During the spring of 1862, General Grant mistakenly exposed his troops on a rolling plateau between two creeks flowing into the Tennessee River and failed to dig defensive trenches. The Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston ordered one attack on the vulnerable Federals. The carnage took place in Shiloh. And the Confederates had the advantage in the first battle, but they lost their General Johnston and the second in the command called off the attack.
The General Grant refused to retreat during the Battle of Shiloh. And after gaining reinforcement he and his troops attacked the Confederates in the next day. The Confederates had to withdraw to the Corinth, giving to the Union its first well-recognized victory in the western theater.