The Shiloh Battlefield

Battle of Shiloh

Thure de Thulstrup 

Battle of Pittsburg Landing
Date: April 6-7, 1862
Location: Shiloh National Military Park, Savannah, Tennessee
Commanders: Union-Maj Gen Ulysses Grant; Confederate-Gen Albert Johnston
Strength: Union-48000 + 18000 reinforcements, Confederate-44000
Casualties: Union-13000, Confederate-11000
Result: Indecisive; Tactical Draw, Strategic Union Victory
Current Status: National Military Park


Introduction
 After his victory at Fort Donelson, Grant marched his army down the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing, where he stopped to await reinforcements for a push towards the vital rail center of Corinth, Mississippi.  Grant had now been reinforced to 48,000 men in six divisions under Maj Gens John McClernand and Lew Wallace, and Brig Gens W. H. L. Wallace (replacing Charles Smith who would die of infection and dysentery after an accidental leg injury), Stephen Hurlbut, William Sherman, and Benjamin Prentiss. More troops were arriving from the Army of the Ohio under Buell marching (slowly) down from Nashville. Grant was under strict orders from Halleck not to bring on an engagement before the arrival of Buell. While Grant headquartered in Savannah, his troops, half green, drilled without entrenchments or pickets near the Methodist church called Shiloh.

 Meanwhile Confederate General Albert Johnston, had consolidated a massive Southern force of 45,000, pulled from Pensacola, New Orleans and regions all over the South. He titled the new force the Army of Mississippi, divided into four corps commanded by Maj Gens Leonidas Polk, Braxton Bragg, and William Hardee, as well as Brig Gen John Breckinridge.  Despite opposition from Gen P. G. T. Beauregard, hero of the Battles of Ft Sumter and Bull Run and his second-in-command, Johnson planned to strike at Grant with a surprise attack and destroy his Army of Tennessee before it could unite with the Army of the Ohio.  However, though Johnson planned to attack on April 4 weather, bad coordination, traffic jams, and a lack of discipline delayed an attack until April 6, 1862.

There were certainly rumblings of suspicion in the Union encampments about a potential attack. But little was done in the Union high command to prepare for the coming onslaught.


April 6
Center

Farley Field, site of the first shots at Shiloh

On the early dawn of April 6, Col Everett Peabody, commanding a brigade in the front of the Union encampments, became concerned about reports of enemy troops in the vicinity and sent a patrol forward under the command of Maj James Powell, despite orders from Halleck to not start an engagement before Buell arrived.  At 5:15, as the patrol crossed Farley Field here, they encountered Confederate outposts, then a long unbreaking line of butternut infantrymen.  As shots broke out, the great Battle of Shiloh began.

A persistent legend, traced to one Northern reporter Whitelaw Reid, stated that Grant's troops were completely surprised by the Confederate attack and that men were bayoneted in their tents.  Current research suggests otherwise.  Alerted to the attack by the patrols, Col Peabody in the forward position quickly organized his troops and sent them to confront the approaching enemy, where heavy fighting broke out. However, higher ranking Federal officers, including Sherman and Prentiss, simply dismissed the fighting and consequently the first Federal lines were soon driven back to their camps.

Mortuary Monument, commemorating fallen leaders at Shiloh.  There are five total, three Federal- Peabody, Raith and WHL Wallace-and two Confederate-Albert Johnston and Adley Gladden

Still, the vanguard Federal bridges fought bravely and effectively.  At Spanish field, Union artillery pinned down the attackers of Bragg's division with vicious effectiveness. A veteran of the Mexican War with a distinguished role during the Battle of Churubusco,  Adley Gladden was quickly given command of the 1st Louisiana regiment by Maj Gen Braxton Bragg at Pensacola, where he led his troops ably to receive praise, a promotion and command of a brigade by the usually irascible Bragg. Gladden led his troops to attack Brig Gen Benjamin Prentiss' division at the start of the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862. Within minutes of the beginning of the battle however, Gladden was mortally wounded by an artillery shell here. He died five days later.

Still tactical blunders and overwhelming opposition began to tell on the advance lines. As some of his units began breaking under the attack of Brig Gen S.A.M Wood's Confederate brigade, Peabody rode along his line attempting to hold it together.  Wounded three times, he was killed instantly by a fourth near his headquarters.  Though the battle had just started, Peabody had given the Army of the Tennessee some desperate few minutes to oppose the Confederate tide.

Hal Jespersen, 2011

West

Shiloh Church

In 1851, John Ellis donated land to the Methodist Episcopalians, who created Shiloh Church.  On April 6, 1862, the church was the center of Sherman's green Federal Division.

After dismissing allegations of a Confederate attack from his subordinates, Sherman was dramatically proven wrong at Rhea Field when he encountered the attacking Confederates of Col Patrick Cleburne in an exchange that killed an aide and slightly wounded him in the hand. Sherman immediately began redeeming himself, calling up his troops to the high ground around Shiloh Church who held against Cleburne's attack.

Rhea Field

Some of the fiercest fighting of the battle erupted on Sherman's front as Hardee and Polk threw their troops into assault.  The area around Rhea Spring was especially daunting to the Confederates of Brig Gen Alexander Stewart and Bushrod Johnson and Cols Robert Russell and William Stephens. The attackers needed to cross open fields and the Shiloh Branch of Owl Creek, then up the ridge where Shiloh Church and Sherman's troops were positioned.  After bloody fighting, the Confederates managed to drive Sherman's troops back and seize two guns on this ridge.

Rhea Creek from which the Confederate troops assaulted the Federal position

Rhea Spring

Horrific casualties were sustained along this front here. The 425 men of the 6th Mississippi Regiment, charging repeatedly up the open fields in front of this strong position, suffered 300 casualties before the Federals, flanked by the fighting at Rhea Springs, retreated.

2nd Tennessee (Bates) Monument facing the 70th Ohio Monument

On the other side of Shiloh Church the fighting was equally bloody. Led by Col William Bates, the 385 men of the 2nd Tennessee assaulted the Federal line against the 854 men of the 70th Ohio led by Col Joseph Cockerill.  The attack was driven back with heavy losses of 235 (65%) including Bate, who was wounded in battle, though the 70th Ohio was eventually forced back with 77 losses. In 1904, the survivors of the 2nd Tennessee erected the monument seen in the midground,  the first Confederate Monument in the park.

Polk, commanding the Confederate left threw more troops into the fray around Shiloh Church. During the fighting, wounded crawled into the building for shelter. The building was destroyed by the end of the second day of fighting.

Of the 25 commanding officers on the Confederate side here, three were killed and six were wounded.  Of the five known Confederate burial trenches in Shiloh, two are situated near Rhea Spring.

Confederate Mass Grave #1

Confederate Mass Grave #2

White Oak Pond near the Crossroads

Gradually, the fighting shifted Northwards, towards an important crossroads controlling the battlefield. A German-American and Mexican War veteran, Col Julius Raith commanded a regiment of Illinois volunteers nearby.  When the Battle of Shiloh began, Raith suddenly found himself in command of his brigade due to the absence and sickness of higher ranked commanders. Acting independently, he quickly moved his brigade in support of Sherman's embattled troops.  However the Shiloh Church position collapsed before Raith arrived, and consequently he ordered his men to form around the high ground near Water Oaks Pond, where a second line managed to be formed minutes before it was hard hit by the Confederate brigades of Anderson, Wood, Russell, and Johnson and driven back.

Raith was badly wounded in the leg and fell behind enemy lines.  He was recovered during the second day of fighting and brought to a hospital ship, but the leg had become infected and was amputated. Col Raith died of a tetanus infection four days later.

Jones Field

As Sherman and McClernand's disorganized divisions fell back from the Water Oaks Pond Crossroads, their commanders managed to rally several units here at Jones Field. With the relatively unengaged brigade of Col John McDowell,  Sherman and McClernand launched a surprise counter attack 12:30, nearly driving the surprised Confederates back to the crossroads.

Confederate Mass Grave #4

Hardee and Polk managed to hold their lines, and the last Confederate reserve, Col Robert Trabue's Kentucky Brigade, was thrown in, finally driving back the Federals at 2:00. Col John Wharton’s Texas Rangers and Col Preston Pond's Brigade attempted to pursue but were repulsed, and Sherman and McClernand fell back to Grant's final line.

Center

"Hornet's Nest" Position

Meanwhile, in the center of the Federal position a massive hole had been created after the morning fighting.
Brig Gen Benjamin Prentiss' division had been shattered in the first few hours of the Battle of Shiloh, however he managed to hold a remnant force of 500 men along a farm road used by Joseph Duncan in the dead center of the field of Shiloh.  The Confederates neglected to attack, looting the overrun Federal encampments and sending troops to reinforce the Eastern flank (see East). Later mythos would term the location "the Sunken Road", a supposedly natural trench-line, though as can be seen in this and period photos there is little to back that term up.  A small ravine behind the road may have given the Federal troops protection from Confederate artillery bombardments, allowing them some protection to halt the Confederate infantry assaults. Fortunately for the Union forces, W.H.L Wallace's and Stephen Hurlbut's veterans also managed to reinforce this position to the West and East respectively, creating a powerful position behind open fields and thickets.This would be the center of the Union line for the next eight hours.

31st Indiana at the Hornet's Nest Positon

At around 11:00 this was the site of Col Thomas Hindman's attack (led by Col R. G. Shaver).  It was driven back by units of Col Thomas Sweeny's Brigade with high losses. Shaver attacked again at 3:00 and was again repulsed.  As Shaver withdrew the brigade of Brig Gen Patton Anderson attacked as well and was also repulsed.

Mythos has also stated that for the next five hours this was the center of the Battle of Shiloh, where Prentiss, ordered by Grant to hold at all costs, managed to drive back 11 Confederate attacks for eight hours until troops on either side gave way, allowing the Confederates to surround and capture the position. This was celebrated in newspapers, by veterans of the Hornet's Nest, by General Prentiss himself, and by the NPS. However the truth seems much more complicated.  Multiple attacks were launched on the Sunken Road line, but attacks towards the Hornet's Nest itself is unknown due to by now chaotic state of Confederate order of battle.

1st Minnesota Light Artillery Monument

William Stephen's Brigade attacked near this spot at around 11:00 and were handily repulsed by cannon fire from the 1st Minnesota Light Artillery Battery and rifle fire from the brigades of Jacob Lauman and James Tuttle.

Martinet Maj General Braxton Bragg, finding Col Randall Gibson's Brigade in reserve, decided the troops were shirking and immediately ordered a frontal assault on the Hornet's Nest at 12:00. It was quickly repulsed as well.  Furious, Bragg ordered three more assaults on the Federal position by Gibson's luckless brigade, and despite furious opposition by Gibson himself, chewing the unit to pieces.

Arkansas State Memorial, listing all of the regiments who fought at Shiloh from the state as well as all of the fallen leaders. Near the center of the Hornet's Nest

Gibson's Brigade was never supported in its two hours of attack. One of the survivors exclaimed that the Union position was like a hornet's nest, giving the position its (postwar) name.

East

April 6, 1862 found David Stuart's small brigade of Sherman's Division on detached duty guarding a bridge over Lick Creek at the extreme Federal left, isolated from both its chain of command and much of the greater fighting to the West.  When Prentiss' Division was overrun and fighting drifted North towards the Bell Peach Orchard, Stuart's 2400 men fired on some of the advancing Confederate forces.  Confederate scouts returned to the Army of Mississippi headquarters, breathlessly reporting that a full Union division were on flank of the Confederate battle line. Consequently, the Confederate advance stopped as the brigades of Brig Generals James Chalmers and John Jackson swung around the Confederate rear and hit Stuart's brigade from the front.

Cantrell Peach Orchard

Stuart's men were green, and their commander was borderline incompetent, and they were quickly driven back from their encampments at the Cantrell Peach Orchard into the thick hills and ravines near the Tennessee River.

Missouri State Monument

However there they managed to hold together all day, the Confederates having difficulty bringing enough ammunition or troops to bear in the rough terrain until mid-afternoon, when Stuart's troops ran out of ammunition and were forced to flee through the ravines under heavy cross fire all the way to Pittsburgh Landing.

Kentucky State Monument

Though Stuart's troops were badly mangled, they managed to keep the Federal left from being turned from the Tennessee River, as had been Johnson's plan.  Instead the fighting drifted back towards the center.

Manse Cabin

 Sarah Bell's Cotton Field was at the epicenter of both days of the Battle of Shiloh.  On April 6, the Union center right was located near the Manse Cabin in the background, with artillery from Mann's 1st Missouri Indept Artillery, Ross' 2nd Michigan Light Artillery and Willard's 1st Illinois Light Artillery.  Ross' guns were overrun by the end of the day. On April 7th, the field was also the location of the attack by Brig Gen William Nelson's division from Bloody Pond, which was halted in heavy fighting.

Center

"Bloody Pond" Position in front of the "Sunken Road" Line

Brig Gen Stephen Hurlbut, called up by Sherman, advanced towards the fighting until he encountered Prentiss' fleeing troops in this area, halted, and deployed the brigades of Col Nelson Williams and Brig Gen Jacob Lauman.  Col Zach Deas, and Brig Gen James Jackson and John Chalmer's brigades attacked, only to have Jackson and Chalmers rerouted to fight Stuart on the Confederate right.  Deas consequently continued the attack alone and was repulsed. Both sides fed more troops into the fight.  Brig Gen John McArthur moved up two of his regiments, while Jackson and Chalmer's troops returned and attacked the Federal position again. For the next two hours they were repulsed trying to gain this position. Bragg called up Breckinridge's troops but piecemeal attacks by Brig Gen John Bowen and Col Winfield Statham were equally unsuccessful.

Wisconsin State Monument

The Wisconsin Monument was erected in 1906 just behind the Hornet's Nest, where all three Wisconsin regiments that participated at Shiloh (the 14th, 16th and 18th) fought over. The monument depicts Victory grasping a mortally wounded color-bearer, and holding the flag aloft.

Bell Peach Orchard

Finally, at 1:30 PM Breckinridge called Gen Johnston, stating that his troops were refusing to attack anymore.  Johnston rode his horse among the ranks and rallied his men for another assault.  At 2:00, Stephens, Statham, Bowen, Jackson and Chalmer's brigade launched a coordinated assault through the Bell Peach Orchard and finally after heavy fighting drove back the troops of Hurlbut, McArthur, and Stuart.

Johnston led the assault, and returned with his uniform nicked with bullets, laughing at Tennessee Governor Isham Harris who was serving as his aide:
"Governor, they came very near putting me hors de combat in that charge".

Harris was then sent off with a message, but when he returned, he found Johnston staggering on his horse at this spot. He grabbed Johnston.

"General, are you wounded?"
"Yes, and I fear seriously."

Years later, Harris returned, and claimed that a large tree marked where he found the mortally wounded Johnston, and it was memorialized as such. Later dating showed the tree was not there at the battle, but NPS attempts to remove the infected tree was met with howls of protest.  It finally disappeared between 2000 and 2011 when I visited.

Ravine where Gen Albert Johnston died

Harris dragged his commander to the relative safety of this ravine, where they tried to find the wound.  A bullet had nicked an artery in Johnston's right leg, and in the thick of the fighting he had not noticed.  The commander had a tourniquet in his pocket, but with his personal doctor treating the wounded no one in his entourage knew how to use it. General Albert Sidney Johnston, Confederate commander of the Western Theater, died at 2:30 on April 6, 1862.  He was the only Confederate Army commander killed in combat, and the highest-ranking officer North or South, killed in the American Civil War.

Ruggle's Grand Battery

Finally, realizing that infantry was unable to clear the Hornet's Nest, the Confederates began assembling all the artillery pieces they could find facing Duncan Field.  Sources claim alternatively Brig Gen Daniel Ruggles or Maj Francis Shoup with the concentration. Suffice by 3:30 around 53 artillery pieces, the largest then assembled in North America, were firing into the Hornet's Nest.

For an hour the opposing artillery pieces dueled, and while the Federal batteries drove back a few pieces they were overwhelmed. Finally at 4:30, a coordinated Confederate assualt, by all of the disorganized Confederates on the field, finally drove the Federals out of the Hornet's Nest.

There is some argument over whether the Federals at the Hornet's Nest under Prentiss were ordered to fight until overwhelmed, or whether Prentiss was either tardy or pinned down by Ruggle's artillery in pulling back his forces, as had Sherman, McClernand, Hurlbut, and Stuart.  Regredless, as the Federal forces at the Hornet's Nest gave way, things turned to chaos.  Some units withdrew in order.  Others fragmented, the survivors fleeing towards Pittsburg Landing.  In the ravine behind the Sunken Road, hundreds of Federal troops were trapped and surrendered, including Brig Gen Prentiss.  The Confederates ended up capturing some 2,200 Federal troops in the area.

Brig Gen WHL Wallace deserved much of the credit for holding the Hornet's Nest position, his veterans providing much of the strength and experience in holding the position.  As he extricated his men from the converging Confederate forces, Wallace was shot through the back of his head, and after a attempt at carrying him to safety, abandoned by his men behind some ammunition boxes.  Everyone thought Wallace was dead, but when the Federal forces retook the ground the next day, they found to their surprise that he was still alive. On the first day of battle, Wallace's wife Ann had shown up at Pittsburg Landing for a surprise visit, only to spend the night nursing the wounded.  The next day she nursed her mortally wounded husband until he passed away on April 10.

The collapse of the Hornet's Nest line precipitated a chaotic Federal retreat through the hillocks and gullies of what would later be called Hell's Hollow.  In this area, four regiments were surrounded and forced to surrender, as was Brig Gen Benjamin Prentiss, who handing over his sword to Confederate Col Francis Walker at this spot.  Prentiss, whose troops first encountered the Confederates early in the dawn, and who accused Col Peabody of starting the conflict, remained confident as a prisoner, telling his captors that they would be defeated the day after.  Prentiss was exchanged  and returned to the North a hero, though his career was sidelined.

I got lost while hiking in this small compact area, surrounded by green and the occasional markers, and I have no doubt why some 2000 Federal troops were captured in this area. 

Confederate Monument

Built in 1916, this monument created by the United Daughters of the Confederacy for $50,000 of private donations, is located at Hell Hollow, the Confederate high-water mark of Shiloh where the troops of the Hornet's Nest surrendered. It encompasses many of the ideas that made up the "Lost Cause" Myth. Here, the ironically named "Defeated Victory" hands a laurel of victory to "Death"-symbolizing the Southern loss snatched from victory was due to the inopportune death of Gen Albert Johnston that supposedly cost the Confederates the chance to win at Shiloh.  "Night" standing nearby, aims to snatch another laurel, symbolizing that the falling daylight, Beauregard's heavily criticized withdraw order and Buell's reinforcements also doomed the Southern venture.  In truth, neither appears to bear out.  Johnston, despite his high rank, had not been particularly capable, losing Fort Donelson with heavy casualties that could have been decisive at this field.  At Shiloh, his attacks were disorganized and uncoordinated, robbing much of the momentum of the early morning.  Consequently, his death seemed to influence little. Grant's troops, though green and poorly led during the opening phases, had fought well, and his final line was short and powerful, guarded by siege guns and riverboats.  A Confederate attack, instead of destroying the Union army, may well have destroyed the Confederate army during twilight of April 6, 1862. However legends usually hide facts.


Grant's Final Line 

Hal Jespersen, 2011

Grant, was at his Headquarters at the Cherry Mansion in Savannah, Tennessee on April 6 when he heard the sound of cannon while eating breakfast. He immediately took off on a steamer to Pittsburg Landing. There, he rallied the tired and battered defenders, coordinated ammunition, and desperately if problematically called for reinforcements.

He also had Col Joseph Webster, his chief of staff, coordinate a final defensive line.  Webster created a strong, tight position overlooking the landing and guarded by 52 guns, including a battery of heavy siege guns prepared for attacking Corinth.

Late in the afternoon the survivors of the fighting at Shiloh filed in from right to left: Sherman, McClernand, Hurlbut with his and WHL Wallace's troops.  Also arriving were reinforcements, the belated troops of Lew Wallace, and the first of the Army of the Ohio under Brig Gen William Nelson.  Johnston's plan of destroying Grant before he was joined by Buell had failed.


Wallace's Lost Division

Hamburg-Savannah Road, on which Lew Wallace marched in the wrong direction

On April 6, 1862, Brig Gen Lew Wallace's 6,000 men were scattered along the landward line of Federal communications near Adamsville. When he heard reports of firing at the main Federal positions at 6:00 Lew Wallace immediately began consolidating his troops.  He was visited by Grant at 8:30 and told to reinforce the main Federal lines. When marching orders came at 11:30 however Gen Wallace allowed his men lunch, then took the most direct route to Shiloh Church-not Pittsburg Landing as Grant wanted. A frantic series of couriers finally found him at 2:00, telling him that the Federal lines had been pushed to the Landing where he was needed. Lew Wallace counter-marched, placing his best troops back at the front before marching at a snail's pace down this road to reinforce Grant's final line after dark.

What should have been a five mile march took nine miles and 7 hrs.  Grant was furious. For the rest of his life Wallace, whose military career was essentially ruined at Shiloh, was forced to defend his actions, which Grant may or may not have contributed with now-missing orders. Lew Wallace is more famous for writing the epic novel Ben-Hur, and some have drawn parallels to elements of the plot and Wallace's own experience in the woods of Shiloh.

East
The Confederate troops were as equally exhausted as the Federals.  However with the elimination of the Hornet's Nest, Bragg believed one more attack could have driven the Federals to their destruction.  As a result, he ordered the battered troops of Chalmers, Jackson, Deas, and Anderson to attack at dusk.

Federal Siege Cannon

Naval Artillery facing the flooded Dill Branch of the Tennessee River at Dusk

At 6:00PM, Chalmers and Jackson's troops, nearly out of ammunition, charged across the rugged terrain seen here, descending into the icy waters of Dill Branch and up the opposing steep slope, where they were hit by a storm of artillery, including large shells from siege guns and from the timberclad gunboats Lexington and Tyler on the Tennessee River armed with naval cannons such as this one.  The troops were quickly repulsed, and Bragg was livid to hear that Deas and Anderson, taking orders from Beauregard, who had now in command of the Army of Mississippi, had ceased fighting.  "My God!"  He cried. "My god! It's too late!"

The Mississippian Shiloh Mounds were at least 400 years old when the Battle of Shiloh erupted around it in 1862. Some fighting occurred in the area while Federal forces were driven back towards Grant's Final Line at Pittsburg Landing. After the battle, members if the 28th Illinois, who had suffered heavy losses during the fighting, buried many of their comrades here at the top of Mound G, perhaps as the Native Americans, to honor their fallen in a prominent position.  The bodies were later moved to the National Cemetery, but recent ground penetrating radar surveys suggest at least one body remains.

Strongly anchored on a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River and Dill's Branch, backed by a large assortment of artillery pieces, this was the last line of defense the Federal forces had at Shiloh, guarding the important objective of Pittsburg Landing on the other side of the ridge.  Brig Gen Jacob Ammen's Brigade, the first units to reinforce Grant from the Army of the Ohio, were quickly ferried across the river and positioned here in time to stop the final Confederate attacks of April 6.

Pittsburg Landing was a small shipping port that provided the Army of the Tennessee with supplies and reinforcements.  During the fighting on April 6, perhaps 10,000 Union troops, shocked and separated from their units, fled here and cowered on bluffs, despite Grant's attempts to rally them. William Nelson's Division of the Army of the Ohio was ferried here in the late afternoon, the first of Buell's reinforcements. Nelson, nicknamed "Bull", yelled at the panicked stragglers blocking his way: “Damn your souls, if you won’t fight, get out of the way, and let men come here who will!”.

Tennessee River

All through the night, 17,000 troops of Buell's Army, under Brig Gens Nelson, Alexander McCook, Thomas Crittenden, and Thomas Wood filed in, while the Confederate high command pulled back their troops to the captured camps.  Beauregard, in Sherman's tent, wired to Richmond that he had won "a complete victory", and planned to destroy Grant's Army first thing next morning.  Meanwhile, Col Nathan Forrest, who had commanded his cavalry brigade in the long fighting that day, scouted the Union lines, saw the reinforcements, and reported them, though no one in the Southern high command appreciated the dangerous information.

Grant's HQ at the National Cemetery

The night of April 6-7, 1862 was miserable. It rained, satiating the thirst of the thousands of wounded on the field, but soaking everyone.  The Lexington and Tyler fired rounds far into the night, preventing all from sleep.  Grant moved into a log cabin, then moved out after doctors took over the building for an operating room. Here, Sherman found him under a tree puffing a cigar.  Sherman, who had impressed Grant with his steadfastness and capable handing of the crisis under fire, was now in turn impressed by his commander.  Though Sherman wanted to retreat and regroup, he saw Grant calmly smoking and decided against it. Instead he commented:

"Well Grant, we've had the Devil's own day didn't we?"
"Yes" Grant replied, taking a puff,
"lick 'em tomorrow though".

April 7 
West

On April 7, as Grant's only fresh unit, Wallace's Division led a counter-attack on the Confederates of Pond's brigade, which had inexplicably remained near Grant's final line when the rest of the army had pulled back. Pond was quickly driven across Jones Field, until a counterattack by the remains of Gibson's and Wood's Brigades stopped the advance.

Confederate Mass Grave #5

 Sherman's troops joined the fight, again driving the Confederates back across Jones Field.

Three regiments of Michigan infantry and one battery participated at Shiloh.  The figure on this monument faces Corinth Mississippi, the ultimate objective of this campaign.

Hal Jespersen, 2011

Center
Buell and Grant were not on friendly terms, and consequently the counterattack between the two army commanders were fairly uncoordinated.

Just behind the Bell Peach Orchard, Bloody Pond was so-named because a civilian mentioned that when he walked along the battlefield, he had seen the pond turn red with blood from all of the wounded men and horses who came here to drink-and die. However, the account came many years after the war, and the pond may or may not have been existent at that point.

Bloody Pond

The area around the pond was nevertheless the location of hard fighting at around 7:00 on April 7, when Brig Gen Nelson's division attacked. Hardee, surprised by the attack, managed to repulse Nelson with a makeshift force of Confederate units, which by now had very little organization above the regimental level. A force led by Col John Moore, counterattacked at the Peach Orchard and were decimated; however, more Confederates were sent in and traded fire with the Federals until 12:00, when they finally pulled back.

As Nelson advanced from the Peach Orchard, Brig Gen Thomas Crittenden's Division marched to his left from the Sunken Road.

 

The brigades of Col Jacob Ammen and Sanders Bruce managed to overrun a Confederate battery here at Davis Field. However the Confederates counterattacked, and after heavy fighting the Federals fell back. Trabue's Brigade counterattacked and was repulsed-and Kentucky Confederate Governor George Johnson was killed in the exchange.  As Brig Gen Alexander McCook's Division swung to the left of Crittenden, it drove back Col Russell's brigade but was then stopped himself. It was now noon, and Buell's forces were stalemated.

Commanded by Col Marshall Smith, the 24th Louisiana, also known as the Crescent Regiment, had fought at the Hornet's Nest on April 6, 1862.  On the 7th, the Regiment was positioned here, at the edge of the Davis Wheat Field with the Washington Battery.  During the fighting, the regiment managed to recover the guns overrun by Union infantry of the Army of the Ohio. The regiment was dismantled after the Siege of Corinth.

Private J.D. Putnam of the 14th Wisconsin Infantry was killed here at Shiloh on April 7, 1862 when his regiment charged a Confederate battery near the Hornet's Nest. His comrades buried him under an oak tree where he fell, and carved his name sufficiently low enough that when Putnam's body was moved to Shiloh National Cemetery, he could be and was identified. In 1901, the Wisconsin Shiloh Monument Commissioners found the stump with Putnam's name still remaining, and replaced it with a granite replica at the exact same spot. The original stump was moved to the Wisconsin State Capitol, where it was destroyed during a fire in 1904.


West

Illinois State Monument

Though Buell had been halted, Grant's forces slowly pushed the Confederates under Bragg and Polk to the crossroads. The remnants of Cleburne's Brigade, against the commander's protests, were thrown against the Federals and shattered.  Cheatham's Brigade managed to stop Grant's forces until it too was driven back. Bragg meanwhile had formed a new line at the crossroads on the other side of White Oaks Pond.

The forces of Wallace, Sherman, and McClernand hit this line, which nevertheless held for two hours. Beauregard, now recognizing the danger to his army, rallied and led unit after unit against the Federals. Then McCook's troops appeared and hit Bragg on the flank.  Under attack from three sides, Bragg's forces fell back. Beauregard managed to assemble a scratch force under Wood and sent it charging across Water Oaks Pond, slamming into McCook's troops and driving it back.  However, McCook then quickly counterattacked and threw Wood's force back across the pond. 

Tennessee State Monument

By 2:30PM, the Union troops under Grant had driven back the last Confederate reserve under Pond and had seized the crossroads. The Confederate line was now on the verge of collapse. A staff officer asked Beauregard,

"General, do you not think our troops in the condition of a lump of sugar thoroughly soaked with water, but yet preserving its original shape, though ready to dissolve?"

Beauregard replied "I intend to withdraw in a few minutes."

A blocking force of 2000 troops was thrown around Shiloh Church, and everywhere the Confederates began pulling back. By 5:00PM the Confederates had retreated from the field. Too tired and battered themselves to pursue, the Federal troops fell back to Grant's former encampments.  The Battle of Shiloh had ended.

This monument, erected by the state of Tennessee to commemorate members of the state who fought at Shiloh, was erected in 2007 and is the most recent statue in the park.

Shiloh National Cemetery Front Gate

That evening, the Confederate army fell back to Cornith. On the morning of April 8, a final skirmish broke out.  Sherman was ordered to perform a reconnaissance-in-force to feel out the Confederate withdraw.  With a small force, he ran straight into Col Forrest's cavalry acting as a rearguard protecting some Confederate field hospitals.  With a wild charge near a field called Fallen Timbers (after the trees knocked down during a storm), Forrest overran Sherman's skirmish line and forced the Federal commander and his staff to scurry to safety.  However, Forrest's troopers quickly halted before the main Federal line, leading Forrest himself to charge single-handedly until he realized his mistake. Forrest was quickly surrounded, but  though he was shot by a Union soldier amid cries of "Kill him! Kill him and his horse!", he managed to fight his way through to safety.  Forrest is generally agreed to be the last casualty of Shiloh.


Aftermath
The Battle of Shiloh stunned the nation. The Union Armies had suffered some 13,000 casualties, including 1750 dead and some 2000 captured. The Confederates had officially suffered some 11,000 casualties, but the numbers are unknown. Among these losses were future explorers John Welsey Powell, who lost an arm at Shiloh and Henry Stanley, captured at the end of the battle. Both sides had suffered more than twice the combined losses as the previous bloodiest battle in North America, Bull Run.  In fact, in two days of fighting, the 24,000 casualties were more combat losses than the country had sustained during the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War combined. Because the bodies began rotting in the April heat, Grant quickly had the dead buried in long trenches.

Wisconsin Flag-bearer Circle at the National Cemetery

In 1866, 3584 Union dead were exhumed and reburied in Shiloh National Cemetery. 2357 are unknown, and many may still be buried throughout the battlefield. At one end of the cemetery, a monument and circle commemorate six Wisconsin Flag-bearers killed keeping Old Glory aloft during the fighting at Shiloh.

Confederate Mass Grave #3

The Confederates remain buried in the trenches where they were moved after the battle. In the 1890s, the War Department claimed that it had found nine such burial trenches, but only 5 remain known, all in the Northern front where Bragg and Polk fought against Sherman and McClernand: One on each side of Rhea Field, two between the crossroads and Jones Field, and one near Cloud's Field. This one, closest to the crossroads, is believed to be the largest, with perhaps 700 bodies buried 7 deep. The Confederate forces had officially lost 1720 killed in action.  However the number of dead in just this one trench suggests the numbers may be higher. Again, many individual burials may still be scattered around the park.

What did Shiloh accomplish?  For many on both sides, the monstrous slaughter deep in the Tennessee wilderness seemed pointless.  No cities exchanged hands, no army was destroyed, nothing seemed to have been achieved. Grant and Sherman received heavy criticism from the public, spurred by reports that the Federal troops were caught unawares and many were bayoneted in their tents and/or that Grant had been drunk, while Beauregard was criticized for withdrawing and not destroying Grant late on April 6.

Iowa Monument Detail

As the storm of criticism engulfed Grant following Shiloh, many called on Lincoln to fire him. "I can't spare the man; he fights." came the reply.  Two years later a string of victories from Grant and the Army of the Tennessee would prove Lincoln correct.

Iowa Monument

Hindsight however showed that Shiloh was much more important than first thought. Grant managed to rebound from the near-disaster, and learned to rely on his bulldog instincts of fighting.  Sherman recovered from his nervous breakdown and surprise to discover his ability to lead men in fighting. Johnston's stripping the West for an army would directly result in the loss of Memphis and New Orleans, while his failure to destroy Grant and the Army of the Tennessee would result in that army becoming the most successful in the Civil War, resulting in the later loss of Vicksburg, Chattanooga and the entire West and the Carolinas.  Both sides now realized that a few battles would not win the Civil War, but would take the total conquest of the South. 1862 would show that bloodshed could only increase in this conflict.

Built in 1906, the Iowa Monument commemorates members of that state that fought at Shiloh. Eleven regiments from Iowa, numbering some 6700, fought at Shiloh, and 2400 ended as casualties.  This 23m monument cost $25,000 and is the largest on the battlefield.


To Visit
To visit Shiloh, take HWY 40 (West from Nashville, East from Memphis) and exit at HWY 69S. Follow the road until it passes by the park.

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