In the Battle of Shiloh, Union losses were 1754 killed, 8408 wounded, 2885 captured: total, 13047. Confederate losses were 1723 killed, 8012 wounded, 959 missing: total, 10694. Of the 100,000 soldiers engaged in this first great bloody conflict of the war, approximately one out of every four who had gone in battle had been killed, wounded or captured. Casualties were 24%, the same as Waterloo’s. Yet Waterlook had settled something while this one apparently had settled nothing. When it was over the two armies were back where they started, with other Waterloos ahead. In another sense, however, it settled a great deal. The American volunteer, whichever side he was on in the war, and however green, would fight as fiercely and stand as firmly as the vaunted veterans of Europe… Total American casualties in all three of the nation’s previous wars – the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War: 10623+6765+5885 – were 23,273. Shiloh’s totaled 23,741.
Shelby Foote, The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume I (1958)
