Key Facts
- Date
- April 6–7, 1862
- Total casualties
- ~24,000
- Union casualties
- ~2,500 more than Confederate side
- Theater
- Western Theater, American Civil War
- Confederate commander killed
- General Albert Sidney Johnston (mortally wounded)
Strategic Narrative Overview
Confederate forces launched a surprise assault on April 6, pushing Union troops back toward the Tennessee River and achieving significant gains. Johnston was mortally wounded during the fighting and command passed to General P. G. T. Beauregard. Overnight, Grant received reinforcements from a detached division and portions of Major General Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio. A Union counterattack on April 7 reversed Confederate gains, forcing the exhausted Confederate army to withdraw southward.
01 / The Origins
By early 1862, Union forces under Major General Ulysses S. Grant had advanced deep into southwestern Tennessee as part of broader Federal strategy to control the Western Theater. The Confederate Army of Mississippi, under General Albert Sidney Johnston, sought to strike Grant's Army of the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing before it could unite with reinforcements, hoping a decisive blow would reverse Confederate losses in the region and restore Southern control of Tennessee.
03 / The Outcome
The Union held the field, securing a strategic victory in the Western Theater, but at enormous cost. Grant faced heavy public criticism following the battle's surprise nature and the lengthy Union casualty list. Both Union and Confederate high commands faced scrutiny over their decisions. Despite the victory, the battle demonstrated the war's scale and brutality, dispelling early assumptions of a swift conflict and signaling a prolonged, devastating struggle ahead.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
General Albert Sidney Johnston, General P. G. T. Beauregard.
Side B
1 belligerent
Major General Ulysses S. Grant, Major General Don Carlos Buell.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.