Why Is The Battle Of Shiloh So Crucial To The Outcome Of The Civil War?

The battle of Shiloh alias the battle of Pittsburg’s Landing was fought on April 6-7, 1862 in southwestern Tennessee not far from Corinth Mississippi. The sixteen square foot of land in northern Mississippi became the nations most expensive real estate, and the price for it was paid in blood. Control of this rail road lines in the little town of Corinth is considered so crucial to the outcome of the civil war that a confederate general by the name of Albert Sidney Johnston heroically declared “ We must conquer or perish.” His union counterpart general Ulysses S. Grant claim, “ There are but few such battles in the history of the world as important as this one.” The clash between the confederate and the union troops is recorded in red several
The union army had moved in throughout middle Tennessee, and was coming down Tennessee River. The union troops were everywhere in the state the confederate feed up decided something had to be done. Two generals Ulysses S. Grant of the union army, and Albert Sidney Johnston of the confederate army are moving towards each other for a violent encounter. General Johnston nearly sixty years old is an imposing figure and favorite of confederate president Jefferson Davis. Many people saw Johnston as Robert E. Lee’s equal coming into conflict, but by April of 1862 he had lost almost all of Tennessee. Johnson also faces an advisory who was twenty years younger; Ulysses S. Grant. General Grant has been winning battles and has earned a new nickname: “Unconditional
Capturing and controlling the railroad would allow rapid movement in any direction. Grant would have easier access to the Deep South in aim to control the Mississippi River. It began with the arrival of troops in a place called Pittsburg Landing a few miles southwest of savannah. Soldiers set up camp in a peaceful wooden area near a tiny log cabin called Shiloh’s church. The union soldiers presence is no surprise to General Johnston, who is moving 45,000 confederate troops towards Shiloh. Johnston plans to hit Shiloh like a hurricane; a surprise attack before the Union reinforcements can arrive. The plan was set in motion but then came the rain. The muddy roads and swollen streams caused a two-day delay in the match of Shiloh. When the confederate troops are close enough to smell the union army campfire on April 6th 1862, Johnston rallies his troops on a Sunday morning assault on the union encampment. A confederate scouting party storms into the camp and exchanges fire, thus starting the war on Shiloh. The brush around the area was so thick that the union army did not notice until the confederate troops were twenty yards from them. For many solders on both sides, Shiloh is a brutal baptism into battle, a blood bath as never seen