Shiloh
Other Names: Pittsburg Landing
Location: Hardin County
Campaign: Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers (1862)
Date(s): April 6-7, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. Don Carlos
Buell [US]; Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston and Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard [CS]
Forces Engaged: Army of the Tennessee and Army of the Ohio (65,085) [US];
Army of the Mississippi (44,968) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 23,746 total (US 13,047; CS 10,699)
Description: As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Confederate
Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the area, was forced to fall back,
giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth,
Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive
against Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee before the Army
of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join it. The Confederate
retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces, and
it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a southern offensive,
along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to
await Buell’s Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant did not choose to
fortify his position; rather, he set about drilling his men many of which were
raw recruits. Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays
postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the
6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made
determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the
sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry
the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates
surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most.
Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen.
P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering
Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who
began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but
the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces
numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000.
Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a
counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of
Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened
and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack,
which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this
point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many
casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth. On the 8th,
Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen.
Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the
Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers.
Forrest’s aggressive tactics, although eventually contained, influenced the
Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate
forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to
fall back until launching their mid-August offensive.
Result(s): Union victory
CWSAC Reference #: TN003
Preservation Priority: III.1 (Class A)
National Park Unit: Shiloh National
Military Park