Meanwhile, General Grant, after the occupation of Nashville, went down the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing, while General Buell, with the other portion of the Union army, started for the same point by land. Aware of this division of the Federal forces, General Albert Sidney Johnston hastily concentrated his own divisions with the intention of crushing the two Union armies before they could unite. When Johnston arrived in the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing on the 3d of April he had 40,000 men, divided into three corps and a reserve. BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, as it is called in the South, consists of a high bluff, a half-mile in extent, where General W.T. Sherman had been ordered to take position and prepare for the arrival of 100,000 men. Grant was not prepared for the unexpected attack. Buell was some distance away with 40,000 troops, and the Union commander had a somewhat less force on his side of the Tennessee River. Only a few defenses had been thrown up, and the men were scattered over the ground, when at daylight on Sunday morning, April 6th, the Confederates furiously assailed the outlying divisions of the Union army and drove them back upon the main body. They steadily gained ground, and it looked as if nothing could save the Union army from overwhelming disaster. When the attack was made Grant was on the opposite side of the river in consultation with Buell. Hurrying to the scene of the furious conflict, it looked as if his army was on the edge of inevitable destruction, but he handled his demoralized forces with such masterly skill that the panic was checked, and on the river bank, over which they had been well-nigh driven, an effective stand was made and the Confederates were checked, the gunboats giving invaluable assistance in saving the army from defeat. The night closed with all the advantage on the side of the Confederates. The darkness, however, was of immeasurable value to the Federals. Buell's army was brought across the river and other reinforcements arrived, so that in the morning Grant found himself in command of fully 50,000 well-equipped troops. The greatest advantage gained by the Federals, however, came during the previous day's fighting, when everything was going the way of their enemies. General Albert Sidney Johnston, while directing operations, was struck by a shot which shattered his knee and mortally wounded him. He spoke only a few words as he was lifted from his horse, and the command devolved upon Beauregard, much his inferior in ability. He was unable to restrain the troops from plundering the captured Union camps; and when on the second day Grant launched his regiments against them, they were driven pell-mell from the field, and did not stop their retreat until they reached Corinth, Mississippi. [Illustration: A RAILROAD BATTERY.]