The Fall of New Orleans was a desperate brawl in the river, with hideous and relentless attacks from land and water. When the city finally fell to Farragut, it was the South's first major defeat. Early in 1862, top commanders and their Southern troops rushed west and surprised the Union force at Shiloh, Tennessee. Under General Grant the Northerners rallied and wrested Shiloh as their own victory. Shiloh was the South's best chance to stifle the Union Army in the West.
