April 6, 1862---The Battle of Shiloh: Day One

APRIL 6, 1862:           

 The Battle of Shiloh (The Battle of Shiloh Church; The Battle of Pittsburg Landing) (Day One):            

In the early morning hours, 40,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston poured out of the nearby woods and struck U.S. Grant’s 50,000 man force encamped at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The Union troops were utterly unprepared for such an attack---Grant had not even set up pickets, much less built entrenchments or fortifications. By some odd chance of acoustic shadowing, the Union men had not even heard the Confederates approaching. 

The Rebel yell echoed through the woods around Shiloh Church (the name, in Hebrew, means “Place of Peace”). The overpowering Confederate offensive drove the unprepared Federal forces from their camps and threatened to overwhelm Ulysses S. Grant’s entire command. Although many Federals fell, and others broke and ran, most Federals made determined stands, and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornet's Nest.”

Fourteen headlong repeated Rebel attacks failed to capture the Hornet's Nest, but 50 cannons formed into a line of massed artillery named “Ruggles’ Battery” blasted the Union line to gory bits and helped to turn the tide as the Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most of them. The Confederate commanders sent messages to Richmond declaring a great victory, and predicting the capture of Ulysses S. Grant in the morning. Grant, for his part, was possessed of equanimity in the face of the day’s carnage. When General William Tecumseh Sherman encountered Grant under a tree, sheltering himself from the pouring rain, Grant was smoking one of his famous cigars while considering his losses and planning for the next day. Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

During the first day’s attacks, General A.S. Johnston was mortally wounded and was replaced by P.G.T. Beauregard. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals continued to hold. Grant used the time to reorganize and reinforce. The sacrifices at the Hornet’s Nest had not been in vain.

Fo