Name: edHelper Battle of Shiloh In the spring of 1862, the war effort was not going well for the Confederate General A. S. Johnston. He commanded the troops in Kentucky and Tennessee but had suffered some large losses. Most of Kentucky now belonged to the Union side as well as many parts of Tennessee. He had to move into the western parts of Tennessee as well as northern Alabama and Mississippi. In the town of Corinth, Mississippi, he set up his base of operations to plan his next attack. General Ulysses S. Grant was in charge of the Union army in Kentucky. To keep the Confederate army from moving north again, he moved his troops south in hopes of gaining the advantage. He chose a position at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River to wait for reinforcements before going after Johnston. This whole portion of the land was not easy to move in. It was rich in swamps, mud, and a few isolated farms. Even the roads were little more than cow paths, often sunken down between high banks. Rather than building fortifications there, Grant decided to train his inexperienced men. Johnston was keeping an eye on Grant. He wanted to win a big victory to boost the morale of the Confederacy, so he planned an attack. He hoped to surprise Grant on April 4, 1862, but bad road conditions and rain slowed him too much. The attack was postponed instead for two days later. On the morning of April 6, he surprised the Union soldiers who had been sitting in camp relaxing. Many of them were routed completely, but some managed to escape to the woods, while others held the battle line at the old sunken road. It took the Confederates six hours to take the position that became known as the "Hornet's Nest." It got its name because bullets buzzed so thickly they sounded like hornets. During the fighting in the nearby woods, General Johnston was shot and wounded multiple times. If the bleeding had been stopped from his leg injury in time, he would have survived. Unfortunately, he had sent his personal surgeon to look after the injuries of Union prisoners, and so the doctor wasn't on hand to save his life. After his death, General Beauregard took over and nearly pushed the Union soldiers right to the river. Fighting continued after darkness had fallen. Under that cover, General Buell of the Union army from Ohio arrived and began ferrying his men across the river to reinforce the struggling Union line. General Beauregard was at first unaware of the new arrivals, and he planned to improve on the Confederate gains from the day before. His initial success soon faded as Union positions held and then pushed back. Beauregard ordered a counter attack which prevented the Union from advancing, but the Confederates could not break through the line. It soon became obvious that they would not win this battle. Beauregard could see that his men were exhausted from fighting for a Name: edHelper day and a night. He'd also lost many to death or injury. He ordered the army to pull back to Corinth again. Grant wanted to take advantage of their retreat and sent Generals Sherman and Wood after them. They soon ran into Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest who commanded the rearguard. He responded aggressively, and the Union troops soon returned to Pittsburg Landing. The Union named the battle after the landing at the river, but the Confederates called it Shiloh. Some of the fighting centered around the church building called Shiloh Chapel. It's interesting to note that Shiloh is a Hebrew word for peace. The shocking loss of more than 23,000 men to death or injury in two days was proof that peace would be slow in coming. Battle of Shiloh Questions 1. Why would General Grant be concerned about Johnston coming north again? A. Johnston wanted to regain lost ground. B. Johnston wanted to get back at Grant. C. Grant wasn't concerned about Johnston. D. None of the above. 2. How would the terrain affect the troop movements? A. The bad roads exhausted the men. B. The mud made everything move slower. C. The troops weren't bothered because they arrived in boats. D. The mud slowed the men, but that was all. 3. How might the death of General Johnston have affected how General Beauregard fought the rest of the battle? 4. Why did Johnston want to win a big victory at Shiloh? A. Shiloh was on Southern ground. B. He was afraid of losing his job. C. He wanted to improve the morale of his men. D. He was tired of being beaten by the Union forces. 5. The initial attack by Johnston routed many of the Union soldiers, causing them to run away. Define rout as it was used in the story. A. Complete defeat B. To dig for food C. A disorderly group D. Make a loud noise Name: edHelper 6. If General Buell had been another day later arriving, how might that have affected the outcome of the battle? 7. General Grant sent two other generals after General Beauregard when he retreated. Who were they? A. Wood and Buell B. Sherman and Buell C. Wood and Sherman D. Sherman and Forrest 8. Shiloh was a very hard, bloody battle, the opposite of peace. Why is or isn't it an appropriate name? Explain your answer. edHelper Name: How many of these can you write about? Think! Write! Check all the ones you answered. General Johnston planned to attack Grant at Shiloh on April 4, 1862. Instead, he was two days late. What effect would the bad roads and weather have on the soldiers? During the night, after Johnston's attack on Grant's position at Shiloh, Union reinforcements arrived to help Grant win the battle. How might the outcome have changed if Johnston had been able to attack two days earlier? Don't stop writing. Use a blank piece of paper to continue..