Shiloh

If you want a detailed accounting of the battle at Shiloh, this is not the book for you. Try Larry Daniel's "Shiloh," for instance. On the other hand, if you're interested in a personal view, from the perspective of "soldiers and citizens who experienced the Battle of Shiloh" (from the inside dust cover), this is useful in its own right. On pages 6-7, there is an artist's rendering of the topography of the battlefield that helps set context for the material to come. The book begins at the beginning--when Albert Sidney Johnston took over Confederate forces in the West. The situation was perilous, with few troops to cover such a wide expanse. A series of battles takes place that put the entire Confederate line in the West at risk--from Mill Springs to Forts Henry and Donelson. . . . A strategic withdrawal, with the too-clever-by-half General P. G. T. Beauregard taking initiative, began as Johnson's forces moved to a more defensible position. Then, the move to surprise the Union forces, under Grant, near Shiloh. But the events leading up to this great and sanguinary struggle are important to understand, too. Here, we read General Don Carlos Buell's order congratulating George Thomas for his victory at Mill Springs, which helped to unhinge the Confederate position, leading to the retrograde movement of Confederate forces that led to Shiloh. We, too, read from Corporal Wilber Crummer of the march of Grant's forces toward Fort Henry, another Union victory that compelled Johnston to withdraw. The report from General Lloyd Tilghman in which he explained the surrender of Fort Henry. Or Private George Carrington explaining the fierce fight he found himself in at Fort Donelson. . . As the book notes (Page 69), "The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson by Grant's Federal army broke the back of the Confederate defensive line in northern Tennessee and Kentucky." Then began the gathering of Confederate forces to the south of Shiloh--Beauregard, Johnston, Bragg, and others concentrated forces there, with the intent of launching an attack against Grant's position on the Tennessee River. The bloody battle began, with the Confederate forces, against all odds given their lack of stealth in their advance, achieving surprise. Thereupon, the desperate and vicious battle began. Both sides were raw, many officers not used to directing their forces. The battle was a mess. And terrifying for those involved. The tales told by soldiers on both sides are telling, and make up, in my mind, the heart of this volume. In the end, this is a compelling work for what it is. It gives us a personal side of the battle that adds context to the understanding of battles such as this one.