Wednesday, April 11, 2012

April 7, 1862

April 7, 1862:  Western Theater, Tennessee Valley Campaign - THE BATTLE OF SHILOH, Tennessee.  Day Two.   All night, transports ferry across the river the rest of Buell’s troops that are present–in addition to Nelson’s Division, there are also division under McCook, Crittenden, and Wood.  Grant plans to counterattack.  Buell’s Army of the Ohio takes the left part of the Union line, while Grant’s army takes the right flank.  Due to bad blood between Grant and Buell, the two commanders decided to each command their own troops in cooperation.  Hurlbut, McClernand, and Sherman’s divisions extend from the center to the right, where Lew Wallace’s division took its place at the extreme right flank.

            The Confederate army scattered, disorganized, and beyond any command structure, this morning Beauregard faces the huge task of getting them organized to resume the attacks.  His goal is to press Grant and force a surrender, but he has no idea that Buell has arrived and has crossed the river, even though many of his troops and officers know, so shabby are staff communications in this army.  Nelson’s division steps off first, and advances.  The Rebels do not even respond until Nelson is nearly on them—then they respond and begin to form a resistance.  The rest of the Union line steps off, and Grant finds little resistance in front of him.  The Army of the Tennessee moves a full mile and a half before encoutering any resistance.  Buell, however, has stalled, and the fighting breaks up into small battles with clumps of disorganized Confederates.  The Rebels begin falling back, however, as Beauregard realizes that he has no choice but to retreat.  He places Breckenridge’s Reserves near Shiloh Church to slow down the Yankee advance until he can get the rest of the army safely on the road to Corinth. 

Union Victory.  

Losses:

               Killed                   Wounded               Captured or Missing          Total

U.S.         1,754                     8,408                      2,885                                  13,047

C.S.          1,728                     8,012                     959                                     10,699

Shiloh was, to date, the bloodiest recorded battle fought in North America.  Patrick Cleburne’s Arkansas and Tennessee division went into battle with 2750 men.  At the end of thebattle, he had only 58 left.


---Private Sam. R. Watkins, of the 1st Tennessee Infantry, who fought at Shiloh, records his memory of the Southern fortunes that day: 

On Monday the tide was reversed.
Now, those Yankees were whipped, fairly whipped, and according to all the rules of war they ought to have retreated. But they didn't. Flushed with their victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and the capture of Nashville, and the whole State of Tennessee having fallen into their hands, victory was again to perch upon their banners, for Buell's army, by forced marches, had come to Grant's assistance at the eleventh hour.

Gunboats and transports were busily crossing Buell's army all of Sunday night. We could hear their boats ringing their bells, and hear the puff of smoke and steam from their boilers. Our regiment was the advance outpost, and we saw the skirmish line of the Federals advancing and then their main line and then their artillery. We made a good fight on Monday morning, and I was taken by surprise when the order came for us to retreat instead of advance. But as I said before, reader, a private soldier is but an automaton, and knows nothing of what is going on among the generals, and I am only giving the chronicles of little things and events that came under my own observation as I saw them then and remember them now. Should you desire to find out more about the battle, I refer you to history.


—Commodore Andrew Foote runs the USS Carondelet past the Rebel batteries at Island No. 10, and makes it safely to New Madrid.  After another gunboat accomplishes the same thing, then Gen. John Pope ferries his troops safely downstream and lands them south of the fortress at Island No. 10, cutting off the Rebel garrison from retreat.  Rebel Gen. Wm.  Mackall will surrender formally on the morrow, with 4,500 Confederate troops as prisoners of the Union.


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