THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 485

• nand 6, Prentiss 8, and Hnrlbut 2 batteries. On the 7th Sherman captured7 guns, McClernand 3, and the Army of the Ohio 20.

At Shiloh the effective strength of the Union force on the morning of the6th was 33,000. Lew Wallace brought five thousand more after nightfall.Beauregard reported the enemy’s strength at 40,955. According to the customof enumeration in the South, this number probably excluded every manenlisted as musician, or detailed as guard or nurse, and all commissionedofficers,— everybody who did not carry a musket or serve a cannon. Withus everybody in the field receiving pay from the Government is counted.Excluding the troops who fled, panic-stricken, before they had fired a shot,there was not a time during the 6th when we had more than 25,000 men inline. On the 7th Buell brought twenty thousand more. Of his remainingtwo divisions, Thomas’s did not reach the field during the engagement ;Wood’s arrived before firing had ceased, but not in time to be of much service.

Our loss in the two-days fight was 1754 killed, 8408 wounded, and 2885missing. Of these 2103 were in the Army of the Ohio. Beauregard reporteda total loss of 10,699, of whom 1728 were killed, 8012 wounded, and 959missing. This estimate must be incorrect. We buried, by actual count,more of the enemy’s dead in front of the divisions of McClernand and Sher-man alone than here reported, and four thousand was the estimate of theburial parties for the whole field. Beauregard reports the Confederate forceon the 6th at over 40,000, and their total loss during the two days at 10,699;and at the same time declares that he could put only 20,000 men in battleon the morning of the 7th.

The navy gave a hearty support to the army at Shiloh, as indeed it alwaysdid, both before and subsequently, when I was in command. The natureof the ground was such, however, that on this occasion it could do nothingin aid of the troops until sundown on the first day. The country was brokenand heavily timbered, cutting off all view of the battle from the river, so thatfriends would be as much in danger from fire from the gun-boats as the foe.But about sundown, when the National troops were back in their last position,the right of the enemy was near the river and exposed to the fire of the twogun-boats, which was delivered with vigor and effect. After nightfall, whenfiring had entirely ceased on land, the commander of the fleet informed himself,proximately, of the position of our troops, and suggested the idea of drop-ping a shell within the lines of the enemy every fifteen minutes during thenight. This was done with effect, as is proved by the Confederate reports.

Up to the battle of Shiloh, I, as well as thousands of other citizens, believedthat the rebellion against the Grovernment would collapse suddenly and soonif a decisive victory could be gained over any of its armies. Henry andDonelson were such victories. An army of more than 21,000 men was cap-tured or destroyed. Bowling Green, Columbus, and Hickman, Ky. , fell inconsequence, and Clarksville and Nashville, Tenn. , the last two with animmense amount of stores, also fell into our hands. The Tennessee andCumberland rivers, from their mouths to the head of navigation, were secured.But when Confederate armies were collected which not only attempted to hold