Shiloh

Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston led 40,000 Confederate forces in an attack on the Union divisions camped close to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River early on April 6, 1862. Major General Ulysses S. Grant's entire Army of Tennessee was in danger of being overrun by the overwhelming Confederate offensive, which also forced the unprepared Federal men back. A fighting line had been constructed at the "Hornet's Nest" by the afternoon after some Federal units took firm positions. Numerous defending Yankees were killed or seriously injured as a result of Rebel attacks that were repeatedly supported by a large amount of artillery. After General Johnston suffered a fatal injury, Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard took over.

The Union army held up despite fighting that lasted until after nightfall. The Army of Ohio under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell had joined Grant the previous night, and Grant outnumbered Beauregard by the following morning. Along the entire line, Grant launched a counteroffensive that overpowered the depleted Confederate forces and drove Beauregard's army from the battlefield. Any aspirations the Confederacy had of stopping the Union's push into northern Mississippi were dashed by their setback. The bloodiest fight in American history up until that point, the two-day combat of Shiloh cost more than 23,000 lives. It is also one of the major battles of the American Civil War.

Time: April 6, 1862 – April 7, 1862

Place: Tennessee