USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Prior to the Battle of Shiloh, General Grant had captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. These victories secured Kentucky for the Union and forced the Confederate army under General Johnston to retreat from western Tennessee.

Detailed explanation-2: -Civil War historian Shelby Foote summarizes the battle: Union losses were 1754 killed, 8408 wounded, 2885 captured: total, 13, 047-about 2000 of them Buell’s.

Detailed explanation-3: -Casualties and Significance More than 13, 000 of Grant’s and Buell’s approximately 62, 000 troops were killed, wounded, captured or missing. Of 45, 000 Confederates engaged, there were more than 10, 000 casualties.

Detailed explanation-4: -The South’s defeat at Shiloh ended the Confederacy’s hopes of blocking the Union advance into Mississippi and doomed the Confederate military initiative in the West. With the loss of their commander, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, in battle, Confederate morale plummeted.