Battle of Shiloh
A few months before the Battle of Shiloh, Confederate forces had suffered severe defeats all along the western theater of the war. General Johnston decided that Shiloh would be the place the Confederates strike. Hopefully with a little luck they could turn the tide in west. With nearly 50,000 troops, Johnston was able to mount a ferocious attack on Federal forces. Union forces, Under General Ulysses S. Grant, were taken totally by surprise. However, Union forces had over 70,000 troops to fight with which gave them a slight advantage over the rebels from the beginning.
At 6:00 AM Johnston deployed his army for deployment. The entire Confederate Army moved in silence with the hope to catch the Yankees by surprise. To make things worse for the Union Army, they had sent out forward patrols to detect Confederate movement. The entire Rebel Army was swarming down without any detection. As the first Confederate regiments reached the Union camps, all hell broke loose. Many Union troops were still in bed and were totally taken by surprise. Others saw the Confederates swarming down and decided to flee to safety. The entire front line of the Union Army was shattered.
General Grant was actually down river about 10 miles when the battle opened up. Once he heard artillery fire, he raced towards the battle. Arriving at about 8:30 AM, General Grant could see his entire army in disarray. Upon arriving, Grant began to settle down his men and set up a strong defensive line along the many wooded areas that the Shiloh battlefield provided. Grant would hold his position until reinforcements arrived. During the mean time Confederate forces continued their assault on the Union Army. Slowly the Federal forces were pushed all the way back to Pittsburgh Landing where they were finally able to set up a strong defensive position. By the time Confederate forces could muster up a strong attack against the area, the sun began to set and the battle was stopped for the day. During the day the Confederates had achieved total surprise and devastated the Union army. However, they did suffer a huge loss. During the battle General Albert Johnston was mortally wounded and would later die. This would change the battle forever.
During the night, Union troops received nearly 13,000 reinforcements from General Buell. The next morning Union forces launched a ferocious counter attack on the Confederates. The weary rebel troops put up a good fight, but in the end they were too weary to keep fighting. Everything they had gained the day before was lost. Confederate forces had to retreat from the field. It was a devastating loss for the Confederate Army in the west. They would never recover.
During the Battle of Shiloh nearly 23,000 men were killed, wounded, or captured. At the time it was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.
