One of my first historical places to visit in retirement was Shiloh National Battlefield in south-central Tennessee. It was a place that involved soldiers of the First Nebraska Infantry Regiment in a battle that would be a harbinger of the slaughter to come in the years 1862-1865.
My wife, Mary, and I toured the battlefield, looked up and photographed the graves of the Nebraska soldiers and attended the Shiloh Methodist Church on the battlefield for Sunday service. If you are interested in the Nebraska National Guard Civil War service, this is a must-visit battlefield.
In February, 1862, an unknown Union general by the name of Ulysses S. Grant proposed a plan to take the war to the South utilizing army and navy forces. The plan was to neutralize the forts that guarded the entrance to the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers which originated in the heart of the Confederacy.
Taking these would allow the Union to push forces deep into the south and force them to fight on several fronts. The navy was able to take out Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and advance forces army forces on transports up the river.
Fort Donelson would have to be taken by the infantry. Grant’s forces surrounded the fort, and the Rebels tried to make a breakout and run to Nashville on Feb. 15, 1862. The last Union unit along the Wynn’s Ferry Road was the First Nebraska, making its debut in the war.
The Nebraskans helped push back the escape attempt and forced the Rebels to surrender the next day. The importance of the battle had to do with the trajectory of the war and the rise of Grant who earned the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” to match his initials.
Soon after the fall of the fort, he pushed forces far south along the Tennessee River to a place called Pittsburg Landing in southern Tennessee. This was to stage a force to occupy the city of Corinth in northern Alabama, which was strategic for the railroad lines and supply depots for the Rebels.
The Confederate forces under the leadership of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, decided to strike the Union forces at Pittsburg Landing before they could build up a superior force. They knew that two Union forces were enroute to the area, the Third Division of the Army of Tennessee under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace (which the First Nebraska belonged to) and the Army of the Ohio under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell were both headed to Pittsburg Landing.
The 45,000 man strong Confederate Army converged on the area near Pittsburg Landing on the morning of April 6, 1862. Union forces were not expecting an attack, and no defensive positions were dug in. The stage was set for huge Union defeat on the first day and recovery and victory of the Union on the second day (April 7).
As the large Confederate force moved into position on the early morning hours of April 6, the Union commanders near the launch point started to suspect something was coming. They sent out pickets and recon soldiers who ran into a massive Rebel force getting ready to attack.
One of the Union commanders, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, felt that the militia commanders were not reporting the correct size of the forces to the front. These delays in responding to the threat would have tragic consequences.
The focus of the assault was in the area of a small wooden building called the Shiloh Church. If they could push the Union back in this area they would turn the Union flank and cut off the escape (the Tennessee River was behind the Union forces and a major obstacle to cross in a hasty retreat). Union soldiers were mowed down in their tents as the Rebels advanced in strength all along the front near the landing.
Union forces set up a strong hold along a sunken road that would be named “the Hornet’s Nest,” and it bought time for Grant to solidify a defensive position that could hold. At the end of the first day, a Confederate victory was well in hand. Union forces were backed up to the banks of the river and waiting on reinforcements and support from the navy. Help was on the way, and Buell’s forces were shuttled across and put in the line of battle. Plans by Grant called for a major counterattack in the morning.
The Rebels lost their leader, Johnston, in the day’s attack and he was considered by many to be one of the South’s finest leaders. This loss handed the reins over to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard who sent dispatches out that a major victory was at hand and all they had to do was attack in the morning and finish off Grant.
April 7 was the complete opposite for the Union forces on the battlefield. Wallace’s division (with the First Nebraska in the Second Brigade under the leadership of Col. John M. Thayer) was thrown in the attack on the Union right flank and quickly pushed the surprised Rebels back. Buell’s forces attacked on the Union left flank and had equal success.
The Nebraskans fought against the forces under Gen. Braxton Bragg and performed well. By 3 p.m. on the day, they had pushed the Rebels back to Shiloh Church and the campsites the Union had occupied the day before.
For the Nebraskans, nothing could compare to the savagery that they witnessed at Shiloh.
“For miles the ground was strewn with the mangled remains of the dead and dying” reported an Iowa soldier.
The grim numbers stunned the nation. Confederate casualties totaled 10,699 (of those 1,728 were killed) and the Union casualties totaled 13,047 (of those 1,754 were killed).
The eight Nebraska soldiers buried in the Shiloh National Cemetery overlooking Pittsburg Landing were:
N.P. Swiggitt – Company F
N.F. McKinsey – Company C, Private
John Rogensack – Company B, Private
J. Benson Thompson – Company B, Private
James E. Cox – Sergeant
Dennis Faril – Company G, Private
William Bennett – Company H, Private
David Crawley – Company G, Corporal
General Grant said after the battle, “Shiloh was the severest battle fought in the West during the war, and but few in the East equated it for hard, determined fighting.”
For the country in April, 1862, a realization was dawning of just how savage the war was going to become. The Nebraskans participated in two battles that showed President Abraham Lincoln a commander who could overcome adversity and fight to victory (despite the horrible losses….so much so that when Grant moved out east to command in 1864, his new nickname would be “Butcher”).
The National Park Service administers and maintains the battlefield today. It has many memorials to units and soldiers who fought there (both North and South). I recommend if you get a chance to visit….do! It will be worth the time.
