After the defeats at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston resolved to prevent further encroachment by Union forces. Johnston�s strategy was to attack Union forces assembled at Pittsburg Landing before they were reinforced by troops under Maj. General D.C. Buell. �Tonight, we shall water our horses in the Tennessee�, Johnston proclaimed as he ordered the attack.
   The Battle of Shiloh was fought among blossoming trees, along little-used country roads and trails by soldiers who had little or no experience. Neither side was well prepared and units became disoriented and lines crumpled due to the ferocity of the fighting and desertion.
   
                                        April 6th, 1862 The First Day
   Union Commanders Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant and Brig. Gen William T. Sherman were surprised by the Confederate attack which began before dawn in Fraley field. The fighting that followed would stretch along a three mile front and climax later in the day at the �Hornet�s Nest� which Grant ordered maintained at all cost. General Johnston was mortally wounded in a charge against the Union stronghold. Finally a volley of Confederate cannon fire shattered the Union line and over 2,200 Federal troops were forced to surrender.
   That night, General Grant, upon crutches with a severe ankle injury, gave up his headquarters to the wounded and spent the night under a tree while the rain fell in torrents upon the dead and dying soldiers. Union gunboats kept up a thunderous cannonade much of the night. It had been a terrible day for both sides but the Union�s position seemed hopeless. Despite this bleak outlook, Grant remained hopeful. Buell had arrived.
  
                                    April 7th, 1862 The Second Day
   Grant�s army, which had grown in number overnight, was now bolstered by Buell on the left and Wallace on the right and numbered over 50,000. General P.G.T. Beauregard was now in command of Confederate forces numbering about 30,000. After Confederate attacks and Union counterattacks Beauregard realized he was outnumbered and retreated south toward Corinth, MS.
   Union forces pursued the retreating Confederate army and engaged them at Fallen Timbers. There, Confederate Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest commanded the retreating army�s rear guard. Forrest was critically wounded during the engagement and the two armies finally disengaged.
   The carnage and inconceivable losses were unprecedented and the two-day confrontation appalled the nation. Shiloh was the bloodiest affair the young nation had yet witnessed and resulted in over 3,400 dead and 16,000 wounded.
   Shiloh is a Hebrew name which means Place of Peace.