After loseing battles at Ft. Donnelson and Ft. Henry, General Johnston moved his army to West Tennessee to recuperate. As a response to this General Halleck ordered Grant to move his troops to conduct an attack up the Tennesse River to capture a major Confederate supply line. Grant's army consisting of roughly 50,000 men, consisted of six battlions led by Generals John McClernand, Lew Wallace, W.H.L. Wallace, Stephen A. Hurlbut, William. T. Sherman, and Benjemen M. Prentiss. Grant had his troops camped at Pittsburg Landing, waiting for Buell to arrive with trained troops for his army. Grant thought that there was no possible way that the Confederates would atttack them while they were at Pittsburg Landing, and thought that training his troops was more important than setting up camp fortifications. Buell's army of 18,000 men were located five miles from Shiloh where Grant was located that night. They had no idea was was about to happen.
