Invasion of the Union Camps

At sunrise on a Sunday, Union soldiers camped here and at nearby sites expected a peaceful, leisurely day, but a flood of Confederate infantry advanced from the southwest and caught the camps largely unprepared. As Whitelaw Reid, a Northern reporter, observed, some soldiers were still in bed, while others were dressing, washing, cooking, or eating breakfast; many guns were unloaded, accouterments lay pell-mell, and ammunition was in short supply. By the end of the day, Confederate forces had overrun most of the camps, and many Union soldiers spent the night without food, bedding, or other supplies abandoned in haste as shells tore through the tents and battle lines rushed through the woods across the division camps.

Shiloh, Tennessee · United States