Overview
The Battle of Shiloh took place near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, from April 6 to April 7, 1862, during the Federal Penetration Up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. The engagement followed Union victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, which forced General Albert Sidney Johnston to abandon Kentucky and Nashville. General Henry Halleck then ordered General Ulysses S. Grant to wait near Pittsburg Landing for General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio.
Grant camped nearly 50,000 soldiers near the Tennessee River but did not build strong defenses because he did not expect an immediate Confederate attack. Johnston chose to strike before Grant and Buell could combine their armies. On April 6, Johnston’s Army of the Mississippi surprised the Union camps and pushed Grant’s troops toward the river.
Union forces made a seven-hour stand at the “Hornet’s Nest,” giving Grant time to reorganize his army. During the fighting, Johnston suffered a mortal wound, and General P.G.T. Beauregard assumed command. Union troops stopped Beauregard’s final attack near the river.
Buell’s reinforcements arrived during the night. On April 7, Grant and Buell launched a counterattack that forced the Confederates to retreat toward Corinth. The Union victory allowed Halleck to combine the two Union armies, weakened Confederate leadership in the West, and supported later Union advances toward Corinth, Chattanooga, and Vicksburg.
Essential Facts
- Also Known As: Battle of Pittsburg Landing.
- Date: April 6–7, 1862.
- Location: Hardin County near Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing in southwestern Tennessee.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell.
- CSA Commanders: Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard.
- Who Won: The United States won the Battle of Shiloh.
- Campaign: Federal Penetration Up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.
- Era: Civil War, January–June, 1862.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: About 13,000 killed, wounded, missing, or captured, including 1,754 killed.
- Forces Engaged: Army of the Tennessee and Army of the Ohio.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 76,000.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: About 13,500 killed, wounded, missing, or captured, including 1,728 killed.
- Forces Engaged: Army of the Mississippi.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 44,500.
Significance
The Battle of Shiloh is important to American History because it produced a decisive Union victory and supported further Federal advances into the Confederate West. Confederate forces failed to destroy Grant’s army or prevent the Army of the Tennessee from joining with the Army of the Ohio. The death of General Albert Sidney Johnston also weakened Confederate military leadership in the region. Although the battle caused about 13,000 casualties on each side, the Union victory allowed General Henry Halleck to combine his armies. It also opened the way for the fall of Corinth in May 1862 and later Federal occupations of Chattanooga and Vicksburg in 1863.
History
At the onset of the American Civil War, the State of Tennessee comprised most of the northern border of the Confederate States of America in the West. Defending that border was difficult for the Confederacy because three major rivers (the Mississippi, which flows south to the Gulf of Mexico, and the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, which flow north to the Ohio River) provided comparatively easy access to the South. In 1861, the State of Tennessee constructed earthen forts on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to prevent federal invasions from the north.
Grant Captures Fort Henry
By late 1861, President Abraham Lincoln was pressuring Union commanders in the West to invade the South. On January 30, 1862, the Western Theater commander, General Henry Halleck, reluctantly approved Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant’s request to attack Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, just twelve miles west of Fort Donelson. Eager to move, Grant left Cairo, Illinois on February 2, with 15,000 soldiers, plus a flotilla of seven gunboats commanded by United States Navy Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote. On February 6, Confederate Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman surrendered Fort Henry after a seventy-five-minute bombardment by Foote’s gunboats.
Grant Captures Fort Donelson
Following the surrender of Fort Henry, Grant turned his attention toward investing Fort Donelson, located just twelve miles to the east of Fort Henry on the Cumberland River. After a failed breakout on February 15, the Confederate commander of Fort Donelson, General Simon B. Buckner, surrendered Fort Donelson to Grant the next day.
Johnston Abandons Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee
The fall of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were serious blows to the Confederacy. It forced General A. S. Johnston, the commander of Confederate forces in the West, to abandon Kentucky and to fortify his position deeper in Tennessee. The fall of the two forts also provided the Federals with two major waterways in the West from which to launch an invasion of the South. As Union armies surged into Tennessee, Johnston abandoned Nashville and moved even farther south in late February, rather than risk suffering a major battlefield defeat.
Halleck Plans to Merge Union Armies
Halleck ordered Grant to march his army south to the community of Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, near the Tennessee-Mississippi border, and to await General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio, which had just captured Nashville, Tennessee. Halleck’s intention was to merge the two armies and to move south to cut the Memphis & Charleston Railroad line at Corinth, Mississippi.
Grant Awaits Buell’s Arrival
By early April, Grant encamped his army of nearly 50,000 men along the western side of the Tennessee River near Pittsburg Landing. Not believing that Johnston’s army was within striking distance, Grant used the time to drill his troops while waiting on Buell’s army instead of constructing defensive fortifications. Johnston, however, stopped retreating. Rather than waiting to confront the combined Union armies at Corinth, he chose to surprise Grant’s unprepared men at Pittsburg Landing.
April 6 — Johnston Attacks and Federals Flee
Despite reports of Confederate troop movements in the area in the days before the battle, Johnston’s Army of the Mississippi surprised the Federals by launching an attack on the morning of April 6. In the ensuing confusion, many of the Union troopos fled in panic. Others formed makeshift lines of battle and mounted some resistance. Gradually, however, the Confederates drove the Federals back to a defensive position behind Shiloh Church.
Federals Rally at the “Hornet’s Nest”
As the Confederates pressed their advance, Union soldiers commanded by Brigadier General Benjamin Prentice and Brigadier General W. H. L. Wallace made a stand at a position since popularized as the “Hornet’s Nest,” near a road now known as the “Sunken Road.” Although the Confederates mortally wounded Wallace and killed or captured many of his men, the seven-hour Union stand bought valuable time for Grant to reorganize his men and to establish a final defensive line. During the attempt to dislodge the Union defenders from the Hornet’s Nest, the Confederacy suffered a severe setback when General Johnston suffered a mortal wound.
Federals Repulse Final Assault
As the first day of the battle concluded, the Confederate advance stalled. Grant had reestablished order amongst his troops and set up a defensive line near the river. Johnston’s replacement, General P. G. T. Beauregard, attempted a final assault during the early evening, which the Federals repulsed. At nightfall, Beauregard suspended the attack.
Beauregard Claims Victory
That night, Beauregard sent a telegram to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, proclaiming “A complete victory.” Beauregard went to bed expecting to drive Grant’s army across the Tennessee River the next day. Grant, however, had established a strong position when reinforcements from Buell’s army arrived. Although the size of the armies was about equal on the first day of the battle, the Federals outnumbered Beauregard’s army when the sun rose.
April 7 — Federals Strike Back and Confederates Retreat
On the morning of April 7, to Beauregard’s surprise, Grant and Buell launched a counterattack. Outnumbered and running low on ammunition, the Confederates began to fall back. Despite several attempts to stop the Union advance, the Confederates gradually lost the ground they had captured the previous day. Eventually, Beauregard acknowledged defeat and ordered a retreat back to Corinth. To Buell’s dismay, Grant did not pursue the escaping Confederates. Except for a short cavalry encounter at a place called Fallen Timbers on April 8, the Battle of Shiloh had ended.
Aftermath
Although Union forces won the battle, inflammatory articles in the Northern press severely criticized Grant for being surprised by Johnston’s attack. Rumors circulated that Grant was drunk as Confederates bayoneted Union soldiers in their tents as they slept. Later historians credited Grant with rallying his men, maintaining his calm under dire circumstances, and turning chaos into victory.
After the battle, Halleck merged his armies and assumed personal command, relegating Grant to his second-in-command. When Union officials later called Halleck to Washington and promoted him to the chief of all Union armies, Grant returned to field command and resumed his string of victories over Southern forces.
The Battle of Shiloh cost each side about 13,000 casualties, but the conflict that began so favorably for the Confederacy ended as a decisive Union victory. The Confederates could not prevent Halleck from merging the armies of Grant and Buell. Nor did they drive the Union troops back north. Johnston’s death considerably diminished Confederate leadership in the West. Finally, the Union victory at Shiloh paved the way to the fall of Corinth in May and the federal occupation of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863.
Timeline
- 1861 — Tennessee constructed earthen forts on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to prevent federal invasions from the north.
- Late 1861 — President Abraham Lincoln pressured Union commanders in the West to invade the South.
- 1862, January 30 — Henry Halleck approved Ulysses S. Grant’s plan to attack Fort Henry.
- 1862, February 2 — Grant left Cairo, Illinois, with 15,000 soldiers and seven gunboats commanded by Andrew Hull Foote.
- 1862, February 6 — Union forces won the Battle of Fort Henry.
- 1862, February 12–16 — Union forces won the Battle of Fort Donelson.
- 1862, February, late — Albert Sidney Johnston abandoned Nashville and moved further south.
- 1862, April, early — Grant camped nearly 50,000 soldiers near Pittsburg Landing while waiting for Buell’s army.
- 1862, April 6
- Johnston’s Army of the Mississippi launched a surprise attack against Grant’s army.
- Confederate forces pushed Union troops toward a defensive position behind Shiloh Church.
- Union soldiers made a seven-hour stand at the “Hornet’s Nest.”
- Johnston suffered a mortal wound.
- Union forces stopped P.G.T. Beauregard’s final assault near the Tennessee River.
- Beauregard informed Confederate President Jefferson Davis that the Confederates had won “A complete victory.”
- 1862, April 6–7 — Reinforcements from Buell’s Army of the Ohio arrived and strengthened Grant’s position.
- 1862, April 7
- Grant and Buell launched a Union counterattack.
- 1862, April 7
- Beauregard ordered the Confederate army to retreat toward Corinth.
AP US History
Definition
Battle of Shiloh (1862) — The Battle of Shiloh was fought near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, from April 6 to April 7, 1862. General Albert Sidney Johnston’s Confederate army surprised General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces and pushed them toward the Tennessee River. A long Union defense at the “Hornet’s Nest” gave Grant time to reorganize, while Johnston suffered a mortal wound. Reinforcements from General Don Carlos Buell arrived, and the Union counterattack forced General P.G.T. Beauregard to retreat to Corinth.
Alignment
The Battle of Shiloh is part of the following AP US History sections:
