First Day Summary With the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson in February, General Johnston withdrew his Confederate forces into western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and Alabama to regroup. In early March, General Halleck responded by ordering General Grant to move his Union Army of West Tennessee for an invasion up the Tennessee River. In occupying Pittsburg Landing, Grant had not contemplated a Confederate attack. Halleck's instructions were that, following the arrival of General Buell's Army of the Ohio from Nashville, Grant would move south in a joint offensive to seize the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, the only supply route for any east-west time of the Confederacy that connected the lower Mississippi Valley to cities on the eastern coast of the Confederacy. Assisted by General Beauregard, Johnston moved his forces and deployed nearly 55,000 men around Corinth. Strategically located where the Memphis and Charleston crossed the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, Corinth was the most important railroad hub in the Western Confederacy. On April 3, realizing that Buell would soon reinforce Grant, Johnston launched an offensive with his Army of the Mississippi. Moving onto Pittsburg Landing with 43,938 men, Johnston planned to surprise Grant, cut off his army's retreat to the Tennessee River, and push the Federals west into the Owl Creek swamps. In the light of dawn on April 6, a small Federal reconnaissance discovered that Johnston's army was drawn up for battle astride the Corinth Road, just a mile beyond the advanced Federal encampments. Rushing forward, the Confederates found the Federal position unfortified. By mid-morning, the Confederates seemed within reach of victory, overcoming a Union division in the front lines and capturing its camp. However, stiff resistance from the federal right engaged Johnston's brigades in a savage clash around Shiloh Church. Throughout the day, Johnston's army pounded the Federal right, which gave ground but did not break. Meanwhile, Johnston's attack stopped short of Sarah Bell's peach orchard and the thick oak grove labeled a "hornet's nest" by the Confederates. Grant's left flank withstood Confederate assaults for seven crucial hours before being forced to give ground late in the afternoon. Despite inflicting heavy casualties and seizing land, the Confederates pushed Grant only toward the river, rather than away from it. The Federal survivors established a solid front before the Pittsburg landings and halted the final Confederate charge as dusk ended the first day of fighting. The second day, April 7, 1862 The first day of the Shiloh Massacre also saw the death of Confederate leader General Johnston, who fell in mid-afternoon, felled by a stray bull.