Vincent J. Esposito & Matthew Forney Steele, American Civil War: Shiloh Campaign, 1862 (1956)

On April 6-7, 1862, the Battle of Shiloh was fought in Hardin County, Tennessee. About 1 in 4 men were injured, killed or captured, with around 24,000 total casualties, the highest number of casualties of any battle on American soil up to that time. The battle followed two Union victories, led by Ulysses S. Grant, at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. At the Battle of Shiloh, the Confederate forces, led by General Albert Sidney Johnston, took the Union troops by surprise and attacked them early in the morning on April 6th while they were waiting for reinforcements. This map, created by Vincent Esposito and Mattew Steele, depicts the Confederate advance on Shiloh the night and early morning of April 5-6, with the red representing the Confederate forces and the blue representing the Union. This attack forced the Union to fall back and be on the defense for the beginning of the battle. During the initial fighting, Johnston was shot and killed, promoting P.G.T. Beauregard as the new Confederate commander. Beauregrad called for a halt to the attacks as the night was coming, thinking the battle was already a Confederate victory. Overnight, however, Union reinforcements arrived, bringing the Union troop total to 54,000, compared to 30,000 Confederate troops. The Union attacked with their reinforcements, leading the Confederate forces to retreat. This Union victory allowed them to advance into Mississippi, penetrating the Confederate interior.