Conflict: American Civil War
Combatants: Confederates vs. Federals
Location: Tennessee (USA)
Outcome: Federal victory
Over the course of April 6th and 7th, Federal General Ulysses S. Grant's army came under attack by Confederates commanded by General Albert Johnston near Shiloh Church in Tennessee. Johnston was himself killed in the first day of fighting as was Federal General William Wallace. General P. G. T. Beauregard took command of the Confederates and, convinced his troops would win the day on the 7th, called off the attack at six in the evening.
The Federals, however, were unexpectedly reinforced in the night and Grant launched a counteroffensive at dawn the following day. Tired and outnumbered, the Confederates began to retreat before the Union troops. Beauregard ordered a full retreat at mid-afternoon. The Federals suffered nearly 13,000 killed, wounded, and missing to the 10,697 of the Confederates.
Points of Interest:
Responding to complaints of Grant's high casualty rates, Abraham Lincoln famously replied, "I can't spare this man. He fights."
Beauregard served as Commissioner of Public Works for New Orleans after the war.
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Sources:
Bowman, John S. (Ed.) (1983). The Civil War Almanac. New York: World Almanac.
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Long, E.B & Long, Barbara (1971). The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. New York: De Capo Press, Inc.