At the
Battle of Shiloh, in
Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862, Confederate forces launched a surprise attack on Union forces, pushing them back to the Tennessee River as night fell. Over that night, however, the
Navy landed reinforcements, and Grant counterattacked. Grant and the Union ultimately won a decisive victory in the first battle with a high number of casualties in what proved to be the first in a series of such battles. Confederate forces lost
Albert Sidney Johnston, considered their finest general, before Lee emerged to assume command.