Around the turn of the last century, feelings of patriotism, nationalism, and sectional reconciliation swept the United States and led to a nationwide memorialization of American military history in general and the Civil War in particular. The 1894 establishment of the Shiloh National Military Park, for example, grew out of an effort by veterans themselves to preserve and protect the site of one of the Civil War's most important engagements. Returning to the Pittsburg Landing battlefield, Shiloh veterans organized ...
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Around the turn of the last century, feelings of patriotism, nationalism, and sectional reconciliation swept the United States and led to a nationwide memorialization of American military history in general and the Civil War in particular. The 1894 establishment of the Shiloh National Military Park, for example, grew out of an effort by veterans themselves to preserve and protect the site of one of the Civil War's most important engagements. Returning to the Pittsburg Landing battlefield, Shiloh veterans organized themselves to push the Federal government into establishing a park to honor both the living participants in the battle and those who died there. In a larger sense, these veterans also contributed to the contemporaneous reconciliation of the North and the South by focusing on the honor, courage, and bravery of Civil War soldiers instead of continuing divisive debates on slavery and race. This Great Battlefield of Shiloh tells the story of their efforts from the end of the battle to the park's incorporation within the National Park Service in 1933. The War Department appointed a park commission made up of veterans of the battle. This commission surveyed and mapped the field, purchased land, opened roads, marked troop positions, and established the historical interpretation of the early April 1862 battle. Many aged veterans literally gave the remainder of their lives in the effort to plan, build, and maintain Shiloh National Military Park for all veterans. By studying the establishment and administration of parks such as the one at Shiloh, the modern scholar can learn much about the mindsets of both veterans and their civilian contemporaries regarding the Civil War. This book represents an important addition to the growing body of work on the history of national remembrance.
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New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 192 p. Contains: Illustrations, black & white, Figures. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 192 p. Contains: Illustrations, black & white, Figures. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
General Ulysses Grant once noted that "the Battle of Shiloh has been perhaps less understood, or, to state the case more accurately, more persistently misunderstood, than any other engagement". With Grant commanding the Army of the Tennessee, the Battle of Shiloh began on April 6, 1862 with a daring attack by the Confederate's Army of the Mississippi commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. Johnston lost his life during the battle. On April 7, 1862, following reinforcement of Grant by the Army of the Cumberland, the Confederate forces were driven back.
The Battle of Shiloh occurred in a remote area of Southwest Tennessee near Savannah, Tennessee and about 22 miles north of Corinth, Mississippi. Congress provided for the establishment of a National Military Park at Shiloh in 1893. (The National Cemetery was established just after the Civil War.) I visited the park four years ago. It remains pristine and isolated and undeveloped. The park is arranged with quiet dignity. I was moved by my visit.
In his book "This Great Battlefield of Shiloh" Dr. Timothy Smith discusses the establishment and history of the Shiloh National Battlefield. Dr Smith holds a PhD in history from Mississippi State and is a park ranger at Shiloh. He is deeply familiar with the Battle, with the history of the Park, and with recent scholarly approaches discussing the relationship between memory and history in studying the Civil War.
Dr. Smith begins his book with a brief overview of the Battle. He then discusses how an organization composed of veterans and political leaders worked successfully for the establishment of the Park. He explores in detail the work involved in establishing the Park, in the matters of clearing title, acquiring land, building roads, planning monuments and living quarters, determining the history of the Battle and much else. His stresses the remote location of Shiloh and the lack of roads early in the 20th Century. Most material needed to be shipped on the Tennessee River to the site of Pittsburgh Landing, a key feature of the Battlefield. Many people devoted their lives to the establishment of the Shiloh Park. Dr. Smith pays most attention to Cornelius Cadle, the first chairman of the commission which managed the park, Atwell Thompson, the park's chief engineer, and David Reed. Reed was a historian whose account of the Battle of Shiloh set the stage for subsequent interpretations over the next 70 years.
There is a great deal more to Dr. Smith's account than factual information. His book explores well the purposes for which the Park was established -- to promote American patriotism, reconciliation after the Civil War, and American nationalism. In accordance with much recent scholarship, Dr. Smith is aware that these values were purchased at high cost -- the origins of the Civil War in slavery and in secession were marginalized in an attempt to celebrate Union and the valor of Americans both North and South. I found Dr. Smith's account measured and careful, both in the importance he attaches to the values for which the Park was established and in his realization of the tragedy of forgetting the origins of the War.
Dr. Smith also has interesting things to say about the Battle of Shiloh itself and of the history that David Reed and the Park perpetuated. Reed saw the Sunken Road and Hornet's Nest in the middle of the Battlefield as the key to the fighting. Many subsequent historians have followed that view. But, according to Dr. Smith, more detailed research has shown that the Sunken Road saw only limited action with most of the fighting taking place to its East or West. This is a point that needs developing and analysis in subsequent studies of the battle.
Among the more romantic elements of the Battle of Shiloh is the death of General Albert Sidney Johnston, the highest-ranked American officer to be killed in Battle. Dr. Smith gives an excellent account of how the Park determined the spot where Johnston fell and how it was marked on the Battlefield. Johnston's actual location at his death too remains a subject of dispute.
This is a fine book particularly in the way Dr. Smith discusses the meaning of the Battle and the War and encourages reflection on these matters by his readers. I wanted to visit Shiloh again after reading the book. The book will interest readers interested in Shiloh and in Civil War historiography.
