4. RUGGLES’ BATTERIES.
The line of guns on the left represents Ruggles’ Confederate concentration of 62 cannon. This was the longest line of artillery ever formed in an American battle up to that time. Aided by these cannon, the Confederates succeeded in driving back the Union flanks and in capturing over 2,200 troops near the center of the Hornets’ Nest.
5. CONFEDERATE BURIAL TRENCH.
All of the Confederate dead are buried on the battlefield in five large trenches. In this, the largest, there are, reportedly, 721 bodies, stacked seven deep.
New Shiloh Church, stands on the site of the original church.
The day after the battle, General Beauregard dispatched a message to General Grant asking for permission to send a mounted party to the battlefield to bury his dead. In answer, Grant said: “Owing to the warmth of the weather I deemed it advisable to have all the dead of both parties buried immediately ... now it is accomplished.”
The Confederates and Federals were buried alike in separate trenches on the field. Four years after the battle the Union dead were removed to the newly established national cemetery. The Confederates still rest in the trenches where they were buried by the Federal troops.
6. ILLINOIS STATE MONUMENT.
This monument, sculptured by Richard W. Bock, was dedicated in 1904 to all Illinois troops who participated in the battle of Shiloh.