Shiloh - April 6, 1862 - 10am to Noon

American Battlefield Trust's map of the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee on April 6, 1862, from 10am to Noon

After the divisions of Generals John C. McClernand and Stephen Hurlbut were hit by the early morning Confederate onslaught, intense fighting raged around Shiloh Church on the Federal right. A futile counterattack Gen. William T. Sherman's division failed and the Federals slowly lost ground and fell back northeast. Union soldiers began establishing a new line of resistance to the north of the church along the Hamburg-Purdy Road. The line ran eastward toward a peach orchard and the Tennesee River.

More Confederates arrived on the field in the form of Gen. John C. Breckenridge’s Confederate Reserve Corps. The three corps commanded by Generals Leonidas Polk, William J. Hardee, and Braxton Bragg continued to apply pressure while attempting to drive the Federals into the Tennessee River.  Confederate brigades charged into Union defenders from Gen. Benjamin Prentiss’ Sixth Division and Gen. William H. L. Wallace’s Second Division. Union artillery batteries helped hold the center of the line. After a seemingly relentless battle, Prentiss was captured and Wallace was mortally wounded. The Federal army near Pittsburgh Landing was in a precarious position.