. Overnight, Grant was reinforced by one of his divisions stationed farther north and was joined by three divisions from the Army of the Ohio. The Union forces began an unexpected counterattack the next morning which reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day.

Wikipedia: Battle of Shiloh

the Confederacy

the Union