As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and
Donelson, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the
area, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and
Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation
center, as the staging area for an offensive against Maj. Gen. Ulysses
S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee before the Army of the Ohio,
under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join it. The Confederate
retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union
forces, and it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a
southern offensive, along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing.
Grant received orders to await Buell's Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg
Landing. Grant did not choose to fortify his position; rather, he set
about drilling his men many of which were raw recruits. Johnston
originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it
until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the
Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made
determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line
at the sunken road, known as the "Hornets Nest." Repeated Rebel attacks
failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn
the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured,
killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and
his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union
troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored
with artillery and augmented by Buell's men who began to arrive and take
up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals
held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about
40,000, outnumbering Beauregard's army of less than 30,000. Beauregard
was unaware of the arrival of Buell's army and launched a counterattack
in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson's division of
Buell's army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops
stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a
counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its
battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win
and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and
headed back to Corinth. On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T.
Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his
division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard,
commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest's
aggressive tactics, although eventually contained, influenced the Union
troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant's mastery of the
Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The
Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August
offensive.