Editing Battle of Shiloh (section)

==Background and plans==
{{main|Battle of Fort Henry|Battle of Fort Donelson}}
{{further|Western Theater of the American Civil War|American Civil War}}
[[Image:ACW Western Theater September 1861 - April 1862.png|thumb|upright=1.5|right|Defeats in February 1862 caused Confederate forces to consolidate in Corinth, Mississippi|alt=map of Tennessee and surrounding states showing Confederate forces moving to Corinth, Mississippi near the Tennessee border]]

During February 1862, a [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] army led by [[Ulysses S. Grant]] won two battles that were the most significant Union victories, at that time, of the [[American Civil War]].<ref name="Shaara5">{{harvnb|Shaara|2006|p=5}}</ref> The battles were the [[Battle of Fort Henry]] and the [[Battle of Fort Donelson]], and they occurred in Tennessee on the [[Tennessee River]] and the [[Cumberland River]], respectively. Those rivers were vital to the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] as transportation routes, and also connected the city of [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], an [[ironworks]], and major agricultural areas. Nashville was a converging point for railroads, a major producer of [[gunpowder]], and a major supply depot.<ref name="McPherson393">{{harvnb|McPherson|1988|p=393}}</ref> The Union army increased its firepower in those battles by receiving assistance from [[Union Navy|U.S. Navy]] [[USS Lexington (1861)|gunboats]].<ref name="McPherson392">{{harvnb|McPherson|1988|p=392}}</ref> The steam-powered gunboats were flat-bottomed, armored, and carried up to 13 [[artillery]] pieces.<ref name="McPherson393"/> Grant was rewarded for his success by a promotion to [[Major general (United States)|major general]], making him senior to all generals in the [[Western Theater of the American Civil War|Western Theater]] (between the [[Appalachian Mountains]] and [[Mississippi River]]) with the exception of Major General [[Henry Halleck]].<ref name="Chernow186">{{harvnb|Chernow|2017|p=186}}</ref>

Continuing their push into Confederate territory, Union troops arrived at the Tennessee River town of [[Savannah, Tennessee]], on March 11.<ref name="Daniel71">{{harvnb|Daniel|1997|p=71}}</ref> By mid-March, a large number of Union troops were camped there and at [[Landing (water transport)|landings]] further south, and additional Union troops under the command of [[Don Carlos Buell]] were moving from Nashville to join the force on the river.<ref name="Chernow195">{{harvnb|Chernow|2017|p=195}}</ref> Union leadership realized that its troops were too spread out, so it was decided to concentrate troops at [[Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee|Pittsburg Landing]].<ref name="Daniel104-105">{{harvnb|Daniel|1997|pp=104–105}}</ref> Pittsburg Landing is {{convert|9|mi|km|spell=in}} upriver (south) of Savannah, and it had a road that led to [[Corinth, Mississippi]].<ref name="Daniel70">{{harvnb|Daniel|1997|p=70}}</ref> About {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} inland from the landing was a log church named Shiloh (a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word meaning "place of peace"), and it is from this church that the battle gets its name.<ref name="Daniel70"/><ref name="Eicher222">{{harvnb|Eicher|2001|p=222}}</ref> The battle has also been called the ''Battle of Pittsburg Landing''.<ref name="Scott93">{{harvnb|Scott|1884|p=93}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The Confederacy named the battle after the small church named Shiloh that was located near the position of the initial attack. Union historians initially named the battle after Pittsburg Landing, which is the point defended by the Union army. In the case of this battle, historians on both sides eventually began using the Confederate name.<ref name="McPherson346n">{{harvnb|McPherson|1988|p=346n}}</ref>|group=Note}} The area that would become the Shiloh battlefield was somewhat shaped like a triangle, with the sides formed by various creeks and the Tennessee River. The land was mostly wooded, with scattered cotton fields, peach orchards, and a few small structures.<ref name="Cunningham85-87">{{harvnb|Cunningham|2009|pp=85–87}}</ref>

The Confederate Army's February 6 loss at Fort Henry caused it to abandon Kentucky and parts of Tennessee.<ref name="Cunningham54">{{harvnb|Cunningham|2009|p=54}}</ref> The last Confederate troops in Nashville moved south on February 23.<ref name="McPherson402">{{harvnb|McPherson|1988|p=402}}</ref> General [[Albert Sidney Johnston]], Confederate commander of the Western Theater, made the controversial decision to abandon the region. Although Confederate politicians were unhappy with Johnston's performance and the abandonment, the consolidation of troops further south was a wise choice, because the Union forces on the Tennessee River could cut off Confederate retreats from posts in Kentucky and major portions of Tennessee.<ref name="Shaara6">{{harvnb|Shaara|2006|p=6}}</ref> Confederate leadership decided to consolidate forces in Corinth, Mississippi, which is just south of the Tennessee–Mississippi border.<ref name="Eicher219">{{harvnb|Eicher|2001|p=219}}</ref> The town of Corinth had strategic value because it was at the intersection of two railroads, including one that was part of the rail network used to move Confederate supplies and troops between Tennessee and Virginia.<ref name="Shaara6"/><ref name="Daniel68">{{harvnb|Daniel|1997|p=68}}</ref> By the end of March, over 40,000 Confederate troops were concentrated at Corinth.<ref name="Eicher219"/>

===Union and Confederate plans===
[[Image:Union Camps at Shiloh.png|thumb|upright=1.5|right|Union camps at Shiloh|alt=map showing Union camps between Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River, with camps of Sherman and Prentiss being closest to Corinth]]
The Union plan was to combine Grant's and Buell's armies and continue its southward offensive.<ref name="McPherson406">{{harvnb|McPherson|1988|p=406}}</ref> If the combined armies could move south and capture Corinth, they would have a good starting point for the capture of [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]], and large portions of Confederate territory.<ref name="Chernow195"/> While most of Grant's army camped near the river at Pittsburg Landing in early April, one division was {{convert|5|mi|km|spell=in}} downstream (north) at Crump's Landing, and army headquarters remained further north in Savannah.<ref name="Eicher222"/> Buell's army was moving south from Nashville to Savannah, and no advancement beyond the Pittsburg Landing-Shiloh area was allowed until the two armies combined.<ref name="Shaara6"/>{{#tag:ref|The Union army move from Nashville to Savannah was delayed by the slow construction of a bridge across the [[Duck River (Tennessee)|Duck River]] at [[Columbia, Tennessee|Columbia]]. Eventually, one division forded the river before the bridge was completed, and that division would be the first to arrive in Savannah.<ref name="Daniel113-114">{{harvnb|Daniel|1997|pp=113–114}}</ref>|group=Note}} On April 4, Confederate cavalry was seen by a Union patrol near Shiloh, but Union leadership was not concerned.<ref name="Daniel141">{{harvnb|Daniel|1997|p=141}}</ref>

Confederate leaders realized they could soon be outnumbered. They had 42,000 men at Corinth, and 15,000 more on the way, while the not–yet–combined Union force could be as large as 75,000 men.<ref name="McPherson406"/>{{#tag:ref|A small Confederate army of 15,000 men, led by Major General [[Earl Van Dorn]], was ordered to Corinth—but did not arrive in time for the Battle of Shiloh.<ref name="McPherson405">{{harvnb|McPherson|1988|p=405}}</ref>|group=Note}} Instead of waiting to be attacked by a larger force, they decided to surprise the Union Army on April 4 before the second Union Army arrived from Nashville. Inexperience and bad weather caused their 20-mile (32{{nbsp}}km) march north to be "a nightmare of confusion and delays", and the Confederate Army was not deployed into position until the afternoon of April 5.<ref name="McPherson406-407">{{harvnb|McPherson|1988|pp=406–407}}</ref> The army spent the night of April 5 on the south side of the Union campsites. The plan was to attack the Union left, pushing it northwest against the swampy land adjacent to [[Snake Creek (Tennessee River tributary)|Snake]] and Owl creeks. Confederate troops along the Tennessee River would prevent Union reinforcements and resupply.<ref name="Eicher224"/>