Violent Sabbath

Early morning musketry a mile south awakened General William T. Sherman's Union soldiers camped around Shiloh Church and made clear that the approaching Confederate attack was more than a mere skirmish. Over the next four hours, one-third of General Albert Sidney Johnston's Confederate Army slammed into Sherman's force, while General John A. McClernand rushed infantry and artillery to support him as the Confederates struggled across swampy Shiloh Branch. Attacks by five brigades upon a front capable of supporting only a single brigade, through nearly impassable terrain under heavy fire, produced great confusion and terrible casualties for the Confederates. Nevertheless, Sherman's defense crumbled after Johnston overran Prentiss' Union camps a mile east. Outflanked, Sherman abandoned this front and retired north.

Shiloh, Tennessee · United States