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Shiloh National Cemetery
Shiloh National Cemetery.

Results of the Battle

The losses on each side at Shiloh were unusually heavy. Grant's army of 39,830 had been reinforced by 25,255 during the night between the 2 days' battle, swelling the total number of Union troops engaged to 65,085, excluding a guard detachment of 1,727 men left at Crump's Landing. Of that total number 1,754 were reported killed, 8,408 wound ed, and 2,885 missing; presenting an aggregate of 13,047 casualties.

The army under Generals Johnston and Beauregard had gone into battle with 43,968 men of all arms and condition. They received no reinforcements, except 731 men of Col. Munson R. Hill's Tennessee Regiment who had reached the front unarmed and were furnished with arms and equipment picked up from the field. The Southerners lost 1,728 killed, 8,012 wounded, and 959 captured or missing, or a total of 10,699 casualties.

"Present" and "Casualties" at Shiloh

for duty
Killed Wounded Missing Total

Army of the Tennessee (April 6) 39,830 1,433 6,202 2,818 10,453

Reinforcements (April 7)

Army of the Tennessee 7,337 80 399 12 491
Army of the Ohio 17,918 241 1,807 55 2,103

   Total Federals engaged1 65,085 1,754 8,408 2,885 13,047

Army of the Mississippi (April 6) 43,968 1,728 8,012 959 10,699

Reinforcements (April 7)

Hill's 47th Tennessee 731

   Total Confederates engaged 44,699 1,728 8,012 959 10,699

   GRAND TOTAL 109,784 3,482 16,420 3,844 23,746

1 Does not include 1,727 troops left at Crump's Landing as rear guard.

Bloody Pond
Bloody Pond.

During the first few weeks following the battle, both sides claimed a victory. The Confederates based their claim upon the facts that they had inflicted an almost complete rout on the Federals on Sunday, April 6, and that they had been able to hold a part of the field until they withdrew in good order on Monday. Furthermore, they said, the Union armies were so battered that they were unable to pursue.

The Federals claimed the victory upon the grounds that on Monday evening they had recovered their encampments and had possession of the field from which the Confederates had retired, leaving behind a large number of their dead and wounded.

After the Battle of Shiloh the Confederates were compelled to withdraw southward. Corinth was abandoned to the North on May 30th, severing the railroad from Memphis to Chattanooga. By the end of June 1862, only those forts on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg remained in Southern hands. After a long siege, Vicksburg fell to the North on July 4, 1863, cutting the Confederacy in two.

Confederate Plan of Battle.
(click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

How the Battle was Fought.
(click on image for an enlargement in a new window)


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