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N0KFQ > TODAY 07.04.08 09:00l 47 Lines 2234 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 7
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
April 7, 1862
Battle of Shiloh concludes
Two days of heavy fighting conclude near Pittsburgh Landing in
western Tennessee. The Battle of Shiloh became a Union victory
after the Confederate attack stalled on April 6, and fresh Yankee
troops drove the Confederates from the field on April 7.
Shiloh began when Union General Ulysses S. Grant brought his army
down the Tennessee River to Pittsburgh landing in an effort to
move on Corinth, Mississippi, 20 miles to the southwest. Union
occupation of Corinth, a major rail center, would allow the
Yankees to control nearly all of western Tennessee. At Corinth,
Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston did not wait for Grant
to attack. He moved his army toward Grant, striking on the
morning of April 6. Throughout the day, the Confederates drove
the Yankees back but could not break the Union lines before
darkness halted the advance. Johnston was killed during the first
day, so General Pierre G. T. Beauregard assumed command of the
Confederate force.
Now, Grant was joined by the vanguard of Buell's army. With an
advantage in terms of troop numbers, Grant counterattacked on
April 7. The tired Confederates slowly retreated, but they
inflicted frightful casualties on the Yankees. By nightfall, the
Union had driven the Confederates back to Shiloh Church,
recapturing such grisly reminders of the previous days' battle
such as the Hornets' Nest, the Peach Orchard, and Bloody Pond.
The Confederates finally limped back to Corinth, thus giving a
major victory to Grant.
The cost of the victory was high. Grant's and Buell's forces
totaled about 62,000, of which 1,754 were killed, 8,408 were
wounded, and 2,885 were captured or missing for a total of 13,047
casualties. Of 45,000 Confederates engaged, 1,723 were killed,
8,012 wounded, and 959 missing for a total of 10,694 casualties.
The 23,741 casualties were five times the number at the First
Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, and they were more than all of
the war's major battles (Bull Run, Wilson's Creek, Fort Donelson,
and Pea Ridge) to that date combined. It was a sobering reminder
to all in the Union and the Confederacy that the war would be
long and costly.
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