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The Battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) |
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| April 6-7, 1862 |
The fall of Forts Henry and Donelson and Nashville (February 1862) made it possible for Union gunboats and transports to steam south, up the Tennessee to threaten the important Confederate railway junction, troop staging area, and supply depot at Corinth, Mississippi near the Tennessee border. The Union Army of the Tennessee (42,000 men - MG Ulysses S. Grant, commanding) arrived in mid-March at Pittsburg Landing (west bank of the Tennessee) near Shiloh Church, TN about 20 miles northwest of Corinth, MS. The Confederate Army of the Mississippi (40,000+ men - GEN Albert Sydney Johnston, commanding - until mortally wounded on April 6 and replaced by GEN P.G.T. Beauregard), stealthily marching from Corinth, hoped to engage and isolate Grant's army before it could be reinforced by major elements of the Union Army of the Ohio (20,000+ men enroute from Nashville - BG Don Carlos Buell, commanding) and an infantry division commanded by BG Lewis Wallace. Achieving a tactical surprise (the unsuspecting Union army did not have adequate defensive positions) on the morning of 6 April, Johnston's Army of the Mississippi rolled the Federal troops back toward Tennessee and by late afternoon the Confederates were on the verge of a great victory. But during the late afternoon and into the night, the bulk of Buell's Army of the Ohio arrived and, along with Wallace's division, began to bolster Grant's defensive lines - the Army of the Mississippi, however, received no reinforcements! Early the next morning (7 April) the Union armies counterattacked Beauregard's outnumbered and weary troops, forcing a general retreat toward Corinth. At Shiloh Church Grant and Buell had won a desperate victory. The South had suffered a bitter defeat and the loss of Albert Sydney Johnston, one of its most promising army commanders. Estimated Casualties: Union - 13,047; Confederate - 11,600+.
Notes:
Numbers in parentheses reflect estimated strength of armies or units.
Estimated casualty figures are totals for killed, wounded, missing in action, and taken prisoner.
Alternative names of battles and campaigns appear in parentheses.
Military and naval rank abbreviations in text: LT - Lieutenant, CPT - Captain, MAJ - Major, LTC - Lieutenant Colonel, CDR - Commander (Navy), COL - Colonel, BG - Brigadier General, MG - Major General, RADM - Rear Admiral (Navy), LTG - Lieutenant General, VADM - Vice Admiral (Navy), and GEN - General.
Army Organization: Although authorized and actual strength and the rank of the commanding officer often varied, the standard military unit during the War was the infantry regiment (1,000 men, COL commanding) which was comprised of 10 companies (100 men each, CPT commanding). 3-4 Regiments = 1 Brigade (3,000-4000 men, BG commanding). 3 (sometimes 4) Brigades = 1 Division (9000-12,000 men, BG or MG commanding). 2-4 (usually 3) Divisions = 1 Corps (18,000-24,000+ men, MG - North and MG or LTG -South commanding). 2 or more Corps = An Army (usually 20,000-100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding). 2 or more Armies = An Army Group (usually 100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding).
Sources:
Atlas for the American Civil War, The West Point Military History Series, 1986.
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson. 1988.
Battlefields of the Civil War, by Roger W. Hicks and Frances E. Schultz. 1989.
The Centennial History of the Civil War, 3 Vols., by Bruce Catton. 1961-65.
The Civil War (Series), Editors of Time-Life Books. 1983.
The Civil War: A Narrative, 3 Vols., by Shelby Foote. 1958-1974.
The Civil War: An Illustrated History, by Geoffrey C. Ward with Ric Burns and Ken Burns. 1990.
The Civil War Battlefield Guide, Ed. by Frances H. Kennedy. 1990.
The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, by E.B. Long with Barbara Long. 1971.
The Encyclopedia of Military History, Second Rev. Ed., by R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. 1986.
West Point Atlas of American Wars, Vol. I, Ed. by Vincent J. Esposito. 1959.
Who Was Who in the Civil War, by Stewart Sifakis. 1988.
Photographs courtesy of The Generals of the American Civil War Website.
