Battle of Shiloh
Johnston's plan was to defeat Grant before Buell could arrive with reinforcements. He moved to attack on Apr. 3, but because of delay in the advance to the Union front, it was not until early on Apr. 6 that his troops fell upon the enemy near Shiloh Church. Grant's position was unfortified, in spite of orders to the contrary from General Halleck, Union commander in the West. Having offensive plans of his own, Grant expected no attack, and consequently his irregularly placed divisions were thrown back in confusion at the Confederate assault (Encarta.msn.com). At a key position, known as the Hornet's Nest, 6 thousand Union troops under Prentiss and Gen. Wallace stood ground. It was called the Hornet's Nest because the sounds of the bullets flying through the air back and forth sounded like a hornet. The wall was broken when the Confederates brought 62 cannons and shot at point blank straight into the Union troops. Thi
With 20,000 reinforcements from the division at Crump's Landing and the advance divisions of Buell's army, the Federals took the offensive on Apr. With 13,047 Union and 10,694 Confederate casualties, including a total of nearly 3500 killed, more than twice the number of solders fell at Shiloh than in all the previous battles of the war combined (Purcell 1780-1790). Moreover, the Union army had turned back a major Southern attack, maintaining their position. The battle opened the way to split the Confederacy along the Mississippi, which, in the long run, meant defeat for the Confederacy. It was one of the bloodiest contests of the war. Beauregard, outnumbered and without fresh troops, resisted for about eight hours and then proceeded to withdraw to Corinth; the Union command did not make any effective pursuit (Bannister 87-90). The American Civil War: A Multicultural Encyclopedia Vol 6. The battle may have affirmed the bravery of Union and Confederate soldiers, but it ended any beliefs of immediate victory for either side.
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