Belmont MO009

supportedunresolved Grant says that at about 2 a.m. on the 7th Wallace reported, from a Union man, that the enemy had been crossing troops to Belmont to cut off Oglesby. Pillow says his imperfect knowledge of the field would itself have embarrassed him.

Knowledge attributed in the two reports; no message log inspected.

supportedunresolved Grant moved by steamers convoyed by the gunboats Tyler and Lexington, and without wagons could carry off little captured property. Pillow says his battery and one regiment ran out of ammunition and he fell back to the river for want of reinforcements and ammunition.

Transport and ammunition conditions from the two reports; not returns.

disputedunresolved Grant set out to make a demonstration against Columbus and says the Wallace report decided him to attack at Belmont, re-embarking under the gunboats if repulsed; his November 20 report says the object, preventing reinforcement of Price and the cutting off of his two columns, was fully accomplished. Pillow crossed on Polk's instructions to meet the advancing force. NPS says Grant did not accomplish much in this operation.

Stated aims from the two reports; Grant's November 20 statement is his own after-action assessment. Grant's own after-action assessment and the NPS assessment differ; neither is a campaign-contribution finding.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Union victory; NPS says the Union force withdrew and re-embarked after the Confederate counterattack. Grant says his troops charged and again defeated the enemy who came between them and the transports; Pillow calls the day glorious to Confederate arms and a victory scarcely paralleled.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 1,464 (US 498; CS 966); the live field reads 1,248 (US 607; CS 641). Grant reports 85 killed, 301 wounded and 99 missing, 175 prisoners taken, and later the enemy's killed and wounded as not less than a figure read 'GOO' in OCR. Pillow's November 9 dispatch gives his loss as about 400 and says the enemy's was double his; his report transmits a list (not printed) numbering a figure read 'G32', 562 of them in the force first engaged, says 295 Union dead were buried and estimates the Union loss at not less than 2,000; on November 12 he gives his division's loss as 530.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. OCR-garbled figures are retained as printed in the scan.

supportedunresolved The frozen commanders are Brigadier Generals Gideon J. Pillow and Ulysses S. Grant; the live page gives Grant as Lieutenant General. Pillow crossed under Polk's orders, placed Marks at the head of the flanking column, and says Polk ordered the pursuit continued with the whole force. Grant praises McClernand and says his own horse was shot under him.

Command roles from the two reports; Polk's part is attributed as Pillow gives it. No automatic sole credit, and the live rank is not adopted.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads Division for each side; the live field reads zero. Grant says his expedition amounted to 3,114 men of all arms (on November 5 he expected probably not more than 3,000), and later that Southern sources put the enemy in the field at over 9,000. Pillow says his four regiments had been reduced to below 500 men for duty (the sentence does not say whether each or together) and numbered about 2,500 all told, that he fought 2,000 men against 7,450, and that he withstood three times his number; on November 12 he gives his division about 2,700 effective after its losses. He puts the Union cavalry at 450.

Embarked, engaged and after-action figures of different scopes, with each side's estimate of the other and reinforcements from Columbus during the day. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live zero is not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Grant says Belmont lies on low ground commanded by the guns across the river, and that the camp was protected by felled timber forming a sort of abatis. Pillow says a line of felled timber helped defeat the attempt on his left, and that he had no choice of position and no time to reconnoitre.

Ground and prepared obstacles described by the two opposing commanders; no map verification.