The Battle of Shiloh was a major battle in the American Civil War, fought in south central Tennessee, 25 miles northeast of Corinth, Mississippi. It took place on April 6 and April 7, 1862. It is also called the Battle of Pittsburg Landing.
In March, after general Henry Wager Halleck had been given top command in the West and Ulysses S. Grant had been made a major general, Grant's Army of the Tennessee consisting of 42,000 troops, under orders from Halleck, was on the way to Corinth, Mississippi, a strategically important railroad center. Union Army general Don Carlos Buell was marching down from Nashville with his Army of the Ohio made up of 25,000 troops. Grant positioned his troops on the western bank of the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing with most men in camp near Shiloh Church, where he waited for Buell for almost a month, before the battle of shiloh.
Ulysses S. Grant was caught off guard on April 6 during the battle of shiloh by the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, led by Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard and Albert Sidney Johnston (killed 6 April), the one who decided to attack before Buell arrived. The surprise offensive drove the Union forces out of their camp. There was heavy fighting around Shiloh Church as the Confederates led by Johnston continued to press their advantage. Grant ordered his troops to hold their position as they were pressed against a nearby river during the battle of shiloh.
Buell, however arrived at dark on April the 6th, in the nick of time. Ulysses S. Grant used the 20,000 reinforcement troops Buell brought with him to launch a counteroffensive against the still-attacking Confederates during the battle of shiloh. That afternoon the Confederates evacuated the field and retreated to Corinth.
The two day battle of shiloh, the costliest in U.S. history up to that time, resulted in the defeat of the Confederate army force and frustration of Johnston's plans to prevent the joining of the two Union armies in Tennessee. A total of 23,746 men were killed, wounded, or missing during the battle of shiloh.
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