Shiloh 1862: The Death of Innocence

The first major battle in the Western theater 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. After Shiloh, Corinth, the Confederate base, became a charnel house packed with wounded and dying soldiers. James Arnold's masterful narrative recounts the tumultuous sequence of events. The opposing commanders, their armies and their plans are all discussed in depth. The battle of Shiloh itself is also looked at in tremendous detail. This, as with so many other Civil War battles, was an extremely bloody affair: improved firepower mixed with outdated Napoleonic tactics created a bloodbath amongst both of the raw armies.