Shiloh, Battle Of

(April 6–7, 1862) Second major engagement of the American Civil War. Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant, including William T. Sherman, camped on the Tennessee River at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. (near Shiloh Church), in preparation for an offensive.

Confederate forces under A.S. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard attacked, surprising the Union troops and forcing their retreat, though Johnston was mortally wounded. A Union counterattack the next day regained the lost ground, and the Confederates withdrew to Corinth, Miss. Both sides claimed victory, but the battle was considered a Confederate defeat. Each side suffered about 10,000 casualties.