Editing Battle of Shiloh (section)

===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"/>