Trivia 12-10-15 How many???

[Trivia Master]

What is the total number of Confederate artillery pieces that were used in the Battle of Shiloh on April 6 & 7, 1862?

credit: @Stony

 

[nextcity]

I know they were mostly smooth bore 6 pound cannons and 12 pound howitzers.

I will guess 62 (Ruggle's Battery).

 

[Reb]

Ruggles "grand battery" had 62 guns. This was the longest line of artillery ever formed in an American battle up to that time.

 

[Brenal]

120.

 

[MRB1863]

Confederates brought up 62 pieces of artillery that were organized as Ruggles' Battery

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

At Shiloh, the Confederate army was equipped with 117 pieces of artillery.

Page 17, Staff Ride Handbook for the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862; US Army, Combat Studies Institute

http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/gudmens.pdf

 

[CjkCjkCJk]

I'm going to say 62 but I don't feel 100% sure

 

[Package4]

There seems to be a few figures, but the most reliable figure seems to be 109 with all but 7 pieces being smooth bore. All were field pieces.

 

[7th Texas Mounted Rifles]

That would be 109.

 

[Michael W.]

100?

Edit - You weren't far off, but there were more than 100.

Hoosier

 

[MaryDee]

The online sources I found differ!

Per this source: http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/gudmens.pdf (p. 17, last paragraph): "The Union and Confederate forces had artillery parity at Shiloh; Grant had 119 cannon and Johnston had 117."

Per this source: http://www.britishbattles.com/abes/1862/shiloh.htm, the Confederacy had 120 guns. (This source also has a much larger number of Union cannon, 150 for Grant.)

Per this source: https://books.google.com/books?id=D...r confederate artillery pieces shiloh&f=false:
The Confederates had 23 batteries. 1/3 were 4 guns, 2/3 were 6 guns, plus one battery with 7 guns (the extra gun was captured in Kentucky). Doing the math, subtracting the 7-gun battery from the total:
1/3 x 22 = 7 1/3 x 4 = 29 1/3 cannon in four-gun batteries
Since we can't chop up a cannon, let's try rounding:
22 x 1/3 = 7 four-gun batteries, x 4 = 28
22 - 7 = 15 six-gun batteries, x 6 = 90
1 seven-gun battery = 7
Total guns in 23 batteries 125
Per the first two sources above, this is probably too many. If we figure one more four-gun battery and one less six-gun battery, the total is 120, which agrees with the British number above. But this is verging on guesswork!

Per footnote 56 to the Wikipedia article,"Battle of Shiloh," "Historians disagree on the number of artillery pieces the Confederates massed against the Hornets Nest. Cunningham, p. 290, accounts for 51; Daniel, p. 229, argues for 53; and Sword, p. 326, and Eicher, p. 228, report the traditional count of 62, which was originally established by battlefield historian D. W. Reed." Of course these are not the total number used in the battle, but this footnote does illustrate differences in numbers.

 

[TinCan]

62

 

[FarawayFriend]

Many sources speak of 62 pieces of artillery, then I have found a source saying 108:

From:
The Shiloh Campaign: March - April 1862
by David G. Martin, page 165, source below, scroll up a bit on page 165

https://books.google.de/books?id=P-...H0w4KHUGkBgAQ6AEIVjAI#v=snippet&q=165&f=false

But then another very credible source from The Combat Studies Institute, Ft. Leavenworth, says even 117!!!

From: Staff Ride Handbook for the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862 / LTC Jeffrey J. Gudmens, page 17
http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/gudmens.pdf

I'll go with the last one, because who should know better than the Army Combat Studies Institute at Ft. Leavenworth??
LTCs don't lie ...

So my final answer will be 117.

 

[NFB22]

109

 

[tdstepen]

325

 

[JOHN42768]

Ruggle's Grand Battery of 62 pieces

 

[chellers]

62

 

[GELongstreet]

Not sure. According to Cannoneers in Gray by March 23 they had 122 pieces of field artillery.

EDIT - ERROR - seems that my reply, of course awaiting mod approval, has been deleted. Happened before, though luckily this time I checked the thread again before the deadline ended so I could repost it.

 

[lelliott19]

Johnston's Confederate Army of Mississippi brought to the field at Shiloh, 23 batteries with somewhere between 115 and 125 artillery pieces in total.

According to this source:

The Federal Army of the Mississippi comprised 49,000 troops with 150 guns. The Federal Army of the Ohio comprised 18,000 troops with 60 guns.The Confederate Army of Mississippi comprised 45,000 troops with 120 guns. http://www.britishbattles.com/abes/1862/shiloh.htm​

While this one claims:

The Union side had a distinct advantage in both numbers and quality of artillery. Grant and Buell fielded 131 guns in 26 batteries while Johnston had only 115 guns in 23 batteries.​

https://books.google.com/books?id=P...E#v=onepage&q=confederate guns Shiloh&f=false (Page 78)

And another:

Confederate artillery contained 23 batteries, one third possessing four guns, and two thirds with six guns, while Byrne's Mississippi Battery proudly carried a piece captured in Kentucky and thus composed a seven gun battery.
(This formula would extrapolate to either 123 guns or 125 guns total - depending on whether there were eight 4-gun batteries or seven?) https://books.google.com/books?id=D...q=confederate artillery pieces Shiloh&f=false (Page 18)
​

And yet another still:

The Union and Confederate forces had artillery parity at Shiloh: Grant had 119 cannon and Johnston had 117.
(The author seems to forget that Buell's Army of the Ohio also brought along cannon?) https://books.google.com/books?id=X...q=confederate artillery pieces Shiloh&f=false (Page 17.)
​

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

During the entire battle, or as part of Ruggles' Line?
If you mean Ruggles' Line, the answer is 62.....Since not every Confederate cannon at Shiloh was part of this line, the answer to "the total number of Conf. guns used at Shiloh" will be higher, and thus requiring more, detailed, research to answer the question. Can you advise/clarify, so that I can use the Order of Battle (or some other source) to count the number of artillery pieces?
Thanks!

Edit - Hello, Albert, glad to see you back with us on the trivia game.

Unfortunately, the way the game is currently being administered, there is no way to give clarifications after the question is posted. Players just have to answer based on their own best interpretations of the question.

Looks like you thought it over and decided to revise your interpretation and change your answer in a separate post, which was a good idea.

Hoosier