What are some interesting facts about the Battle of Shiloh?

The Battle of Shiloh is sometimes called the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing. It was fought on April 6 and 7, 1862 in the southwestern area of Tennessee, near the railroad hub of Corinth, Mississippi. It was the bloodiest battle ever fought on U.S. soil at the time.

Ulysses S. Grant had led a division of the Union Army down the Tennessee River and camped near Pittsburgh Landing. Confederate forces led by Albert Sydney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard launched a surprise attack on Grant's encampment. The Confederate forces made considerable headway, but General Johnston was killed in the fighting, and General Beauregard decided not to attack further as night fell and the Union lines stabilized. The next day Grant received reinforcements as Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio showed up. The reinforced and re-energized Union Army drove the Confederate forces back south into Mississippi on the second day.

As a result, the Union Army controlled a major railway hub near the Tennessee River, cutting off a crucial line of communication and supply for the Confederate Army. The loss of General Albert Sydney Johnston was a further blow to the Confederacy, as he was widely considered one of the best military minds in the Confederate Army.