The Other Battle of Shiloh
Strange but True Stories about Tennessee's Bloodiest Battle

Here are some fascinating stories and points about Shiloh, the two-day Civil War battle in Hardin County in which 24,000 Americans were killed, injured or missing.
Confederate re-enactors at the Shiloh National Military Park
* When the horrible two-day battle had ended, both armies were geographically back where they started.
* The Confederate attack surprised the Union troops when they were eating breakfast, and during the early part of the battle the Union troops were retreating on most fronts. As the Confederate troops arrived at the Union camps, they could smell and see all the breakfast food left behind. Many of them stopped to eat, and to rummage through the Union tents to take whatever they found. At one point, Confederate General Albert S. Johnston admonished a lieutenant who was carrying Union souvenirs. "None of that, sir," he said. "We are not here to plunder." The general had reason to admonish the lieutenant. The delay caused by eating and plundering slowed the Confederate advance. 
General Albert Sidney Johnston
PHOTO: Library of Congress
* There were, during the Battle of Shiloh, several instances of so-called "friendly fire" -- accidental fire by one group of troops against another group of troops that were on the same side. For instance, a battalion of troops from Louisiana showed up wearing blue uniforms. On at least one occasion they were shot at by another battalion, which understandably assumed that they were Union troops. (The next day the Louisiana troops turned their uniforms inside out, which made it look like they were wearing white.) There is also some evidence that Confederate General Johnston actually died from a Confederate musket ball.
* As the battle ended, and the Confederate troops retreated toward the south, cavalry troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest were ordered to protect their retreat. Forrest and his men got in a skirmish, and for a moment it looked as if he would be killed or captured. But according to eyewitnesses, Forrest reached down from his saddle, grabbed a Union soldier, and carried him along as a shield as his horse galloped away. Then, reaching safe ground, he flung the soldier aside. For more on Forrest (who was a Tennessean), click here.
* One of the Confederate privates captured by Union troops during the battle was named Henry Stanley. After the battle Stanley went to a prisoner of war camp up north, but later was allowed to leave that camp by volunteering to fight for the Union! Stanley later went on to have an amazing career as a journalist and African explorer. In 1872 reporter Henry Stanley made international news by finding a lost missionary named Dr. David Livingstone in the Congo. Click here to read more about this amazing man.
A mass grave of Confederates at Shiloh
* After the battle was over, the Union troops gathered as many of the dead bodies of their comrades as they could and buried them in graves marked by pieces of wood. They buried the Confederate bodies that they could find in mass graves. And they moved on. After the war the land on which the Battle of Shiloh took place went back to being farmland. Occasionally a farmer or a wild animal would dig up a body of a soldier that had been abandoned there. It wasn't until 1894 that the land on which the Battle of Shiloh took place became preserved. And even then, no one ever did a search for bodies. So, the truth of the matter is that there are certainly bodies buried all over the battlefield. So treat the place with respect.
General Benjamin Prentiss
PHOTO: Library of Congress
* One of the great heroes of the battle was Union General Benjamin Prentiss, whose men held out at the so-called Hornet's Nest for hours and hours despite repeated Confederate charges. They finally surrendered at about 5:30 p.m. on the first day of the battle, and the next day Prentiss was the personal prisoner of a Confederate general named Jo Shelby. Many years after the battle the two former enemies met face to face at a hotel in Missouri. The two men showed each other great respect and spoke about the war for hours. "It was quite early in the evening when the two old soldiers sat down to once more fight over their battles, but it was almost dawn when they separated," The New York Times later reported.

For a virtual tour of the Battle of Shiloh, click here.

And here are some books we recommend:

* The Civil War, a Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote (pages 333 through 351)
* Friendly Fire in the Civil War by Webb Garrison
* The Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory, and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park by Timothy Smith

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