previous next

9% of the text is displayed below. If you wish to view the entire text, please click here

Chapter 35:

    I. The night of the 6th

  • the withdrawal.
  • -- estimated losses. -- Polk's position. -- bombardment and tempest. -- Beauregard's headquarters. -- reinforcements. -- the respite improved. -- Federal orders for attack. -- Buell's statements. -- the remnant of Grant's army.

    II. the battle of Monday p. 643.

  • renewal of battle.
  • -- Federal alignment. -- Confederate right. -- the attack on it. -- the battle. -- individual heroism. -- contradictory orders. -- Buell's attack. -- battle at the centre. -- attack by Grant's army. -- Polk's defense at Shiloh Church. -- Bragg resists Lew Wallace. -- the Kentucky brigade. -- Beauregard retreats. -- the rear-guard. -- abortive pursuit. -- arrest repulses Sherman. -- the artillery. -- Rev. Robert Collyer's account. -- losses. -- the fiercest fight of the War. -- the consequences. -- Grant, Sherman, and Buell. -- amenities in War. -- end of the campaign.

    Appendices p. 661.

  • General Beauregard's official report.
  • -- killed, wounded, and missing. -- field return of the Confederate forces that marched from Corinth to the Tennessee River. -- field return of the army of the Mississippi after the battle of Shiloh. -- field return of the army of the Mississippi before and after the battle of Shiloh. -- organization and casualties of the army of the Mississippi, April 6 and 7, 1862. -- organization, strength, and casualties, of Grant's army at the battle of Shiloh. -- United States troops engaged at Shiloh.



I. The night of the 6th.

    I. The night of the 6th

  • the withdrawal.
  • -- estimated losses. -- Polk's position. -- bombardment and tempest. -- Beauregard's headquarters. -- reinforcements. -- the respite improved. -- Federal orders for attack. -- Buell's statements. -- the remnant of Grant's army.

    II. the battle of Monday p. 643.

  • renewal of battle.
  • -- Federal alignment. -- Confederate right. -- the attack on it. -- the battle. -- individual heroism. -- contradictory orders. -- Buell's attack. -- battle at the centre. -- attack by Grant's army. -- Polk's defense at Shiloh Church. -- Bragg resists Lew Wallace. -- the Kentucky brigade. -- Beauregard retreats. -- the rear-guard. -- abortive pursuit. -- arrest repulses Sherman. -- the artillery. -- Rev. Robert Collyer's account. -- losses. -- the fiercest fight of the War. -- the consequences. -- Grant, Sherman, and Buell. -- amenities in War. -- end of the campaign.

    Appendices p. 661.

  • General Beauregard's official report.
  • -- killed, wounded, and missing. -- field return of the Confederate forces that marched from Corinth to the Tennessee River. -- field return of the army of the Mississippi after the battle of Shiloh. -- field return of the army of the Mississippi before and after the battle of Shiloh. -- organization and casualties of the army of the Mississippi, April 6 and 7, 1862. -- organization, strength, and casualties, of Grant's army at the battle of Shiloh. -- United States troops engaged at Shiloh.


Nightfall found the victorious Confederates retiring from the front, and abandoning the vantage-ground on the bluffs, won at such a cost of blood. This gave the Federals room and opportunity to come out from their corner, and to advance and reoccupy the strong positions from which they had been driven, and dispose their troops on much more favorable ground than the crowded landing permitted. Called off from the pursuit by staff officers, who gave no specific instructions, the brigades, according to circumstances, bivouacked on the battle-field, marched to the rear, or made themselves comfortable on the profuse spoils of the enemy's encampments. Some were painfully threading the dark paths of the forest, finding or losing their way, in search of vaguely-designated positions. Others sought the sleep of exhaustion in dread of some sudden sally, not knowing how they lay toward friend or foe.

Jordan estimates the losses of the 6th ( “Life of Forrest,” page 138) at 6,500. There were, of course, many stragglers. He estimates the Confederate infantry, ready for battle on the morning of the 7th, at 20,000 men. Jordan also says that Polk led his troops a mile and a half to the rear of Shiloh. This is a mistake. Clark's division, now under A. P. Stewart, bivouacked on the ground. Cheatham, having become detached with one brigade, thought best to retire to his encampments of the night before; but he held his men well in hand, and had them ready for engagement early next morning. Their withdrawal and position were reported that night by General Polk to General Beauregard, who gave no orders for their return. Polk joined them, in order to be sure of their early presence on the field, and led [640] them back at an early hour; and their conduct was uncommonly spirited on Monday.

At regular intervals of ten minutes the gunboats threw a shell; and the boom and roar of these heavy missiles, bursting among the tired Confederates, broke their repose and added to the demoralization. At midnight, too, another heavy storm broke upon them, drenching those who had not been so fortunate as to secure shelter in the Federal encampments. There was no lack of provisions, however, and the men reveled without stint in the unwonted luxuries of the Federal sutlers' stores.

At headquarters, credence was given to a misleading dispatch from Decatur (or Florence).

Colonel Jordan, in a letter to the Savannah Republican, says of General Beauregard:

Animated by the plain dictates of prudence and foresight, he sought to be ready for the coming storm, which he had anticipated and predicted as early as the afternoon of the 5th.

By this he means the arrival of Buell's reinforcements. And he says in the same letter:

General Beauregard had the current [concurrent?] evidence of prisoners and scouts, that Buell's arrival was confidently expected. ... It was, however, after General Beauregard had given his orders, and made his arrangements as far as practicable to meet any exigency, that I joined him and communicated the substance of a dispatch, addressed to General Johnston, that had been handed me on the battle-field, which encouraged the hope that the main part of Buell's forces had marched in the direction of Decatur.

He says (in his “Life of Forrest,” page 136) that this emanated from a reliable officer, placed near Florence for observation, and adds:

Buell's timely junction with General Grant was accordingly deemed impossible. Therefore the capture of the latter was regarded at Confederate headquarters as inevitable the next day, as soon as all the scattered Confederate reserves could be brought to bear for a concentrated effort.

Colonel Preston telegraphed to the President from Corinth, April 7th.

General Johnston fell yesterday while leading a successful charge, turning the enemy's right, and gaining a brilliant victory. (Here follow some details already given.) Last night

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Sort places alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a place to search for it in this document.
Shiloh, Tenn. (Tennessee, United States) (15)
Pittsburg Landing (Tennessee, United States) (13)
Tennessee River (United States) (8)
Shiloh Church (Georgia, United States) (8)
Owl Creek (Tennessee, United States) (6)
Hamburg, Tenn. (Tennessee, United States) (4)
Tennessee (Tennessee, United States) (3)
Savannah (Georgia, United States) (3)
Mississippi (Mississippi, United States) (3)
Lick Creek (Tennessee, United States) (3)
Mobile, Ala. (Alabama, United States) (2)
Louisiana (Louisiana, United States) (2)
Kentucky (Kentucky, United States) (2)
Florence, S. C. (South Carolina, United States) (2)
Columbia, Tenn. (Tennessee, United States) (2)
Wilson's Creek (Missouri, United States) (1)
Tupelo (Mississippi, United States) (1)
Richmond (Virginia, United States) (1)
Pensacola (Florida, United States) (1)
Murfreesboro (Tennessee, United States) (1)
Monterey, Tenn. (Tennessee, United States) (1)
Manassas, Va. (Virginia, United States) (1)
Jackson (Tennessee, United States) (1)
Iuka (Mississippi, United States) (1)
Headquarters (Washington, United States) (1)
Fortress Monroe (Virginia, United States) (1)
Farmington (Mississippi, United States) (1)
Elkhorn, Walworth County, Wisconsin (Wisconsin, United States) (1)
Edgefield (Tennessee, United States) (1)
Eastport (Mississippi, United States) (1)
Decatur (Tennessee, United States) (1)
Crescent City (California, United States) (1)
Corinth (Mississippi, United States) (1)
Columbus, Ky. (Kentucky, United States) (1)
Caffey (Tennessee, United States) (1)
Bethel, Me. (Maine, United States) (1)
Alleghany Mountains (United States) (1)
Alabama (Alabama, United States) (1)

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
U. S. Grant (36)
D. C. Buell (36)
G. T. Beauregard (29)
W. T. Sherman (28)
Braxton Bragg (20)
Leonidas Polk (19)
William Nelson (16)
Cabell Breckinridge (16)
Lew Wallace (14)
McCook (12)
George B. Crittenden (10)
Cheatham (10)
A. S. Johnston (9)
William Joseph Hardee (9)
Thomas Jordan (8)
Trabue (6)
Hurlbut (6)
Gladden (6)
R. L. Gibson (6)
Nathan Bedford Forrest (6)
Generals Chalmers (6)
Prentiss (5)
John A. McClernand (5)
P. R. Cleburne (5)
Patton Anderson (5)
Wood (4)
D. Ruggles (4)
Preston Pond (4)
Hindman (4)
William Clark (4)
Withers (3)
J. D. Webster (3)
A. P. Stewart (3)
Preston Smith (3)
Mickey (3)
Kirk (3)
Ketchum (3)
Albert Sidney Johnston (3)
H. W. Halleck (3)
Jeremy F. Gilmer (3)
Willie Forrest (3)
Robert Collyer (3)
John W. Caldwell (3)
Byrne (3)
John S. Bowen (3)
Badeau (3)
Willich (2)
Wheeler (2)
Jacob Thompson (2)
Terrell (2)
Statham (2)
Clifton H. Smith (2)
Lovell H. Rousseau (2)
William Preston (2)
R. A. Johnson (2)
George W. Johnson (2)
Bushrod R. Johnson (2)
Hildebrand (2)
Hazen (2)
S. W. Ferguson (2)
Deas (2)
H. P. Brewster (2)
G. Ammen (2)
D. W. Yandell (1)
J. M. Wright (1)
Nathaniel Wickliffe (1)
N. Wickliffe (1)
Wickham (1)
J. E. Whitfield (1)
John A. Wharton (1)
W. H. L. Wallace (1)
B. B. Waddell (1)
Tully (1)
Trudeau (1)
Jeff Thompson (1)
George H. Thomas (1)
Zachary Taylor (1)
Tappan (1)
Swinton (1)
Alexander H. Stephens (1)
Steel (1)
Stanley (1)
John Spurrier (1)
Albert J. Smith (1)
Slocomb (1)
Phil Sheridan (1)
Scales (1)
Tom Saunders (1)
Sandidge (1)
Rankin (1)
Thomas Preston (1)
W. W. Porter (1)
H. E. Peyton (1)
Moses L. Patton (1)
Comte Paris (1)
John M. Otey (1)
Theodore O'Hara (1)
Nuckols (1)
Andrew Neil (1)
Edward W. Munford (1)
Mouton (1)
John Morgan (1)
A. B. Moore (1)
Thomas B. Monroe (1)
Ben Monroe (1)
Metcalf (1)
Mendenhall (1)
Eugene E. McLean (1)
James McDowell (1)
John S. Marmaduke (1)
Frank Maney (1)
James Love (1)
Looney (1)
Lockett (1)
Levenway (1)
R. B. Lee (1)
F. H. Jordan (1)
William E. Jones (1)
George M. Johnson (1)
Bushrod Johnson (1)
Thomas M. Jack (1)
R. P. Hunt (1)
Hodgson (1)
Hines (1)
A. Hickenlooper (1)
B. H. Helm (1)
Heintzelman (1)
S. S. Heard (1)
D. M. Hayden (1)
Isaac F. Harrison (1)
Isham G. Harris (1)
John S. Griffin (1)
W. E. Goolsby (1)
Girardey (1)
Gage (1)
Fremeaux (1)
Foard (1)
Fitzhenry (1)
Fielder (1)
Albert Ferry (1)
Earl Dorn (1)
E. Deslonde (1)
Decatur (1)
Jefferson Davis (1)
E. H. Cummins (1)
Cowley (1)
Coppee (1)
S. Cooper (1)
Cofer (1)
S. Chopin (1)
A. R. Chisholm (1)
John C. Carter (1)
Campbell (1)
Bruce (1)
Brotzman (1)
R. L. Brodie (1)
George W. Brent (1)
Blythe (1)
Calhoun Benham (1)
George Baylor (1)
William H. C. Bartlett (1)
Bankhead (1)
A. P. Avegno (1)
Numa Augustin (1)
Wirt Adams (1)
Dan Adams (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
April 7th (5)
6th (5)
April 6th, 1862 AD (3)
7th (3)
April 7th, 1862 AD (2)
2nd (2)
April 11th, 1862 AD (1)
June (1)
May 30th (1)
April 9th (1)
April 6th (1)
April 5th (1)
April 1st (1)
February (1)
9th (1)
8th (1)
5th (1)
4th (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: