New: Jeff Shaara's Battle of Shiloh Novel

A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh, Jeff Shaara,Ballantine Books, 464 pages,  $28.00.

From the publisher: In the first novel of a spellbinding new trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Jeff Shaara returns to the Civil War terrain he knows best. A Blaze of Glory takes us to the action-packed Western Theater for a vivid re-creation of one of the war’s bloodiest and most iconic engagements—the Battle of Shiloh.

It’s the spring of 1862. The Confederate Army in the West teeters on the brink of collapse following the catastrophic loss of Fort Donelson. Commanding general Albert Sidney Johnston is forced to pull up stakes, abandon the critical city of Nashville, and rally his troops in defense of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Hot on Johnston’s trail are two of the Union’s best generals: the relentless Ulysses Grant, fresh off his career-making victory at Fort Donelson, and Don Carlos Buell. If their combined forces can crush Johnston’s army and capture the railroad, the war in the West likely will be over. There’s just one problem: Johnston knows of the Union plans, and is poised to launch an audacious surprise attack on Grant’s encampment—a small settlement in southwestern Tennessee anchored by a humble church named Shiloh.

With stunning you-are-there immediacy, Shaara takes us inside the maelstrom of Shiloh as no novelist has before. Drawing on meticulous research, he dramatizes the key actions and decisions of the commanders on both sides: Johnston, Grant, Sherman, Beauregard, and the illustrious Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest. Here too are the thoughts and voices of the junior officers, conscripts, and enlisted men who gave their all for the cause, among them Confederate cavalry lieutenant James Seeley and Private Fritz “Dutchie” Bauer of the 16th Wisconsin Regiment—brave participants in a pitched back-and-forth battle whose casualty count would far surpass anything the American public had yet seen in this war. By the end of the first day of fighting, as Grant’s bedraggled forces regroup for could be their last stand, two major events—both totally unexpected—will turn the tide of the battle and perhaps the war itself.

New and Noteworthy Fiction---Blaze of Glory: Jeff Shaara Returns to the Civil War

Blaze of Glory:  A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh, Jeff Shaara, 464 pages, Ballantine Publishing, $28.00.


Wellington described The Battle of Waterloo as 'a close run thing.' The same can be said of the Battle of Shiloh [April 6-7, 1862]. Jeff Shaara's novel Blaze of Glory provides a memorable vision of that suspense filled campaign and battle.  Within these two days over 13,000 Federals were killed, wounded, captured or missing; Confederate loses were nearly 11,000 were killed, wounded, captured, and missing.  Current estimates are that 15% of those wounded later died of their wounds within 90 days.

Shaara's novel travels several paths to the April 6 and 7 battle, one of which begins in Nashville as the Confederates retreat during the third week of March from Tennessee's capital city. The first four chapters  offers the points of view of the Rebel cavalry covering a retreat and of the mind of military theater Confederate commander Albert Sidney Johnston. Audacious plans are formed during desperate times. Shaara then offers three chapters from the Federal point of view from the rank and file and from William T. Sherman, a division commander. In a similar way to Ralph Peters' recent novel Cain at Gettysburg, Shaara

creates compelling voices of German soldiers in the Federal army. Following the pattern of Shaara's previous  two Civil War novels and his novels of World War One and Two, he utilizes both actual historic characters and invented characters.

Quickly and somewhat too broadly Shaara covers a lot of ground to get both armies to the battlefield; at times the novel approaches a comprehensiveness that may be found in historians' work on the battle.  Yet, Shaara supplies the remarkable details of soldiers' marching during all types of weather and all hours of the day.  The weather is wet, the roads are muddy, and the foliage is thick. At times confusion reigns along the battle's front and rear. His remarkable scenes include of the initial discovery by the Federals of the Confederate surprise-at-dawn assault,  Sherman's wounding, the looting of the Union camps by Rebels, and the muzzle-too-muzzle gunfights at The Sunken Road, The Hornet's Nest, The Peach Orchard.

Historic and compelling Confederate characters include, among several others,  Tennessee governor Isham Harris who became an aide to Johnston and a witness to his battlefield death, and  general and hero of Fort Sumter and the Battle of Bull Run, Pierre Bureaugard who is sick and exhausted even before the battle begins. Federal generals Ulysses Grant, William Sherman, Don Carlos Buell and several others collide in competition for glory during the campaign. Shaara does not neglect the failure of commanders with their battle plans and with their lack of battle experience. He counters them with the heroism and courage of the rank and file soldiers who also lacked of battle experience. Both sides are shocked and disheartened by the carnage of 24,000 killed, wounded and missing within 48 hours.  Among the dead were the Confederate western theater commander Albert Sidney Johnston who is at the battlefront encouraging a brigade when a bullet clipped an artery behind his knee and he bleeds to death.

Shaara offers a retelling of Nathan Bedford Forrest's wounding and his taking of a hostage at the Battle of Fallen Timbers soon after April 7. This story  is a part of the Forrest biography lore but appears to have no actual eyewitnesses. Yet it works well as a finale in the novel. Those readers who enjoy fiction with a Civil War setting are well served by A Blaze of Glory. Shaara provides a sustained glimpse of Johnson's relationship with his headquarters' hostess while the he has Johnson reflecting upon his memories of his wife  Eliza, their children and their large Texas plantation, China Grove. Additionally, Shaara offers descripitons  of the Federal soldiers fond  memories of their ethnic German families and communities. Blaze of Glory is a fine novel of civilians at war, generals in over-their-head, and of southwestern Tennessee terrain that is transformed from a remote frontier to a close and mortal hell. 

New and Noteworthy---Shiloh 1862: First Great Battle of the War

Shiloh, 1862: The First Great and Terrible Battle of the Civil War, Winston Groom, National Geographic Books. 512p. order of battle, 44 black and white illustrations, 10 maps, bibliography, index., March 2012 . $30.00

In  Shiloh, 1862: The First Great and Terrible Battle of the Civil War,  novelist and historian Winston Groom offers a narrative that is historically and graphically compelling. Best known for his novel Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994, Groom's 1982 novel Conversations with the Enemy was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. Fought April 6 and 7, 1862 in southwestern Tennessee, The Battle of Shiloh, was one of the several turning points of the Civil War. A Federal loss would have jeopardized recent victories at Forts Donelson and Henry and the capture of Nashville. 

Groom's account takes several paths to the April 6 and 7 battle. The first three chapters gather the major commander together from their early careers until the battle. Chapter Four through Seven places the battle into its political and social context. The stories of those living in the national capitals and those living on what will soon become a battlefield gives both an expansive and particular tone to Groom's story. His reliance on the words of the soldiers personalize the movements of hundreds and thousands of men.  The weather was wet, the roads were muddy, and the foliage was thick; at times confusion reigned along the battle's front and rear. Groom deftly weaves together the failure of commanders with their battle plans with the heroism and courage of the rank and file soldiers with their lack of battle experience. Both sides were shocked by the carnage.  

Among the dead are the Confederate western theater commander Albert Sidney Johnston who was at the battlefront encouraging a brigade when a bullet clipped an artery behind his knee; he bled to death. Within two days over 13,000 Federals were killed, wounded, captured or missing; Confederate loses were nearly 11,000 were killed, wounded, captured, and missing.  Current estimates are that 15% of those wounded later died of their wounds within 90 days.

Though not a definitive rendering of the Shiloh story, Groom's well paced, highly descriptive effort is well founded on the recognized primary sources of the battle.  Unfortunately Groom offers no bibliographic notes for direct quotations. Also, the retelling of Nathan Bedford Forrest's wounding and his taking of a hostage at the Battle of Fallen Timbers soon after April 7 is apart of the Forrest biography lore but appears to have no eyewitnesses. Groom offers no alert to the reader on this point. As one would expect from National  Geographic, the maps clear and precise with neither too much nor too little information on them. Shiloh 1862: The First Great Battle of the Civil War is a grand and compelling narrative of the battle. Those readers who have their first encounter with the battle of Shiloh with Groom's work are well served. 

New---Looking For Shiloh

The Shiloh Campaign: Civil War Campaigns in the Heartland Series, Steven E. Woodworth, ed., Southern Illinois University Press, 174 pp., 2009, $24.95

Reviewed by John D. Fowler on H-CivWar (November, 2009)

In April 1862, reports of carnage at the Methodist meeting house of Shiloh at Pittsburg Landing along the banks of the Tennessee River in the wilderness of southwestern Tennessee stunned the citizens of both the Confederacy and the Union. At Shiloh, the first significant battle of the Civil War, the Rebels attempted to stem the Federal advance into the Confederate heartland and shore up the collapsing defensive line in the western theater. They failed. Yet the Union army did not win; it merely survived. Mounting casualties and other events soon overshadowed Shiloh, as the great national tragedy of the war continued unabated for three more years. The campaign, however, stands as one of the most influential of the war and deserves close scrutiny by students of the conflict. The Shiloh Campaign, edited by Steven E. Woodworth, part of the Civil War Campaigns in the Heartland series, provides eight chapter-length essays by notable Civil War historians on various aspects of the battle.

The first essay by John R. Lundberg delves into Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston’s conduct in the campaign from the fall of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson until his mortal wounding at Shiloh. Alexander Mendoza follows Lundberg’s piece with an examination of Union Colonel David Stuart’s brigade in General William Tecumseh Sherman’s division. This brigade’s stand on the extreme Federal left flank delayed the Confederate advance through the day of the battle and proved a key factor in the Army of the Tennessee’s survival.

Next, Timothy B. Smith’s essay explores the myth of the “Hornet’s Nest.” If the Confederates directed most of the pressure at the flanks of the Union army on the first day, is there any validity to the idea that the center of the line was a focal point of the fighting? The fourth chapter by Woodworth analyzes Union General Lew Wallace’s delay in reaching the battlefield and the subsequent effects of this event on his military career.

Gary D. Joiner’s essay focuses on the important role of Union gunboats to the overall campaign and specifically the battle itself. Joiner demonstrates the effectiveness of the gunboats as floating batteries as well as weapons of terror. The sixth essay is a reproduced article from the Journal of Southern History by the late professor Grady McWhiney, who argued that the Confederates had a realistic opportunity for victory the first day of the battle had General P. G. T. Beauregard not ordered a halt to the advance in order to reorder his lines and reestablish command and control.

Charles D. Grear’s essay in chapter 7 investigates what the battle meant to the average Confederate soldier. By examining the writings of these men, Grear demonstrates how time altered perceptions of the battle. Brooks D. Simpson closes the book with his essay on how the battle affected the relationship between Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant and on the futures of these two prominent leaders.

The book is an excellent companion piece for those already familiar with such works as Shiloh: Bloody April (1974) by Wiley Sword; Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 (2007), edited by Edward Cunningham, Gary D. Joiner, and Timothy B. Smith; and Larry J. Daniel’s Shiloh: The Battle That Changed the Civil War (1998).

However, this work is not for the novice since it is neither an introduction to nor a detailed examination of the Shiloh campaign. Indeed, even if read in sequence, the essays do not present a comprehensive view of the battle. What they do, instead, is focus on some unique aspect of the engagement. As a result, the essays serve to broaden the knowledge of those already familiar with the key people and events associated with the battle. This is good news for Shiloh and Civil War historiography as a whole.

For too long, historians have assumed that everything that needed to be addressed about Civil War battles had already been discovered, written about, and analyzed. Such is obviously not the case. Indeed, this anthology of well-written, well-conceptualized, and well-argued essays challenges our current understanding of Shiloh and its significance, or offers new and interesting positions to be further analyzed and debated. It is to be hoped that future volumes in this series will appear for all of the major battles and campaigns of the war. Historians have long noted that each generation has something to add to the understanding of a historical event. This volume stands as testimony that the current generation of Civil War researchers still has something to say on the subject of Shiloh. All scholars and enthusiasts of the American Civil War should add this volume to their collections.

Text Source: John D. Fowler. Review of Woodworth, Steven E., ed., The Shiloh Campaign. H-CivWar, H-Net Reviews. November, 2009. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Middle Image: Perimeter of the Hornet's Nest, Confederate Assault Came From the Right Side of the Image

Bottom Image: Confederate Artillery Pointing Towards Hornet's Nest

Preservation News: Shiloh NMP Receives $1Million For Land Acquisition and Interpretation

Shiloh Park Awarded $1M Grant, The Jackson Sun, September 23, 2008

Gov. Phil Bredesen joined state and local leaders at the Shiloh National Park Monday to award a transportation enhancement grant totaling $1 million for Phase 1 of the preservation and interpretation of the Battle of Shiloh in Hardin and McNairy counties, according to a press release. The grant funds will be used to acquire additional areas of the battlefield at both Shiloh and Fallen Timbers, properties considered to be in the core and study area of the battlefield as defined by the Civil War Sites Advisory Council, the release said.

"The Battle of Shiloh site is not just an important piece of Tennessee history, it is one of the most significant battlefields in the nation," Bredesen said in the release. "It is imperative that we preserve these areas and I'm pleased the state can contribute to those efforts." State Rep. Randy Rinks, D-Savannah, stated, "This battlefield draws visitors from around the nation and has a positive impact on the economies of both Hardin and McNairy counties. This is an important investment in preserving our nation's history for future generations."

"The preservation of this battlefield will ensure that future visitors will learn about this pivotal point in the Civil War and how this battle had a direct impact on the course of American history," said state Sen. John Wilder, D-Mason. The Tennessee Wars Commission, a division of the Tennessee Historical Commission, will oversee the project.

"This grant will allow us to acquire and interpret some of the most endangered Civil War battlefield property in Tennessee," said Fred Prouty, director of programs for the Tennessee Wars Commission. "We're thrilled to be able to partner as co-applicants with the Civil Wars Preservation Trust and utilize this grant to protect these significant sites for future generations." The grant is made possible through a federally funded program administered by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

"TDOT has funded more than $189 million in transportation related projects through our Enhancement Grant Program," said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. "This program provides funds to cities, counties and state organizations to fund activities such as the restoration of historic facilities, bike and pedestrian trails, landscaping, streetscaping and other non-traditional transportation projects." The federal grant program was established by Congress in the early 1990's to fund activities designed to strengthen the cultural, aesthetic and environmental aspects of the nation's transportation system.

Text Source: Jackson Sun, September 23, 2008

CWL --- Elephants at Shiloh

Seeing the Elephant: Raw Recruits at the Battle of Shiloh, Joseph Allan Frank and George A. Reaves, 215 pp., paperbound, bibliography, index, chapter notes, citations in text, University of Illinois Press, 2003. $14.95

The authors have created a marvelous study of the 90,000 soldiers who saw combat on April 6th and 7th, 1862 in western Tennessee, a few miles north of Corinth, Mississippi. Like First Manassas, Shiloh taught the citizens of the Union and Confederacy something unexpected. First Masassas taught that the war would not end in 90 days. Shiloh taught that the war would be extremely bloody. With 23,000 in two days fighting, Shiloh ranks with Antietam as one of the costliest battles in the briefest amount of time.

The authors' Introduction sets the tone by immediately presenting three soldiers' view of their experience of combat: drama, trauma, and matter-of-fact. They offer seven categories for how a raw recruit is prepared to preceive combat. A soldier's moral is conditional upon: tactical preparation, political attitudes, logistics, leadership, espirit de corps, comradeship and officier competence. Also, the authors present a bibliographic review of other writings on 'seeing the elephant.'
Studies of heroic romanticism, training and leadership, and combat morale are briefly discussed and the literature in the field is outlined succinctly.

The method of reseach is described and impresses the reader. The authors used 450 diaries and letter collections from 160 regiments and batteries that had not seen combat until Shiloh. Of the 450 soldiers' papers, Reaves and Frank retained 381 soldiers' works that contained enough information to be placed in a data set. Of course, the material was inchoate, spread among letters, diaries and reminiences.
The authors approached this material with 76 questions. If answers to 10 of these questions were found in the soldiers' material, then the source documents were admitted to the data set. The vast majority of the material in the data set was created during the first year of the war.

At the very beginning, the authors set aside "one-dimensional approaches emphasizing, for example, a Victorian heroic ethos or a single factors such as comradship." Reaves, a National Park Ranger serving at Shiloh National Battlefield Park, and Frank, a academic historian, offer an exemplary work of history.