Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles

The Hornets' Nest at Shiloh (1x1)

Air date: Feb 25, 2000

In the winter of 1862, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant marched into Southern Tennessee to secure the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers and provide troop reinforcements. Aware of Grant's plans, Confederate General Albert S. Johnston attacked, catching Grant by surprise near Shiloh Church. The battle peaked along an abandoned wagon road later named 'The Hornets' Nest' for the intensity of the fighting there.