The American Civil War Is No Exception

Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the "Hornets Nest." Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburgh Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many

After Shiloh the South would never smile again. Known originally as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, The Battle of Shiloh was the bloodiest battle fought in North America up to that time. Pittsburg Landing was an area from where the Yankees planned to attack the Confederates who had moved from Fort Donelson to Corinth, Mississippi. The North was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant and the South by General Albert Sydney Johnston.

On July 1-3, 1863 in the town of Gettysburg Pennsylvania, Confederate and Union armies compile 50,000 a causalities in what would be the deadliest battle of the Civil War and American History. Major General George Meade of the Union Army of the Potomac and General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia turning point of the Civil War with a decisive victory of the Union. Costly missed opportunities and lack of intelligence lead to failure by the Confederate army and Union Army’s resilience of defense on the high ground of the Hills of Gettysburg tell the story of the Battle.

It was well believed until Jackson’s forces began unloading rounds on the Union army stopping McDowell’s forces from advancing, holding the line like “a stone wall.” As the new Union recruits witnessed battle for the first time and felt the lack of preparation, they were quick to retreat back to Washington DC. The Southern victory and the tens of thousands of lives lost proved to the Union that this war was not going to be easily won.

The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh starts as reinforcements from General Buell’s Army of the Ohio and a unit of Grant’s own reserve division joined the Union Army now positioned at Pittsburg Landing. These reinforcements added over 22,500 men to the Union lines13 bringing the total number of Union forces to over 45,000, which is more than they had on 6 April, the first day of fighting.14 On April 7, General Grant renewed the fighting with an aggressive counteract.15 Greatly outnumbered (Confederate forces now around 25,000) and disorganized the Confederate forces now under General Beauregard fought hard but eventually had to retreat to back Corinth.16 The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh was won by General Grant and his Union forces due to two main reasons. The first, Union troop numbers greatly outnumbered their enemy, over 45,000 to 25,000 respectively. And secondly, the reinforcements received by General Grant had not fought the day before and were fresh and excited to fight, unlike the exhausted remaining Confederate troops.17 This was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil up to that point, with 23,746 casualties (Union: 13,047; Confederate: 10,699).18 The Union lost more men but claimed the victory because the Confederate Army retreated back to Corinth, Mississippi.

The Civil War, the bloodiest war in American History, had many causes that turned brother against brother. The issue of slavery was the largest conflict between the north and the south. The south was upset with many things such as Slavery, government, and legislative issues. All these conflicts eventually led to secession, and the horrific war began.

In 1863, “a great civil war” (Lincoln, 1863) was raging across the land and seas of the North American continent. Union and Confederate forces were locked in a deadly struggle for control of America’s future. Yet, despite the Union’s undeniable logistical and infrastructural advantages over the Confederacy, the war was not progressing in favour of the Union. The Confederate generals had managed to outsmart and outmaneuver the Union armies repeatedly, dealing defeat after defeat to the North, greatly demoralizing the populace. As such, the Confederates, who were fighting not to conquer the Union, but rather to survive, were inching

On April 6, 1862 General Albert Sidney Johnston of the Confederacy attacked the Pittsburg Landing over by the Tennessee River. There were many important events that took place during this battle like that of the Hornet’s Nest and many others. Many men died in this conflict on both sides.

Fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek, corpses of soldiers filled the ditch earning itself the name, “Bloody Lane” after the intense Battle of Antietam. The Confederate led by Robert E. Lee, and the Union led by commander George B. McClellan both contributed to the most bloody single-day battle in American history.

On April 6, 1862 the Battle of Shiloh broke out in Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. It was the Confederate troops attacking the Union forces. The Battle of Shiloh was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Civil War. The south suffered more than 11,000 casualties and the North with 13,000 casualties. Ulysses S. Grant was the leader of the Union troops and Albert Sidney Johnston was the leader of the Confederate troops. In the battle of Shiloh, the Confederates attacked the Union force hoping to crush them before others arrived. Confederate troops marched toward the Union position without the protection of trees or even foxholes. Every charge was met with a flurry of bullets from Union soldiers using vegetation and mounds of earth as cover.

The famous Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1 to July 3 of 1863 in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle proved to show the most casualties of the entire war and resulted in a crushing defeat of the Confederates. The Battle of Gettysburg is generally considered to be the turning point of the American Civil War. This paper will demonstrate the various reasons as to why the Confederates, led by General Robert E. Lee, were unsuccessful in the Battle of Gettysburg during their invasion of the north. General Lee’s over-confidence, the confederate army’s disorganization and failed coordination, and the shift of intelligence all contributed to the crushing defeat of the confederates at Gettysburg. Following his

Day three, of the battle, was important and also led to a Union victory. On this day we see a stellar defense by the Union soldiers and the famous Confederate attack known as “Pickett’s Charge”. The fighting started quite early in the morning where it left off the night prior, on Culp’s Hill. It was not really intense until around mid day, when the July sun was beating down on the Soldiers. Catton (1974) stated, “and then suddenly, the great tension snapped” (p. 74). The Confederates started a bombardment of artillery fire towards the Union positions on Culp and Cemetery Hills. The Confederate artillery shot was incredible and suppose to be devastating.

The Union was blinded by its own success up to this point in the Western Theater it did not take reports of confederate advancement seriously even after its own picket lines were engaged by the advancing Confederate force.6 General Sherman even replied to a report of Confederate advancement from one of his regimental commanders with, “Take your damned regiment back to Ohio. There are no rebels closer than Corinth.”.7 This complete disregard to acknowledge reports of engagements with advancing Confederate troops led to the surprise attack on the Union forces encamped on Pittsburg Landing. The Confederate force was able to take Union forces by surprise and push them back to their camps and force some to abandon their camps in entirety as they retreated.8 This allowed advancing Confederate troops to utilize Union camps as their own and as a base camp for supplies to support further engagements. The Confederate success soon was stalled by its own inexperience at the troop level and their lack of moving in larger units effectively over the uneven terrain.9 The stall in the surprise attack allowed for Union forces to regroup and counter the Confederate attack.10 The Battle of Shiloh ended in victory for the Union, but early success, pride, and ego blinded the Union and almost offered the Confederacy the major victory they needed to help turn the momentum of the theater in their

Grant moved his army cautiously into enemy territory in Tennessee, in what later was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, known as the Battle of Shiloh. (bio.) Confederate commanders Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard ran a shock attack against Grant's forces, known as the "Hornets' Nest" during the first wave of assault. General Johnston was wounded, second-in-command, General Beauregard, decided alongside a night assault on Grant's forces. Reinforcement finally arrived, and that’s when Grant was able to overthrow the Confederates on the second day of battle. The Battle of Shiloh was proven to be a turning point for the American military and almost a disaster for Grant. However he was supported by President Abraham Lincoln, Grant was faced with heavy disapproval from members of Congress and the military brass for the high losses. His replacement was led by the war department