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Started By
Message
Coming up on the anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:33 pm
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:33 pm
I am a direct descendant of an Alabama soldier who fought in that battle some 156 years ago. He ended up settling in my hometown after the war and saw his first taste of combat in the woods around Shiloh church in the spring of 1862.
I recently re-read Winston Groom's excellent work on the battle and really love how he describes Shiloh as the place where America lost its innocence. Bull Run was a bloody battle but people, both North and South, thought the war could still be decided with minimal bloodshed. Shiloh changed all that. 23,000 casualties in two days of heavy fighting convinced the North that in order to subdue the South, the gloves needed to come off.
It was the Battle of Shiloh that forged William Tecumseh Sherman and convinced Ulysses S. Grant that the only way to defeat the South was to annihilate it via total war.
As a big Civil War buff and history nerd, it really pains me to say that I have never visited the battlefield. Hopefully that will change one day soon.
I recently re-read Winston Groom's excellent work on the battle and really love how he describes Shiloh as the place where America lost its innocence. Bull Run was a bloody battle but people, both North and South, thought the war could still be decided with minimal bloodshed. Shiloh changed all that. 23,000 casualties in two days of heavy fighting convinced the North that in order to subdue the South, the gloves needed to come off.
It was the Battle of Shiloh that forged William Tecumseh Sherman and convinced Ulysses S. Grant that the only way to defeat the South was to annihilate it via total war.
As a big Civil War buff and history nerd, it really pains me to say that I have never visited the battlefield. Hopefully that will change one day soon.
13
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:35 pm to RollTide1987
I’ve been to the reenactment. It was neat.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:36 pm to RollTide1987
Amazing place to visit. Very serene and beautiful. Hard to imagine the carnage that went on back then.
The South Will Rise Again!
The South Will Rise Again!
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:36 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
He ended up settling in my hometown after the war
Well that was a fortunate coincidence.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:36 pm to RollTide1987
I had to go there, and Chickamauga, every damn year from 5-17. I remember being mesmerized by the tits on a big monument. Absolutely beautiful country.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:39 pm to OysterPoBoy
quote:
Well that was a fortunate coincidence.
Meh. We actually moved away from Oxford (then called Lick Skillet) sometime after he had children. There were more opportunities to be had in the Reconstruction town of Anniston, which is where the majority of my family is from.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:51 pm to RollTide1987
You mean Pittsburg Landing?*
*I once a western where an escaped Reb POW, trying to pass as a Union supporter, accidentally reveals himself by referring to the battle as Shiloh instead of the Yankee name.
*I once a western where an escaped Reb POW, trying to pass as a Union supporter, accidentally reveals himself by referring to the battle as Shiloh instead of the Yankee name.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:53 pm to RollTide1987
Albert Sidney Johnston's death at that battle doomed the Confederacy in the west.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 5:53 pm to RollTide1987
Thanks I have not read it but will make a point too. 
Posted on 4/4/18 at 6:43 pm to RollTide1987
I know it is a very unpopular sentiment on this board, but we are very fortunate that it developed Sherman and his approach of total warfare. It steeled the country for the next 100 years to the idea of destroying everything and anything of the enemy. From the Indian wars on the Great Plains to the bombings of Dresden, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt, it set the precedent to wage total war. Maybe not completely morally just, but history is written by the victors.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 6:45 pm to RollTide1987
We did the military trails there every summer with boy scouts. Good times.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 6:51 pm to Kafka
quote:
You mean Pittsburg Landing?*
It is interesting how the North and South used different naming conventions. The North natural features (often water) and the South city names. I think it was Foote who suggested the city dwelling Northerners considered natural features as significant (different) where the country folk in the South considered towns/cities to be more significant.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 7:49 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
Civil War
You mean the War of Northern Aggression.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 7:57 pm to Obtuse1
The southern towns were largely left off northern maps- very unpopulated. The waterways were all on the maps. Hence the naming convention.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 7:59 pm to HempHead
quote:
Chickamauga
One of my GGF's was there as a 15 year old drummer boy.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 8:00 pm to HempHead
quote:
I remember being mesmerized by the tits on a big monument.
no matter how serious a thread, a little bit of the OT is bound to sneak in at some point!
Posted on 4/4/18 at 8:19 pm to SM6
Sherman: “Well Grant, we’ve had the devils own day haven’t we?”
Grant: Lighting a cigar. “Yep. Lick me tomorrow though”
Love this. I visited Shiloh as a kid. Remember walking the hornets nest and seeing the bloody pond. Great place to visit. You should go.
Grant: Lighting a cigar. “Yep. Lick me tomorrow though”
Love this. I visited Shiloh as a kid. Remember walking the hornets nest and seeing the bloody pond. Great place to visit. You should go.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 8:28 pm to RollTide1987
They have a concert in the park a few Friday or Saturday nights throughout the summer. Good time to plan a visit.
Posted on 4/4/18 at 8:33 pm to RollTide1987
My Great Great Granddad had a hole in his side
He used to tell the story to the family Christmas night
Got shot at Shiloh, thought he'd die alone
From a Yankee bullet, less than thirty miles from home
Ain't no plantations in my family tree
Did NOT believe in slavery, thought that all men should be free
"But, who are these soldiers marching through my land?"
His bride could hear the cannons and she worried about her man
From Southern Thing by the Drive By Truckers
He used to tell the story to the family Christmas night
Got shot at Shiloh, thought he'd die alone
From a Yankee bullet, less than thirty miles from home
Ain't no plantations in my family tree
Did NOT believe in slavery, thought that all men should be free
"But, who are these soldiers marching through my land?"
His bride could hear the cannons and she worried about her man
From Southern Thing by the Drive By Truckers
Posted on 4/4/18 at 8:38 pm to RollTide1987
Great place to visit. I worked our Parrot Rifle on the Confederate line for the 145th and 150th anniversary re-enactments. We had 58 field pieces on the line in Ruggles Battery (the same number as in the battle). We did a riffle fire on the flash, to start the event.
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