Untold Story of Shiloh

The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield by Timothy B. Smith.

The best way to describe this book is as a collection of the overlooked things of Shiloh. Smith has chapters on the historiography of the battle, persistent myths of the battle, Alexander P. Stewart's Brigade, the role of the US Navy, the siege of Corinth, the national cemetery, dedication speeches through the years, David W. Reed and DeLong Rice.

I've seen some of these chapters in other publications, most notably his chapter on the myths of the battle. I'm glad to say that on the 10 myths Smith presents I only believed in one. How many do you believe? The ten myths are:
1) The Union was surprised

2) Prentiss was the hero
3) Lew Wallace was lost
4) Buell was the savior
5) The Navy was not important
6) The Hornets Nest was pivotal
7) The Confederates would have won if the final attack had not been called off
8) The Confederates would have won if Johnston had survived

9) The sunken road was sunken

10) Johnston died at the tree marked on the field (or that used to be marked)

The only one I didn't agree with was the the role of the Navy. Smith says its impact was more physiological which I can see. I don't think the Navy contributed much in the way of firepower but completely agree with Smith that the Navy did a ton of logistical work. Logistics are a very important part of battles but usually do not get much press. I'm not sure if that's because its a somewhat dry topic or if the source material is thinner, but it is generally an overlooked part of battles. So I guess on that myth I only think of the Navy doing little when it came time to expend powder.

Ezra Church

I never did find any interpretive signs for the battle of Ezra Church in Atlanta. I did find this nice cemetery on the battlefield with an interesting monument.

Apparently the birds like the monument too.

Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Shiloh

Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Shiloh edited by David R. Logsdon

This book is pretty much as the title explains. Logsdon has collected eyewitness accounts from a variety sources and compiled them here. He has added some narrative between quotes but not too much, he mainly lets the men speak. This is a good companion book for the driving tour as Logsdon limits his quotes to those areas. You will not read about Sherman's fighting near Jones Field, but you will read about his fighting at Shiloh Church. That's fine. He had to limit his book somehow or it would have been a huge tome. I would appreciate a huge volume but I bet most people would not.

He has also done volumes for Stones River, Franklin, Nashville and Fort Donelson. I have all of the books and have used them for battlefield treks. I will usually copy sections for areas I know I will be at and read them on the spot where they happened. I highly recommend these books.

Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the Civil War

Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the Civil War by Larry J. Daniel

In my opinion this is the best single Shiloh book out there. It has more detail than McDonough, but not too much like Sword and Cunningham. This book also does a wonderful job of putting Shiloh in context with the other events of the war in the spring of 1862.

The maps are nice, which is not something I can say about Sword's book. Like McDonough's they are full page maps. There is more detail to these maps so individual regiments are shown. One slight drawback is that a map will cover a couple hours of the battle and certain areas will have a time printed there. Usually these are pretty easy to understand but sometimes it is a bit cluttered. It would have been nicer to have 2 or 3 maps but its not necessary.

Yesterday I said McDonough's book was good to prepare for a battlefield visit or to better understand what you just saw. I think Daniel's book would be the next one to read as it would give you more detail and also provide context. After that I'd suggest Cunningham or Sword. But if you didn't advance past Daniel and McDonough you would have a pretty good understanding of the battle.

Parker's Crossroads

Parker's Crossroads is one of my favorite battlefields to visit because it seems like every time I'm there they have added something since my last visit. On my first visit there was just a few signs and I think one cannon. Since then they've added trails, more cannon, more signs, a monument and lots more land. One bad aspect of the park is that I-40 (the highway between Memphis and Nashville) cuts right through the middle but since this is the crossroads even that doesn't seem out of place.

While it may be apocryphal this is the battle where Forrest reportedly said "Charge 'em both ways" Forrest's men approached the crossroads from the north west. As they got near the crossroads they ran into Cyrus L. Dunham's Union brigade. These men they forced back until they sought refuge behind a rail fence. Forrest was in the process of finishing off the capture of this force when John w. Fuller's Union brigade appeared from the north in his rear. If they had acted forcefully they might have turned the tables on Forrest in a huge way. Instead they acted timid and Forrest attacked them as well. He then escaped to the south.


Forrest's men advance down this road, we are looking at it from the Union position.

Behind the previous stop is this field where some early fighting took place.

This cannon points south. The interstate is before the tree line, you can see some signs and larger vehicles there. Dunham's position along the fence is in the right third of the picture across the interstate.

Part of the reason Dunham surrendered is that his wagon train had been captured earlier in the day. On this map our location is the black circle on the road at the bottom of the map. You can see Dunham's position to the north and see how he was being encircled.

And the view from the last sign. The wagons were actually captured in the creek bed in the distance, not where the sign is.

Now we've circled around to the fence line Dunham's men fell back too. As this map shows they were pretty well surrounded by this point.

Here a worker clears some brush as the tree line had been cut back. Since I took this picture I've been back and trails had also been added in this area.

On the other side of the fence is a bunch of small markers for various Union units that defended this fence, as well as a marker for Confederate Lieutenant Colonel Alonzo Napier who was killed here. As you can see the trees used to be much fuller.

You can see how close to the highway these markers are. On the left side is a semi exiting the picture.

The Union troops that fell here were buried on the right of their line on a small knoll.

And this marker has the list of the men who died here. If there were all buried here we do not know but grave sites have been found so at least a significant portion of this list was buried here.

A recent Confederate monument for Forrest's artillery. I've seen this same group place markers on Winstead Hill near Franklin and at Brice's Crossroads.

At the visitor's center they have a huge diorama of the battle. My camera got a ton of glare but some pictures did turn out okay.

Shiloh - in Hell before Night

Shiloh - in Hell before Night by James Lee McDonough

McDonough's book covers the battle of Shiloh from the brigade level on up. You will rarely read of the exploits of a regiment or battery. And that is fine, in fact sometimes it is good to get away from the minute details and think about the battle differently.

This is one of the classic books on the battle, along with Sword's, Daniel's and Cunningham's. One thing I like about the book is the maps. The maps are very clean and clear. They do only show things at a division level which is a drawback. They are also full page maps. I find it annoying when a publisher gives you a map that is only a third or half the size of the page. They often have too much information for that size. But when McDonough gives you a map or illustration it is as big as the page.

I don't have too much to say about the book except that it is a wonderful book that deals with the battle without going into regimental detail. If you wanted to find out what happened at Shiloh this would be the book I'd send you to. If you wanted to find out what the 15th Illinois did I'd recommend something else, probably Sword or Cunningham. But if you wanted the book to either build on what you just saw at the battlefield or to prepare for a battlefield visit this would be a good one to choose.

Comments

This morning someone left comments on 19 of my old posts. The comments are in chinese and I'm sure are gibberish or spam. So once again I'll have to turn comment moderation on. I hate doing it but deleting the garbage comments takes too long. I value the interaction with my readers so please still leave comments, it will just take a little bit longer for them to appear on the blog.

Confederate Struggle for Command, part 2

About five weeks ago I reviewed a book on Longstreet's Corps in the West, Confederate Struggle for Command: General James Longstreet and the First Corps in the West by Alexander Mendoza. At the time I said there was something I wanted to check a source on because it seemed like a very odd anecdote. I have since received Mendoza's sources thru inter-library loan and can report back on the issue.

I'm not sure if the story Mendoza wrote is wrong but he was just following the source he got the story from. On page 125, describing a scene in the campaign for Knoxville, Mendoza wrote, "In one incident that day, a Federal shell landed in the center of the 5th South Carolina Regiment as the men advanced toward the enemy, tearing off the arm of Pvt. Robert McKnight. The severed arm flew through the air and struck the head of Pvt. Lorraine Swann, killing him instantly. Lt. J.D. McConnell remembered that portions of Swann's brain had splattered on his coat." Mendoza sites James J. Baldwin III's The Struck Eagle: A Biography of Brigadier General Micah Jenkins, and a History of the Fifth South Carolina Volunteers and the Palmetto Sharpshooters.

Baldwin wrote on page 248, "One bizarre incident occurred during the fighting when a Federal shell landed in the midst of Company E of the Fifth Regiment, tearing off the arm of Robert McKnight. The severed arm then flew through the air, striking Lorraine Swann in the head and killing him instantly." Baldwin actually reprints his source at the bottom of the page, I believe because it is not a readily available source. The citation reads, "McConnell, 'Recollections' 6. McConnell wrote: [A]t Campbell's Station, [the Federals] shelled us . . . and one shell killed four men and tore off Bob McKnight's arm. It struck Swann in the head and tore it to pieces scattering his brains on my coat."

I believe that when McConnell says "It struck" the "it" is the shell. He had been talking about the shelling, how it had just killed four people and tore off another guys arm. I think he was just further explaining the damage caused by the shell. I'm not sure its possible for an arm to be severed off with enough force to then shatter a guy's skull. The physics of the event seem impossible. Why Baldwin interpreted McConnell this way I do not know, perhaps the rest of the paragraph reveals why. And then I'm not sure why Mendoza accepted this story as fact without some critical thinking on it. He could have easily included in his footnote that this did not seem plausible but that he got the story from Baldwin.

Here is the page from Mendoza, the quote is about a third of the way down the page, at the end of the paragraph that is continuing from the previous page.

And here is the page from Baldwin. The quote is about halfway down the page and the citation is the next to last citation.

This Great Battlefield of Shiloh

This Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park by Timothy B. Smith

This book covers the formation of Shiloh National Military Park from its formation in 1894 to its transfer to the Department of the Interior in 1933. This is a very important time for the battlefield as this is when the park as we know it takes shape. By 1933 nearly all the plaques, markers and monuments are in place. The park landscape had been returned to its 1862 appearance as best as possible (the biggest change being that the fields had changed over the 32 years before the battlefield became a park, although roads and homes had been added).

My primary complaint with the book is that it stops in 1933. I wanted to know more, I wanted a complete history of the park's administration up to the present day. Perhaps Smith will write a second volume down the road that finished the story.

The other thing I wish this book had more of is the various controversies that regiments had about the placement of their lines. Some of these were relatively minor while some, like the 81st Ohio's complaints were much larger events that involved high ranking members of the War Department. I find this sort of thing fascinating and I know of no other book that covers these controversies at Shiloh. There are certainly books that discuss the conflicts over monument placement at Gettysburg but I know of none for Shiloh.

Smith does a good job of explaining David W. Reed's impact on the historiography of Shiloh. Reed was the chief historian, he later served as superintendent, and was the voice of the park. Reed was not an unbiased observer, he had served in the 12th Iowa which fought in the Sunken Road. The Sunken Road begins to take a prominent spot in Shiloh historiography during the 1890s and Reed certainly helps make it that way.

All in all this is a very good book that covers all aspects of the first four decades of the park.

Struggle for Heartland

Struggle for the Heartland: The campaigns from Fort Henry to Corinth by Stephen D Engle


As the title suggests this book puts Shiloh in the context of the other operations in the Western theater at the time. Specifically the fighting along the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. This is a pretty short book, 200 pages, and Shiloh only is about 30 of them, and doesn’t appear until nearly three-fourths of the book is over.


Engle is not the first historian to think of these battles as a campaign. Manning F. Force wrote a book in 1882 with that very title, Fort Henry to Corinth. Force was a veteran of these fights, having served as colonel of the 20th Ohio. I really like this book. It is obviously not useful to find out what regiment fought where but it is very useful for placing the battle in context with the other operations in the West in the spring of 1862.


I believe that the spring of 1862 was when the south lost the war. Sure they fought on for three more years but the ground lost in 1862 set things up for the rest of the war. I think that during the rest of the year the South does a fair job of mitigating those losses. Halleck does not use his superior position post-Corinth to bring the war to a close but instead loses the initiative and allows the South to take the offensive and transfer the area of active operations to middle Tennessee and Kentucky. The campaign for Vicksburg does not kick off until the late fall. I think that February thru May is a time when the Union takes great strides towards making this a short war, and that those advantages are then blown in the next few months so that it isn’t until the summer of 1863 that those possibilities can be turned into real gains. This book does a very good job of explaining how the Union achieved those impressive gains in the spring.

Forrest's December 1862 West Tennessee Raid

In December 1862 Nathan Bedford Forrest led a raid into West Tennessee. The goal was to wreck havoc on the Union supply lines. At this same time Earl Van Dorn led a raid into Holly Springs, Mississippi. The two events convinced Grant to abandon his overland campaign for Vicksburg. He would start shifting his army back to Memphis and would make the campaign along the river. This was not the only thing that convinced Grant to move to the river but these two raids did factor into Grant's decision.

On December 15th Forrest crossed the Tennessee River at Clifton. For the next three weeks he would run around West Tennessee causing as much destruction as possible and getting into a few battles, Parker's Crossroads being the most memorable.

So on one of my trips I decided to follow Forrest's campaign as best I could. I have previously blogged about the December 19th fight at Salem Cemetery.

This map is at Parker's Crossroads and shows the entire area Forrest operated, but it also nicely shows the railroads and towns of West Tennessee.

This sign is not in Clifton but is on a highway near Clifton. I took the picture from the car as there was too much traffic and not enough space to pull over and do it right. Clifton is where Forrest crossed the Tennessee River to begin the campaign on December 15th, and also where he crossed at the end on January 2nd.

After the fight at Salem Cemetery near Jackson on December 19th Forrest was next at Humboldt, and then moved north to Trenton.

The next day they were at Rutherford's Station on their way to Union City (near the northwest corner of the state). There was railroad track running in this area, Union City to Jackson, which is why Forrest was here.

From Rutherford Station it was on to Kenton next as they continued to tear up the railroad.

Finally they reached Union City, this sign is south of the city. Now was the time to turn around and get away. Of course they would continue to destroy supplies and railroads but Union City was as far north as they went.

Instead of just retyping the list of what Forrest destroyed during his raid I thought I'd just show the marker at Parker's Crossroads that details it. I think the biggest accomplishments are the second, third and fourth things on the list; burning the depot at Humboldt, destroying over 100 miles of railroad as well as numerous bridges and trestles. This loss meant Grant could not rebuild the Holly Springs depot that Van Dorn destroyed at about the same time. That fact forced Grant to move to the Mississippi River so he would have a secure line of supplies.

Las Vegas

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Vegas. My wife took me there for my birthday. Going there and going to the NASCAR race on Sunday were my presents. Beyond that it was nice for the two of us to go somewhere alone for the weekend and relax. It was my first trip to Vegas and my first race.

We flew in Friday night and our first stop was In and Out Burger. I’ve never been there before as that chain has not made its way to Colorado. It was a good burger. Then we drove the strip a bit just taking in the sights. Then we went to the Fremont Street Experience, saw both shows, played a little blackjack and hit Jack in the Box for a late snack (we have Jack in the Box in Colorado but very few). If its not clear by now I travel on my stomach and my wife is a willing participant, when we visit family in Wisconsin and Illinois we both have lists of places or foods we hope to have time to get to while we’re there.

Saturday we headed out to Hoover Dam. Its neat. I doubt I’d do it again unless its been 10 years or so but I definitely enjoyed it. We did the extended tour which took you into the dam itself. I think that was worth the extra money. The tour guide does say dam a bit too much. Yes, we all get the joke, you get to say dam all day long, its like you’re swearing but you’re not. But after a half hour of “I’m your dam guide,” “down this dam tunnel,” “there sure are a lot of dam stairs,” “everyone on the dam elevator,” “you can walk along the dam road,” it gets tiresome.

I couldn’t find any Civil War related markers or monuments but the lake formed by Hoover Dam is named Lake Meade, oh wait its actually Lake Mead. Named for Elwood Mead who headed the Bureau of Reclamation when Hoover Dam was built (then known as Boulder Dam).

That night we had dinner at the Top of World in the Stratosphere; its on the 104th floor, or something around there, 104 not being much different from 106. That was fantastic which is odd to say because I hate heights. The restaurant rotates around so you get a great view of the entire Vegas area. Then my wife played a poker tournament and missed the money spot by one player, but finishing 6th in a field of 55plus isn’t something to feel bad about although she was disappointed to miss the payday by one player.

Sunday we spent nearly the entire day at the race. If you’re a NASCAR fan you have to go see one race in person in your lifetime. The whole thing is quite the experience from people watching to the actual race. The speed and sound do not translate to the tv at all. We sat in row 2, which is actually cheaper seats. I don’t think I’d want higher seats. Each time a car passed a little bit of tire rubber landed on us. These were tiny pieces, like grains of sand. You didn’t realize it had hit you until you rubbed your pants and felt them or rubbed your arm and smeared it on your skin. The cars provide a steady wind so that when the stands were covered by the shade it got pretty cold. Our ear plugs were pretty good so we didn’t get a headache at all, nor any lingering hearing loss. We also took a bus from the hotel to the track so we didn’t have to fight traffic. The buses took a route through Nellis Air Force base that was closed off to other traffic so a half hour after we left the stands we were back in the hotel, I doubt anyone on the highway did it in that time, probably not under an hour. So there’s a special tip for you, if you go to the race in Vegas pay extra for a bus ride, it’ll save you time and aggravation. Earlier in the day I had wanted to place a bet on Kyle Busch but I’m not a big gambler and my wife thought a $5 bet seemed silly. So I didn’t do it, so of course Kyle Busch won. I already was a Kyle Busch fan but this cinched it for me. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to another race but I’d love to go again. Maybe if my son is still into racecars when he’s a bit older I’ll take him. I’m not sure if we’d do Vegas or go to a more historic track like Martinsville.

Our final day we took easy. We slept in, when to a lunch buffet and played some craps. Unfortunately I think that’s a game I could get hooked on. Poker and black jack don’t do much for me. The people playing roulette looked bored and unhappy. But craps was fun.

Decision at Shiloh

Decision at Shiloh by Herbert S. Jones (aka HSPL Jones)

This is an odd Shiloh book. It seems to mix a novel with a battle history. In the forward he writes that as a boy he heard a Civil War campfire ballad about Shiloh. He finds out that his friend was part of Peabody's scouting expedition that fired the first shots and decides to write a book about the battle.

There will be sections that are clearly historical fiction followed by sections that are written like any historical book of the time, complete with footnotes. The footnotes are sparse but there are some footnotes.

Prentiss and Peabody generally figure large in the book but I think this is because the veteran he heard the campfire ballad from was a veteran from the 25th Missouri. He connected to that man and when he wrote his book later he was drawn to that regiment again.

I don't think I'd use this book much as a source but I do think it is an interesting read, just not something I'd use for research.

Shiloh: A Novel

Shiloh: A Novel by Shelby Foote

This is a novel but I think it is an important book to read about Shiloh. Sometimes novels are better at conveying the senses of the battle better than a battle history does. They are no substitute for learning the ebb and flow of a battle, or its context in the war, but they do provide a good way of getting a feel for what the participants thought and felt.

Foote covers the battle by using characters from Johnston's staff, 53rd Ohio, 6th Mississippi, 1st Minnesota Battery, 23rd Indiana, and Forrest's Cavalry. In this way Foote is able to tell nearly the entire stoy of the battle. His stories are pretty faithful to the historical record but there is also some fictionalization along the way. I know if we read actual accounts from these units we would get nearly the same story but there is something in Foote's telling that makes it more real.

I read this book every year, its a pretty easy read. I would never recommend it as a substitute for a battle history but I think it is a good way to add more a more human element to the story.