Black_Magician
05-31-2005, 05:06 AM
How many mags u guys have?my friend has several copies of each issue.
The Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee.
Before the battle…
After the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson ,Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston and his forces fell back into west Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and Alabama to reorganize.
Grant occupied Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, awaiting the arrival of Major General Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio from Nashville. His orders from Halleck were to link up with Buell and advance south in a joint offensive to seize the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, a vital supply line between the Mississippi Valley, Memphis, and Richmond. Grant developed a reputation during the war for being more concerned with his own plans than with those of the enemy. His campsite at Pittsburg Landing showed his most consequential lack of such concern, because his army was spread out in bivouac style, many around the Shiloh Church, spending time waiting for Buell with drills, without entrenchments or other awareness of defensive measures.
Johnston had a name for his scattered troops. He called it the Army of the Mississippi. He gathered almost 55,000 men around Corinth, Mississippi, southwest of Grant's position. On April 3, Johnston departed from Corinth with about 44,000 men, hoping to surprise Grant before Buell arrived to join forces. The plan was to attack Grant from the left and hopefully dismantle the Union army from its support on the Tennessee River, driving it west into the swamps of Snake and Owl Creeks, where it could be destroyed.
Johnston's attack on Grant was originally planned for April 4, but the advance was delayed 48 hours. The delay was cause by extreme rainy weather. As a result, his second in command, General P.G.T. Beauregard, feared that there wouldn’t be any surprise so he wanted to fall back to Corinth. But Johnston refused to consider retreat.
Battle, April 6...
Early morning at 6:00 a.m. on April 6, 1862, Johnston's army was ready for battle, hanging out at the Corinth Road. The army had spent the entire night camping undetected for a battle just two miles away from the Union camps. His approach and dawn assault achieved almost total strategic and tactical surprise. The Union army had virtually no patrols in place for early warning. Grant telegraphed to Halleck on the night of the 5th, "I have scarcely the faintest idea of an attack (general one) being made upon us, but will be prepared should such a thing take place." The spirited fight that ensued did help a little to get Union troops better positioned, but the command of the Union army was figuratively asleep that morning.
Faulty planning on Johnston's part reduced the effectiveness of the attack. There were insufficient forces on the Confederate right to roll up the Union from that direction as planned. The corps of William J. Hardee and Braxton Bragg began the assault with their divisions in one long line. As these units advanced, they became intermingled and difficult to control. Corps commanders attacked in line without reserves. Beauregard, serving in the rear as second in command, ordered the corps of Leonidas Polk and John C. Breckenridge forward on the left and right of the line, diluting their effectiveness. The attack turned into a simple, but massive, frontal assault, with insufficient mass to break through.
The assault was ferocious and many inexperienced Union soldiers of Grant's new army fled for safety to the Tennessee River. Others fought well, but were forced to withdraw under strong pressure and attempted to form new defensive lines. General Grant himself was downriver about ten miles on a gunboat at Savannah, Tennessee, that morning. He heard the sound of artillery fire and raced to the battlefield, arriving about 8:30 a.m. He worked frantically to bring up reinforcements that were nearby: Brigadier General William Nelson's division from across the river at the Landing; Lew Wallace's division from Savannah. Buell's army was still too far away to affect the action that morning.
About 9:00 a.m., about 2,500 men of the Union division commanded by Prentiss established and held a line, nicknamed the Hornet's Nest, on a sunken road. The Confederates charged the position repeatedly, suffering appalling losses, rather than bypassing it, which have been more sensible militarily. The Union forces to the left and right of the Nest were forced back and Prentiss' position became a salient in the line. Coordination along the line was poor and units withdrew based solely on their individual commanders' decisions. Regiments became disorganized and companies disintegrated. However, it was not until the attackers assembled 62 cannons to blast the line that they were able to surround the position and the Hornet's Nest fell after holding for seven hours.
On the Union right flank, resistance was stiff and Johnston's forces bogged down in a savage fight around Shiloh Church. Throughout the day, the Confederates repeatedly assaulted the Union right, which gave ground but did not break.
The Union survivors established a solid front around Pittsburg Landing, including a ring of over 50 cannons, and repulsed the last Confederate charge as dusk ended the first day of fighting. Naval guns from the river assisted the defense. The Confederates' plan had failed because they had pushed Grant to the river, but they had not forced him west into the swamps.
In another setback, Johnston was mortally wounded at about 2:30 p.m. while personally leading attacks on the Union left. He had sent his personal surgeon away to care for troops, and in the doctor's absence, he bled to death from a leg wound that didn't seem serious at first. This was an enormous loss for the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis and many in the army considered Albert Sidney Johnston to be the most effective general they had. (This was two months before Robert E. Lee emerged as the pre-eminent Confederate general.) Beauregard assumed command.
As the exhausted Confederate soldiers bedded down in the abandoned Union camps, Sherman encountered Grant under a tree, sheltering himself from a pouring rain, smoking one of his cigars, considering his losses and planning for the next day.
April 7...
On April 7, 1862, the combined Union armies numbered 55,000 men. Beauregard had planned to continue the attack and drive Grant into the river, unaware that he was now outnumbered. Union forces started attacking at dawn; Grant and Buell launched their attacks separately and coordination occurred only down at the division level. Confederate lines stabilized around 9:00 a.m. By 10:00, the Union attack was occurring in concert along the entire line. The weight of the attack, which included the efforts of 25,000 fresh troops, was too much for the Confederates to withstand.
Realizing that he had lost the initiative, and that he was low on ammunition and food and with 15,000 of his men killed, wounded, or missing, Beauregard knew he could go no further. He withdrew beyond Shiloh Church, using Breckenridge as a covering force, and began marching back to Corinth. The exhausted Union soldiers did not pursue much past their original encampments. The battle was over.
Aftermath…
On April 8, Grant sent Sherman south along the Corinth Road in pursuit of the retreating Confederates. Meeting resistance from the cavalry screen under Nathan Bedford Forrest, Sherman abandoned the pursuit.
In late April and May the Union advanced toward Corinth and captured it, while an amphibious force on the Mississippi was destroying the Confederate River Defense Fleet and capturing Memphis. From these bases Grant pushed on down the Mississippi to besiege Vicksburg. After the surrender of Vicksburg and the fall of Port Hudson in the summer of 1863, the Confederacy was cut in half.
The two day battle of Shiloh, the costliest in U.S. history up to that time, resulted in the defeat of the Confederate army force and frustration of Johnston's plans to prevent the joining of the two Union armies in Tennessee. A total of 23,746 men were killed, wounded, captured, or missing, including Johnston himself. Both sides were shocked at the damage. Little did they know that three more years of such bloodshed remained in the war and that eight larger and bloodier battles were yet to come.
The Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee.
Before the battle…
After the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson ,Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston and his forces fell back into west Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and Alabama to reorganize.
Grant occupied Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, awaiting the arrival of Major General Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio from Nashville. His orders from Halleck were to link up with Buell and advance south in a joint offensive to seize the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, a vital supply line between the Mississippi Valley, Memphis, and Richmond. Grant developed a reputation during the war for being more concerned with his own plans than with those of the enemy. His campsite at Pittsburg Landing showed his most consequential lack of such concern, because his army was spread out in bivouac style, many around the Shiloh Church, spending time waiting for Buell with drills, without entrenchments or other awareness of defensive measures.
Johnston had a name for his scattered troops. He called it the Army of the Mississippi. He gathered almost 55,000 men around Corinth, Mississippi, southwest of Grant's position. On April 3, Johnston departed from Corinth with about 44,000 men, hoping to surprise Grant before Buell arrived to join forces. The plan was to attack Grant from the left and hopefully dismantle the Union army from its support on the Tennessee River, driving it west into the swamps of Snake and Owl Creeks, where it could be destroyed.
Johnston's attack on Grant was originally planned for April 4, but the advance was delayed 48 hours. The delay was cause by extreme rainy weather. As a result, his second in command, General P.G.T. Beauregard, feared that there wouldn’t be any surprise so he wanted to fall back to Corinth. But Johnston refused to consider retreat.
Battle, April 6...
Early morning at 6:00 a.m. on April 6, 1862, Johnston's army was ready for battle, hanging out at the Corinth Road. The army had spent the entire night camping undetected for a battle just two miles away from the Union camps. His approach and dawn assault achieved almost total strategic and tactical surprise. The Union army had virtually no patrols in place for early warning. Grant telegraphed to Halleck on the night of the 5th, "I have scarcely the faintest idea of an attack (general one) being made upon us, but will be prepared should such a thing take place." The spirited fight that ensued did help a little to get Union troops better positioned, but the command of the Union army was figuratively asleep that morning.
Faulty planning on Johnston's part reduced the effectiveness of the attack. There were insufficient forces on the Confederate right to roll up the Union from that direction as planned. The corps of William J. Hardee and Braxton Bragg began the assault with their divisions in one long line. As these units advanced, they became intermingled and difficult to control. Corps commanders attacked in line without reserves. Beauregard, serving in the rear as second in command, ordered the corps of Leonidas Polk and John C. Breckenridge forward on the left and right of the line, diluting their effectiveness. The attack turned into a simple, but massive, frontal assault, with insufficient mass to break through.
The assault was ferocious and many inexperienced Union soldiers of Grant's new army fled for safety to the Tennessee River. Others fought well, but were forced to withdraw under strong pressure and attempted to form new defensive lines. General Grant himself was downriver about ten miles on a gunboat at Savannah, Tennessee, that morning. He heard the sound of artillery fire and raced to the battlefield, arriving about 8:30 a.m. He worked frantically to bring up reinforcements that were nearby: Brigadier General William Nelson's division from across the river at the Landing; Lew Wallace's division from Savannah. Buell's army was still too far away to affect the action that morning.
About 9:00 a.m., about 2,500 men of the Union division commanded by Prentiss established and held a line, nicknamed the Hornet's Nest, on a sunken road. The Confederates charged the position repeatedly, suffering appalling losses, rather than bypassing it, which have been more sensible militarily. The Union forces to the left and right of the Nest were forced back and Prentiss' position became a salient in the line. Coordination along the line was poor and units withdrew based solely on their individual commanders' decisions. Regiments became disorganized and companies disintegrated. However, it was not until the attackers assembled 62 cannons to blast the line that they were able to surround the position and the Hornet's Nest fell after holding for seven hours.
On the Union right flank, resistance was stiff and Johnston's forces bogged down in a savage fight around Shiloh Church. Throughout the day, the Confederates repeatedly assaulted the Union right, which gave ground but did not break.
The Union survivors established a solid front around Pittsburg Landing, including a ring of over 50 cannons, and repulsed the last Confederate charge as dusk ended the first day of fighting. Naval guns from the river assisted the defense. The Confederates' plan had failed because they had pushed Grant to the river, but they had not forced him west into the swamps.
In another setback, Johnston was mortally wounded at about 2:30 p.m. while personally leading attacks on the Union left. He had sent his personal surgeon away to care for troops, and in the doctor's absence, he bled to death from a leg wound that didn't seem serious at first. This was an enormous loss for the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis and many in the army considered Albert Sidney Johnston to be the most effective general they had. (This was two months before Robert E. Lee emerged as the pre-eminent Confederate general.) Beauregard assumed command.
As the exhausted Confederate soldiers bedded down in the abandoned Union camps, Sherman encountered Grant under a tree, sheltering himself from a pouring rain, smoking one of his cigars, considering his losses and planning for the next day.
April 7...
On April 7, 1862, the combined Union armies numbered 55,000 men. Beauregard had planned to continue the attack and drive Grant into the river, unaware that he was now outnumbered. Union forces started attacking at dawn; Grant and Buell launched their attacks separately and coordination occurred only down at the division level. Confederate lines stabilized around 9:00 a.m. By 10:00, the Union attack was occurring in concert along the entire line. The weight of the attack, which included the efforts of 25,000 fresh troops, was too much for the Confederates to withstand.
Realizing that he had lost the initiative, and that he was low on ammunition and food and with 15,000 of his men killed, wounded, or missing, Beauregard knew he could go no further. He withdrew beyond Shiloh Church, using Breckenridge as a covering force, and began marching back to Corinth. The exhausted Union soldiers did not pursue much past their original encampments. The battle was over.
Aftermath…
On April 8, Grant sent Sherman south along the Corinth Road in pursuit of the retreating Confederates. Meeting resistance from the cavalry screen under Nathan Bedford Forrest, Sherman abandoned the pursuit.
In late April and May the Union advanced toward Corinth and captured it, while an amphibious force on the Mississippi was destroying the Confederate River Defense Fleet and capturing Memphis. From these bases Grant pushed on down the Mississippi to besiege Vicksburg. After the surrender of Vicksburg and the fall of Port Hudson in the summer of 1863, the Confederacy was cut in half.
The two day battle of Shiloh, the costliest in U.S. history up to that time, resulted in the defeat of the Confederate army force and frustration of Johnston's plans to prevent the joining of the two Union armies in Tennessee. A total of 23,746 men were killed, wounded, captured, or missing, including Johnston himself. Both sides were shocked at the damage. Little did they know that three more years of such bloodshed remained in the war and that eight larger and bloodier battles were yet to come.