The Battle of Shiloh was fought in April 1862 on the banks of the Tennessee River in south central Tennessee. In two days of vicious combat more casualties were inflicted than in all of the rest of America's wars added together up to that time. Despite the bloody butcher's list, no land exchanged hands. The North was stunned to hear that one of its principal armies had been taken by surprise. The Federal commander, Major General Ulysses S. Grant, faced a storm of unanswered questions.

His career was ultimately salvaged only by the personal support of President Abraham Lincoln, who declared, "I can't spare this man; he fights." The Southern commander, General Albert Sidney Johnston, lay dead on the field of battle. For the Confederacy, Shiloh proved to be a defeat in a battle that absolutely had to be won.

The unfolding story that took place was not fated. The events that occurred were the results of personalities, individual judgments, and political policies formulated in the respective capitals of Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia.