After Fort Donelson the 41st Illinois was assigned to the 1st Brigade in Stephen A. Hurlbut's 4th Division of the Army of the Tennessee. Shortly after the fighting began at the Battle of Shiloh, the 1st Brigade's commander Col. Nelson G. Williams was severely wounded and command of the brigade was turned over to Pugh. Colonel Pugh ably led the brigade through the two days of fighting at Shiloh in the vicinity of "Bloody Pond".