How did civil war battles end?
How did both sides communicate with each other?
How were the dead gathered and buried?
We will examine these questions using the actual exchanges between General Grant and General Beauregard following the battle of Shiloh.
April 6, 1862, southwest Tennessee. the confederate Army of the Mississippi surprises General Grant's Army of the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing. Grant is driven back toward Pittsburg Landing on the river. However, overnight reinforcements from General Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio reform the union lines. the following day, April 7, the union lines drive the confederates back across the ground they had gained the previous day.
Confederate General Beauregard forms a defensive line to cover the path for retreat back to Corinth, Mississippi.
The following day, April 8, the Confederate army is a few miles distant from Grant.
Looking back, we sometimes wonder why wouldn't Grant just march south and destroy the half-broken Army of the Mississippi? People ask these questions after other big engagements like Gettysburg. After Lee's stalled attacks on July 2 and July 3, why wouldn't Meade just counterattack on July 4 and "finish off" the confederates?
The answer has less to do with armchair strategy and more to do with the actual experience of being on the field. Both sides are totally exhausted after a big battle. The casualties, the physical exhaustion, and the psychological exhaustion are too much. Back at Shiloh, on the evening of April 7th, many of these outfits have been engaged for two whole days. Everyone's exhausted.
In addition to the human factor, another very practical limiter is ammunition. A civil war cartridge box may have 40 rounds. Armies only have so much ammunition, and both sides are far from resupply. At some point you have to wait for wagon trains or supply boats.
On April 8, the day following the confederate retreat, General Beauregard sends messenger to Grant's headquarters under a flag of truce. The messenger carries a letter. This Shiloh example is an excellent example of generals from both armies communicating with each other after the silence.
The next day, April 9, Grant sends a response to General Beauregard, bringing his own messenger under a flag of truce to the confederate camp.
It's important to understand that although north and south are engaged in a terrible war with horrific losses, we have so many examples that show there isn't the personal animosity that many might assume. Their letters were cordial and respectful.
In this example at Shiloh, union soldiers on April 8th had spent the day burying the fallen from both sides.
The end of the battle of Shiloh shows us possible conclusions to a battle. The winner on the field, following proper protocol, would bury the dead of both sides, as Grant did on April 8. Or, the two sides could arrange a truce and the two armies would enter the same area to collect and bury the dead, as Beauregard proposed under a flag of truce.
And that is an example of how a civil war battle ended.