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Book The Battle of Shiloh  A Step By Step Account of One of the Greatest Battles of the Civil War

Download or read book The Battle of Shiloh A Step By Step Account of One of the Greatest Battles of the Civil War written by Jack L. Kunkel and published by Pepper Pub.. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One Sunday morning in early April in 1862, the North and South clashed at an obscure river landing deep in the Tennessee woods, far from the intensely watched battlefields near Washington and Richmond. Until now, many experts believed that the Civil War would be over within a matter of months. But they were in for a shock! Fought by amateur soldiers - mostly Midwestern farm boys led by generals who had never conducted operations on this scale - when the two sides finally came to grips at Shiloh they fought with incredible ferocity that piled more casualties in two days than the losses of the American Revolution, the Mexican War and the various Indian wars combined. Shiloh was a confusing battle, partly because it was a battle of amateurs and partly because it was fought in rugged terrain. Because of this, the author carefully takes you through the fighting hour by hour with generously detailed maps, illustrations and photos to help you understand what this tremendous battle was really like, both for the generals and for the young soldiers who did the fighting.

Book Our Fathers at Shiloh

Download or read book Our Fathers at Shiloh written by Jack L Kunkel and published by Jack Kunkel. This book was released on 2020-02-19 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * Over 30 Large Battlefield Maps * Filled with Photos and Illustrations * Includes Google Map Links to Actual Battlefield Locations * Includes Casualty Charts and Graphs The Battle of Shiloh can be difficult to follow because, well, it was so darned messy! This was not a fight like Gettysburg or Antietam where the armies more or less knew what they were doing. With the exception of a few West Point graduates at the top of the command structure, almost everyone on the field at Shiloh was an amateur at the business of war - mostly local lawyers and politicians leading tens of thousands of their hometown boys into the gates of hell. What's amazing is the amount of damage these amateurs were able and willing to do to each other in just 18 hours or so of active fighting. For those who survived the inferno without running and without losing any important body parts, Shiloh served as an excellent on-the-job training site for many future war leaders. But they certainly left a mess for those of us writers trying to explain the battle a century or so later. For possibly that reason, many books on Shiloh tend to discuss the politics and battles leading up to Shiloh in such depth that it's not until a hundred pages or so that anyone fires a shot at Shiloh. In this book I've confined the political foreplay to the first chapter. After that we get down to the business of discussing the battle itself, in all of its confusion. I've dispensed with footnotes, since this work is not meant to be a scholarly treatise, though I can back up any part of the book with references if needed - almost all of them came from the books listed in the References section. I consider myself a "splainer" not a historian, though I love Civil War history. I admire those historians who came before me and did the in-depth research on the battle, but my object is to synthesize their findings and explain them in an interesting way that readers can understand. A pet peeve of mine with books about battles is that I'm often unsure which, if any, map relates to whatever is being discussed in the text. I hate thumbing through 20 pages to find the map that matches the text! Basically, when I'm reading about a battle, I want a map handy that shows me exactly where that location is on the battlefield, how it relates to the overall battlefield, which way the units were facing, which units were to the left or right, and what the participants looked like if any photos are available. Furthermore I'd like to be able to take those maps and walk the current battlefield, knowing what happened where and when. For that reason I've included maps in almost every chapter, all big enough to be visible from outer space. Since there weren't many photos taken of the Shiloh field after the battle, I've settled for illustrations, which are generously sprinkled throughout the book. For those of you who read this book, my goal is that you'll come away with a better understanding, not only of what happened there, but a better understanding of what it was really like for the men and boys who fought in that terrible battle at Shiloh. Jack Kunkel

Book Guide to the Battle of Shiloh

Download or read book Guide to the Battle of Shiloh written by Jay Luvaas and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the bloodiest and most bitterly fought battles of the Civil War took place at Shiloh Church (and Pittsburg Landing) on April 6-7, 1862. The Union, led by Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, held off a massive Confederate offensive led by Albert Sidney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard, paving the way for Union control of the Western Theater. When the fighting ended, nearly 20,000 soldiers were either dead or wounded, and the South had lost one of its ablest commanders in Johnston. Guide to the Battle of Shiloh combines eyewitness accounts of this Tennessee battle with explicit details about advances and retreats, leadership strategies, obstacles, achievements, and tactical blunders. In addition, it provides directions to key points on the battlefield as well as maps depicting the action and details of troop positions, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago.

Book Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

Download or read book Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 written by Edward Cunningham and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2009-06-25 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bloody and decisive two-day battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862) changed the entire course of the American Civil War. The stunning Northern victory thrust Union commander Ulysses S. Grant into the national spotlight, claimed the life of Confederate commander Albert S. Johnston, and forever buried the notion that the Civil War would be a short conflict. The conflagration at Shiloh had its roots in the strong Union advance during the winter of 1861-1862 that resulted in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee. The offensive collapsed General Albert S. Johnston’s advanced line in Kentucky and forced him to withdraw all the way to northern Mississippi. Anxious to attack the enemy, Johnston began concentrating Southern forces at Corinth, a major railroad center just below the Tennessee border. His bold plan called for his Army of the Mississippi to march north and destroy General Grant’s Army of the Tennessee before it could link up with another Union army on the way to join him. On the morning of April 6, Johnston boasted to his subordinates, “Tonight we will water our horses in the Tennessee!” They nearly did so. Johnston’s sweeping attack hit the unsuspecting Federal camps at Pittsburg Landing and routed the enemy from position after position as they fell back toward the Tennessee River. Johnston’s sudden death in the Peach Orchard, however, coupled with stubborn Federal resistance, widespread confusion, and Grant’s dogged determination to hold the field, saved the Union army from destruction. The arrival of General Don C. Buell’s reinforcements that night turned the tide of battle. The next day, Grant seized the initiative and attacked the Confederates, driving them from the field. Shiloh was one of the bloodiest battles of the entire war, with nearly 24,000 men killed, wounded, and missing. Edward Cunningham, a young Ph.D. candidate studying under the legendary T. Harry Williams at Louisiana State University, researched and wrote Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 in 1966. Although it remained unpublished, many Shiloh experts and park rangers consider it to be the best overall examination of the battle ever written. Indeed, Shiloh historiography is just now catching up with Cunningham, who was decades ahead of modern scholarship. Western Civil War historians Gary D. Joiner and Timothy B. Smith have resurrected Cunningham’s beautifully written and deeply researched manuscript from its undeserved obscurity. Fully edited and richly annotated with updated citations and observations, original maps, and a complete order of battle and table of losses, Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 will be welcomed by everyone who enjoys battle history at its finest. About the Authors: Edward Cunningham, Ph.D., studied under T. Harry Williams at Louisiana State University. He was the author of The Port Hudson Campaign: 1862-1863 (LSU, 1963). Dr. Cunningham died in 1997. Gary D. Joiner, Ph.D., is the author of One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864, winner of the 2004 Albert Castel Award and the 2005 A. M. Pate, Jr., Award, and Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West. He lives in Shreveport, Louisiana. Timothy B. Smith, Ph.D., is author of Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg (winner of the 2004 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Non-fiction Award), The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield, and This Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory, and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park. A former ranger at Shiloh, Tim teaches history at the University of Tennessee.

Book The Untold Story of Shiloh

    Book Details:
  • Author : Timothy B. Smith
  • Publisher : Univ. of Tennessee Press
  • Release : 2008-03
  • ISBN : 9781572336261
  • Pages : 236 pages

Download or read book The Untold Story of Shiloh written by Timothy B. Smith and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 2008-03 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the mention of Shiloh, most tend to think of two particularly bloody and crucial days in April 1862. The complete story, however, encompasses much more history than that of the battle itself. While several accounts have taken a comprehensive approach to Shiloh, significant gaps still remain in the collective understanding of the battle and battlefield. In The Untold Story of Shiloh, Timothy B. Smith fills in those gaps, looking beyond two days of battle and offering unique insight into the history of unexplored periods and topics concerning the Battle of Shiloh and the Shiloh National Military Park. This collection of essays, some previously unpublished, tackles a diverse range of subjects, including Shiloh's historiography, the myths about the battle that were created, and the mindsets that were established after the battle. The book reveals neglected military aspects of the battle, such as the naval contribution, the climax of the Shiloh campaign at Corinth, and the soldiers' views of the battle. The essays also focus on the Shiloh National Military Park's establishment and continuation with particular emphasis on those who played key roles in its creation. Taken together, the essays tell the overall story of Shiloh in greater detail than ever before. General readers and historians alike will discover that The Untold Story of Shiloh is an important contribution to their understanding of this crucial episode in the Civil War. Timothy B. Smith is on staff at the Shiloh National Military Park. He is author of Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg and This Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory, and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park.

Book Shiloh

    Book Details:
  • Author : Steven E. Woodworth
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
  • Release : 2013-10-21
  • ISBN : 0313399220
  • Pages : 210 pages

Download or read book Shiloh written by Steven E. Woodworth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-10-21 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes the pivotal battle of Shiloh in 1862, the bloodiest fought by Americans up to that time, in which Albert Sidney Johnston's desperate effort to reverse Confederate fortunes in the heartland fell just short of decisive victory. The Battle of Shiloh was one of the most important battles of the Civil War, and it offers a particularly rich opportunity to study the ways in which different leaders reacted to unexpected challenges. Shiloh: Confederate High Tide in the Heartland provides a fascinating and fast-paced narrative history of the key campaign and battle in the Civil War's decisive western theater—the heartland of the Confederacy west of the Appalachians. The book emphasizes the significance of contingency in evaluating the decisions of the Union and Confederate commanders, as well as the tenacity displayed by both sides, which contributed to the tremendous bloodshed of the conflict and revealed the depth of Union determination that would ultimately doom the Confederacy. Intended for Civil War enthusiasts as well as scholars of American military history, this work reveals the complex challenges and decisions of leadership and documents how the Confederacy was never as close to scoring a truly decisive victory as its forces were on the first day of the Battle of Shiloh.

Book The Battle of Shiloh  A Captivating Guide to the One of the Bloodiest Battles of the American Civil War

Download or read book The Battle of Shiloh A Captivating Guide to the One of the Bloodiest Battles of the American Civil War written by Captivating History and published by Captivating History. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did you know that the Battle of Shiloh was the bloodiest battle of the US Civil War up to that time? The Battle of Shiloh was fought along the Tennessee River near the border with Mississippi when the Confederates attempted to prevent the Union forces, who were led by future US president Ulysses S. Grant, from seizing the vital railroad junction at Corinth, Mississippi. When the battle began, the forces of the North and the South were equally matched on the battlefield, though the rebels knew they had to move fast in order to avoid the forces under Grant and Union General Don Carlos Buell from uniting on the west side of the Tennessee River. The battle began in the early light of April 6th, 1862, when Union scouts were surprised and stunned by the sight of over nine thousand Confederate troops heading straight for them. In Captivating History's, The Battle of Shiloh, you'll discover: That the battle took its name from a small church whose name, Shiloh, is Hebrew for "place of peace" Maps that will guide you through the stages of the battle A guide to the weapons of the Civil War and their deadly results Portraits of the leading men of the North and South The hell of the "Hornet's Nest," "Sunken Road," "Peach Orchard," and "Bloody Pond" How Union mistakes almost cost them the battle How Confederate mistakes cost them a great victory The bravery of the troops on both sides and the panic of many Union troops The determination of General Grant to win the battle, despite horrific casualties That Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston was the highest-ranked officer on either side to fall during the battle So if you want to learn more about the Battle of Shiloh, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

Book This Great Battlefield of Shiloh

Download or read book This Great Battlefield of Shiloh written by Timothy B. Smith and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 2006-09 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the turn of the last century, feelings of patriotism, nationalism, and sectional reconciliation swept the United States and led to a nationwide memorialization of American military history in general and the Civil War in particular. The 1894 establishment of the Shiloh National Military Park, for example, grew out of an effort by veterans themselves to preserve and protect the site of one of the Civil War's most important engagements. Returning to the Pittsburg Landing battlefield, Shiloh veterans organized themselves to push the Federal government into establishing a park to honor both the living participants in the battle and those who died there. In a larger sense, these veterans also contributed to the contemporaneous reconciliation of the North and the South by focusing on the honor, courage, and bravery of Civil War soldiers instead of continuing divisive debates on slavery and race. This Great Battlefield of Shiloh tells the story of their efforts from the end of the battle to the park's incorporation within the National Park Service in 1933. The War Department appointed a park commission made up of veterans of the battle. This commission surveyed and mapped the field, purchased land, opened roads, marked troop positions, and established the historical interpretation of the early April 1862 battle. Many aged veterans literally gave the remainder of their lives in the effort to plan, build, and maintain Shiloh National Military Park for all veterans. By studying the establishment and administration of parks such as the one at Shiloh, the modern scholar can learn much about the mindsets of both veterans and their civilian contemporaries regarding the Civil War. This book represents an important addition to the growing body of work on the history of national remembrance.

Book Shiloh

    Book Details:
  • Author : Mark Grimsley
  • Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
  • Release : 2006-01-01
  • ISBN : 080327100X
  • Pages : 191 pages

Download or read book Shiloh written by Mark Grimsley and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive guide to Shiloh, one of the key battlefields of the Civil War, provides precise directions to all the important locations on the battlefield, along with more than forty detailed maps, vivid descriptions of the battle, and an analysis of the events of the engagement, key personalities involved, and the ultimate ramifications of the conflict. Original.

Book Shiloh 1862

    Book Details:
  • Author : James Arnold
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
  • Release : 2011-03-15
  • ISBN : 1846036356
  • Pages : 96 pages

Download or read book Shiloh 1862 written by James Arnold and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03-15 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first major battle in the Western theatre of the American Civil War, Shiloh came as a horrifying shock to both the American public and those in arms. For the first time they had some idea of the terrible price that would be paid for the preservation of the Union. On 6 April 1862 General Albert Sidney Johnston caught Grant and Sherman by surprise and very nearly drove them into the River Tennessee, but was mortally wounded in the process. Somehow Grant and Sherman hung on and the next day managed to drive back the hordes of grey-clad rebels.

Book The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged

Download or read book The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged written by David Wilson Reed and published by Univ Tennessee Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive history of the Battle of Shiloh, fought in April 1862, in southwestern Tennessee, along with an overview of the units engaged and the movements of each brigade, and losses to the army.

Book Shiloh

    Book Details:
  • Author : Timothy B. Smith
  • Publisher : University Press of Kansas
  • Release : 2016-10-07
  • ISBN : 0700623477
  • Pages : 606 pages

Download or read book Shiloh written by Timothy B. Smith and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2016-10-07 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical moment in the Civil War, the Battle of Shiloh has been the subject of many books. However, none has told the story of Shiloh as Timothy Smith does in this volume, the first comprehensive history of the two-day battle in April 1862—a battle so fluid and confusing that its true nature has eluded a clear narrative telling until now. Unfolding over April 6th and 7th, the Battle of Shiloh produced the most sprawling and bloody field of combat since the Napoleonic wars, with an outcome that set the Confederacy on the road to defeat. Contrary to previous histories, Smith tells us, the battle was not won or lost on the first day, but rather in the decision-making of the night that followed and in the next day’s fighting. Devoting unprecedented attention to the details of that second day, his book shows how the Union’s triumph was far less assured, and much harder to achieve, than has been acknowledged. Smith also employs a new organization strategy to clarify the action. By breaking his analysis of both days’ fighting into separate phases and sectors, he makes it much easier to grasp what was happening in each combat zone, why it unfolded as it did, and how it related to the broader tactical and operational context of the entire battle. The battlefield’s diverse and challenging terrain also comes in for new scrutiny. Through detailed attention to the terrain’s major features—most still visible at the Shiloh National Military Park—Smith is able to track their specific and considerable influence on the actions, and their consequences, over those forty-eight hours. The experience of the soldiers finally finds its place here too, as Smith lets us hear, as never before, the voices of the common man, whether combatant or local civilian, caught up in a historic battle for their lives, their land, their honor, and their homes. “We must this day conquer or perish,” Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston declared on the morning of April 6, 1862. His words proved prophetic, and might serve as an epitaph for the larger war, as we see fully for the first time in this unparalleled and surely definitive history of the Battle of Shiloh.

Book Opening of the Battle of Shiloh  Classic Reprint

Download or read book Opening of the Battle of Shiloh Classic Reprint written by Charles Morton and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2018-02-02 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Opening of the Battle of Shiloh Fifty years ago next Saturday, the great battle of Shiloh opened, on a beautiful, balmy, April, Sunday morning. It was the first great battle of the Civil War. It was at the time the greatest battle in our history - the greatest on the western hemisphere - and to-day it remains one of the great battles of our great war and of modern times and one of the greatest in importance, for who can divine the far - reaching results to this nation and the world had our army there and then met defeat, 'or -had its victory been promptly and vigorously fol lowed up! About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Book The Battle of Shiloh

Download or read book The Battle of Shiloh written by Larry Hama and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2006-08-15 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One year after the start of conflict, Confederate forces launched an early morning sneak attack on Union forces camped near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. The pitched battle was fought mainly in the surrounding woods by inexperienced troops on both sides. Although both sides would claim victory, the battle was a Southern failure because of its inability to make good on its early advantage in the battle.

Book The Shiloh Campaign

    Book Details:
  • Author : Steven E. Woodworth
  • Publisher : SIU Press
  • Release : 2009-04-21
  • ISBN : 0809386836
  • Pages : 178 pages

Download or read book The Shiloh Campaign written by Steven E. Woodworth and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some 100,000 soldiers fought in the April 1862 battle of Shiloh, and nearly 20,000 men were killed or wounded; more Americans died on that Tennessee battlefield than had died in all the nation’s previous wars combined. In the first book in his new series, Steven E. Woodworth has brought together a group of superb historians to reassess this significant battleandprovide in-depth analyses of key aspects of the campaign and its aftermath. The eight talented contributors dissect the campaign’s fundamental events, many of which have not received adequate attention before now. John R. Lundberg examines the role of Albert Sidney Johnston, the prized Confederate commander who recovered impressively after a less-than-stellar performance at forts Henry and Donelson only to die at Shiloh; Alexander Mendoza analyzes the crucial, and perhaps decisive, struggle to defend the Union’s left; Timothy B. Smith investigates the persistent legend that the Hornet’s Nest was the spot of the hottest fighting at Shiloh; Steven E. Woodworth follows Lew Wallace’s controversial march to the battlefield and shows why Ulysses S. Grant never forgave him; Gary D. Joiner provides the deepest analysis available of action by the Union gunboats; Grady McWhineydescribes P. G. T. Beauregard’s decision to stop the first day’s attack and takes issue with his claim of victory; and Charles D. Grear shows the battle’s impact on Confederate soldiers, many of whom did not consider the battle a defeat for their side. In the final chapter, Brooks D. Simpson analyzes how command relationships—specifically the interactions among Grant, Henry Halleck, William T. Sherman, and Abraham Lincoln—affected the campaign and debunks commonly held beliefs about Grant’s reactions to Shiloh’s aftermath. The Shiloh Campaign will enhance readers’ understanding of a pivotal battle that helped unlock the western theater to Union conquest. It is sure to inspire further study of and debate about one of the American Civil War’s momentous campaigns.

Book Day 1 of the Battle of Shiloh

    Book Details:
  • Author : Charles River Charles River Editors
  • Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Release : 2016-04-27
  • ISBN : 9781532958304
  • Pages : 50 pages

Download or read book Day 1 of the Battle of Shiloh written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-04-27 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the fighting by generals and soldiers on both sides *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "The turning point of our fate." - Jefferson Davis on the death of Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh "Probably no single battle of the war gave rise to such wild and damaging reports." - William Tecumseh Sherman After Union General Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in early 1862, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, widely considered the Confederacy's best general, concentrated his forces in northern Georgia and prepared for a major offensive that culminated with the biggest battle of the war to that point, the Battle of Shiloh. On the morning of April 6, Johnston directed an all out attack on Grant's army around Shiloh Church, and though Grant's men had been encamped there, they had failed to create defensive fortifications or earthworks. They were also badly caught by surprise. With nearly 45,000 Confederates attacking, Johnston's army began to steadily push Grant's men back toward the river. As fate would have it, the Confederates may have been undone by friendly fire at Shiloh. Johnston advanced out ahead of his men on horseback while directing a charge near a peach orchard when he was hit in the lower leg by a bullet that historians now widely believe was fired by his own men. Nobody thought the wound was serious, including Johnston, who continued to aggressively lead his men and even sent his personal physician to treat wounded Union soldiers taken captive. But the bullet had clipped an artery, and shortly after being wounded Johnston began to feel faint in the saddle. With blood filling up his boot, Johnston unwittingly bled to death. The delay caused by his death, and the transfer of command to subordinate P.G.T. Beauregard, bought the Union defenders critical time on April 6, and the following day Grant's reinforced army struck back and pushed the Confederate army off the field. The Battle of Shiloh lasted two days, but the battle over the battle had just begun. Grant's army had just won the biggest battle in the history of North America, with nearly 24,000 combined casualties among the Union and Confederate forces. Usually the winner of a major battle is hailed as a hero, but Grant was hardly a winner at Shiloh. The Battle of Shiloh took place before costlier battles at places like Antietam and Gettysburg, so the extent of the casualties at Shiloh shocked the nation. Moreover, at Shiloh the casualties were viewed as needless; Grant was pilloried for allowing the Confederates to take his forces by surprise, as well as the failure to build defensive earthworks and fortifications, which nearly resulted in a rout of his army. Speculation again arose that Grant had a drinking problem, and some even assumed he was drunk during the battle. Though the Union won, it was largely viewed that their success owed to the heroics of General Sherman in rallying the men and Don Carlos Buell arriving with his army, and General Buell was happy to receive the credit at Grant's expense. As a result of the Battle of Shiloh, Grant was demoted to second-in-command of all armies in his department, an utterly powerless position. And when word of what many considered a "colossal blunder" reached Washington, several congressmen insisted that Lincoln replace Grant in the field. Lincoln famously defended Grant, telling critics, "I can't spare this man. He fights." Day 1 of the Battle of Shiloh: The History of the Fighting that Nearly Ended Ulysses S. Grant's Civil War Career explains the campaign and events that led up to the controversial first day of the battle, and how the fighting that day affected the careers of the major generals involved.

Book Seeing the Elephant

    Book Details:
  • Author : Joseph Allan Frank
  • Publisher : University of Illinois Press
  • Release : 2003-02-25
  • ISBN : 9780252071263
  • Pages : 236 pages

Download or read book Seeing the Elephant written by Joseph Allan Frank and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2003-02-25 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War, the two-day engagement near Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862 left more than 23,000 casualties. Fighting alongside seasoned veterans were more than 160 newly recruited regiments and other soldiers who had yet to encounter serious action. In the phrase of the time, these men came to Shiloh to “see the elephant.” Drawing on the letters, diaries, and other reminiscences of these raw recruits on both sides of the conflict, “Seeing the Elephant” gives a vivid and valuable primary account of the terrible struggle. From the wide range of voices included in this volume emerges a nuanced picture of the psychology and motivations of the novice soldiers and the ways in which their attitudes toward the war were affected by their experiences at Shiloh.