Shiloh is known to be Hebrew for ‘place of peace’. However,
it was the sight of one of the deadliest conflicts of the civil war. Fought in
Tennessee, it is the first major battle in the war. In April of 1862, a Union
army under General Ulysses S. Grant was camped out in front of the Tennessee
River awaiting the arrival of reinforcements before heading south to attack the
confederates. The Confederate Army and General Albert Sidney Johnston attacked
the Union first. The confederates drove the Union Army back toward the
Tennessee River. Nevertheless, the Union line held up at a place known as the
‘Hornets Nest’. There was no choice for Grant and the Union line, they had to
hold their position at all costs. I can’t even begin to imagine what was going
through the minds of the Union army. I imagine their nerves were running high,
it was either kill or be killed. They did end up holding the line of defense
and by the end of the day the ground was full of dead corpses.
General
Johnston was killed in the first days fighting. General P.T. Beauregard takes
over confident that he will take the field the next day. Reinforcements come to
help Grant and the Union in the middle of the night and the Union launches a
counter attack the next morning. The result is a Union victory, but one where
over 13,000 deaths occur from each the North and the South. In my opinion, the
cost was greater than any battle in the war. It showed that the North and Grant
were willing to pay whatever price was necessary to achieve their goal. Once
that victory had been established, I think that it set the tone for the war
that Union victory was going to happen because the Union resources and man
power were much greater than those available to the confederates. However,
would the Union be able to expend it? I believe that the Battle of Shiloh shows
that yes it would.
It is scary to think people were in
this fight at Shiloh. When the confederates attacked, it completely took the
Union by surprise. Imagine waking up to eat breakfast or still sleeping in your
tent and out of nowhere you’re being shot at and attacked. I think when people
think of the this war they look past what the soldiers had to deal with. Poor
food, disease, poor medical treatment, great distances to travel, poor
equipment, poor military leadership in the lower ranks, no sanitation, little
knowledge of germs. African Americans were facing all of this plus racial
discrimination. It sounds like hell to me.
Since we have been talking about
the civil war in class, I have noticed that generals from both sides seem to
care a lot about what the public thinks or says. So, what was the effect on
American public opinion in the North and the South after the Battle of Shiloh?
Did the Union forces learn anything from the battle? Did the Confederates? How
did this battle effect lives and careers of Grant, Lew Wallace, Halleck, and
Sherman for the Union and Albert Sidney Johnston , PGT Beauregard ,and Braxton
Bragg for the Confederates?
