Part 3

Four other mortuary monuments are located in the park, marking the spots where Generals Gladden and W. H. L. Wallace and Colonels Peabody and Raith fell in action.

12. PEACH ORCHARD.

At the time of the battle, the Peach Orchard was in full bloom. It was here that some of the hardest fighting of the first day took place. While the fighting raged across the orchard, bullets were cutting the blossoms from the trees so thick and fast that the air appeared to be filled with falling snow.

13. WAR CABIN.

This cabin formerly stood in Perry Field on the Federal right and in the immediate front of the last Union line established on Sunday afternoon, the first day of the battle. The battle-scarred logs reveal that it stood in the midst of heavy fighting. Of the many cabins on the field at the time of the battle, this is the only survivor.

The cabin was moved to the present location, a few weeks after the battle, to replace one that was burned during the engagement.

14. BLOODY POND.

This shallow pool of water was in the path of the retreating Federal Army as it was pushed back toward the river on Sunday. Being the only water in the immediate vicinity, the wounded from both sides crawled here to quench their thirst and bathe their wounds. So many bled in and around the pond that the water is said to have become stained the color of blood.

15. INDIAN MOUNDS.

There are about 30 mounds in this area, 7 of which are large, ranging in height from 5 to 15 feet. With one exception, all are flat-topped platform mounds. The one having a different form is an oval-shaped burial mound.

The mounds were excavated in 1934 under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. Quantities of broken pottery, bone implements, stone tools, and weapons were removed. Twelve skeletons were found in the oval burial mound.

The effigy pipe, now on display at park headquarters, was removed from the burial mound in 1899 under the direction of the Park Commission.

16. OVERLOOK.

This 100-foot bluff affords the best view of the Tennessee River and the adjoining country. From this point one can see the east bank of the river where the advance of General Buell’s army, following its march from Savannah, Tenn., embarked to cross to the battlefield late Sunday afternoon.

Down the river, to the north, one can see Savannah where General Grant had his headquarters. On clear days, Pickwick Dam may be seen up the river, to the south.

17. PITTSBURG LANDING.

Even before the Battle of Shiloh, this was an important landing. Merchants of Corinth, Purdy, and the adjacent country received most of their merchandise from boats which tied up at this point. When the boats went back downstream, they were laden with passengers, cotton, and produce which had been transported to the Landing over the roads which converged here.

When the Union armies began preparations for the move against Corinth, Pittsburg Landing was selected as the concentration point because of its good camp sites and the good roads which led to the Confederate stronghold. The Army of the Tennessee, with the exception of Lew Wallace’s 3d Division, debarked at Pittsburg Landing. General Buell’s army, brought to Grant’s aid under the stress of battle, arrived at the field on such a large number of transports that the Landing would not accommodate them. Consequently, all of the riverbank within the Union lines was used as a boat landing.

Because of the importance of the Landing, the engagement was called “Battle of Pittsburg Landing” in most Northern newspapers and reports. The Southern name “Battle of Shiloh” is now almost universally accepted.

_National Cemetery_

Shiloh National Cemetery was established in 1866 and embraces an area of 10.2 acres. In the cemetery are interred 3,695 bodies, two-thirds of whom are unidentified. Besides the Union soldiers killed in the Battle of Shiloh, the cemetery holds many of the dead from nearby battlefields. In addition, a number of those who served in the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, and one from the Revolutionary War are buried here. Only two Confederates are buried in the cemetery. Both died while being held as prisoners of war.

The Wisconsin Color Guard Memorial is located at the east end of the cemetery on the bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. Another interesting feature of the cemetery is the pyramid of 32-pounder cannon erected by the United States Government to mark the site of the tree used by General Grant as headquarters on the night of April 6.

_How to Reach the Park_

Shiloh National Military Park is situated on the west bank of the Tennessee River at the intersection of State Highways Nos. 22 and 142. It is 13 miles east of U.S. No. 45, and 5 miles south of U.S. No. 64.

_Administration_

Shiloh National Military Park is administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. A superintendent, whose address is Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., is in immediate charge.

_The Park and Related Areas_

Shiloh National Military Park, containing about 3,730 acres of Federal land, was established by act of Congress in 1894. At the time of its establishment only Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Ga.-Tenn., had been dedicated in memory of the western campaigns of the War Between the States. In subsequent years other national military parks dealing with the Civil War in the West have been established. Those most closely related to Shiloh are Vicksburg National Military Park, Miss., and Stones River and Fort Donelson National Military Parks, Tenn.

_Visitor Facilities_

An exhibit room and library are located in the administration building, situated near Pittsburg Landing. They may be visited by the public every day from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Here are to be found interesting relics, books, and maps relating to the Battle of Shiloh and the Civil War. Free literature concerning this area may also be secured at park headquarters. Orientation and historical talks are given daily by members of the park staff. Free guide service is usually available. Special service is provided for groups and organizations if arrangements are made in advance with the superintendent.

_Shiloh Inspires Writers_

For the first two or three decades following the Battle of Shiloh many literary men, following the dictates of popular demand, based their compositions, both prose and poetry, upon events of that bloody battle. Since Shiloh was significant for the bravery of the young untrained men of the North and South alike, writers frequently wrote about the young and otherwise undistinguished soldiers rather than the time-worn theme of the brave and gallant leaders. The drummer boy, often a mere lad who had run away from home to seek adventure in the ranks, became the subject of some of the most popular literature of the day. Many of these productions were based upon incidents which actually happened during the engagement, but those destined to become most famous were drawn largely from the imaginative minds of the authors.

THE DRUMMER BOY. BY WILL. S. HAYS.

INTRODUCTION. Andante. Moderato. On Shiloh’s dark and bloody ground The dead and wounded lay; Amongst them was a drummer boy, Who beat the drum that day. A wounded soldier held him up His drum was by his side; |: He clasp’d his hands, then rais’d his eyes, And prayed before he died. :|

2. Look down upon the battle field, Oh, Thou our Heavenly Friend! Have mercy on our sinful souls! The soldiers cried, “Amen!” For gathered ’round a little group, Each brave man knelt and cried. |: They listened to the drummer boy Who prayed before he died. :|

3. “Oh, mother,” said the dying boy, “Look down from Heaven on me, Receive me to thy fond embrace Oh, take me home to thee. I’ve loved my country as my God; To serve them both I’ve tried.” |: He smiled, shook hands—death seized the boy Who prayed before he died. :|

4. Each soldier wept, then, like a child, Stout hearts were they, and brave; The flag his winding sheet, God’s Book The key unto his grave. They wrote upon a simple board These words: “This is a guide |: To those who’d mourn the drummer boy Who prayed before he died.” :|

5. Ye angels ’round the Throne of Grace, Look down upon the braves Who fought and died on Shiloh’s plain, Now slumb’ring in their graves! How many homes made desolate? How many hearts have sighed? |: How many, like that drummer boy, Who prayed before they died. :|

Samuel J. Muscroft’s play _The Drummer Boy of Shiloh_, written in 1870, was apparently based upon “what might have been” rather than facts. The play—a pleasing mixture of drama, pathos, and comedy—was staged in cities and towns all over the Northern States for almost 40 years. It was ordinarily staged as a home-town production rather than by professional actors and actresses—a factor which tended to increase its popularity. In fact, contemporary accounts say that the play was second in popularity only to _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_.

Numerous poems about Shiloh were of immediate, if not lasting, popularity. Herman Melville, author of _Moby Dick_ and _Typee_, attracted by the multitude of inviting subjects presented by the Civil War, turned to Shiloh for inspiration. “Shiloh,” published 4 years after the battle, is one of his most famous poems of the War Between the States era.

“The Men of the West” by Richard Coe; “Our Boys who Fell at Shiloh” and “General Albert Sidney Johnston” by H. Pleasants McDaniel; and “The Old Sergeant” by Forceythe Willson are typical examples of the trend in poetry immediately following Shiloh.

Song writers of the period also looked to Shiloh for the themes of their melodies. The most successful endeavor in this field was made by Will S. Hays in “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.” Like the play by that name, the song is undoubtedly based upon fancy rather than facts. The title was chosen because of its certain musical quality and not because of its connection with any incident of the engagement. Hays, a correspondent of the _Louisville Democrat_, wrote the song in 1862 while the story of the battle was still news rather than history. It is not known whether he was at the battle of Shiloh or whether his sympathies were with the North or the South. However, his song immediately became famous throughout the country and remained popular for a number of years.

The song and the play, “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” may possibly be credited with the creation, or at least the perpetuation, of the popular legend about “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.” After the publication of these works several claimants to the title came to the fore. Needless to say, these men had not been killed at the battle, but each maintained that his presence at the engagement as a youthful drummer had inspired the authors. From time to time, as years passed, newspapers in widely scattered sections of the country announced “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh Dies.” A recent study by Ray H. Mattison, former historian at Shiloh National Military Park, proved that many of the claimants were ineligible for the designation. In the final analysis, John Clem, “The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga,” was found to have the strongest claim to the Shiloh title.

THE DRUMMER BOY OF SHILOH

_“Look down upon the battlefield, Oh Thou, Our Heavenly Friend, Have mercy on our sinful souls.” The soldiers cried, “Amen.” There gathered ’round a little group, Each brave man knelt and cried. They listened to the drummer boy, Who prayed before he died._

_“Oh, Mother,” said the dying boy, “Look down from heaven on me. Receive me to thy fond embrace, Oh, take me home to thee. I’ve loved my country as my God. To serve them both I’ve tried!” He smiled, shook hands—death seized the boy, Who prayed before he died._

_Each soldier wept then like a child. Stout hearts were they and brave. They wrapped him in his country’s flag And laid him in the grave. They placed by him the Bible, A rededicated guide To those that mourn the drummer boy Who prayed before he died._

_Ye angels ’round the throne of grace, Look down upon the braves, Who fought and died on Shiloh’s plain, Now slumbering in their graves. How many homes made desolate, How many hearts have sighed. How many like that drummer boy, Who prayed before he died._

—Will S. Hays.

The years intervening between the Battle of Shiloh and the present have softened the harshness of the engagement and wrapped it in a shroud of sentimental romanticism. Most twentieth-century writers are content to view the battle from that perspective. Occasionally a realist, such as Shelby Foote in his historical novel, “Shiloh,” penetrates the rosy glow and brings forth interesting and all-but-forgotten facts. Dr. Merrick F. McCarthy, another twentieth-century writer, presents an accurate and vivid picture of the battle in the following poem:

FOUR VOICES FROM SHILOH[2]

_Stern Johnston came in April from the South To spread the Shiloh fields with threatening Gray! Hard Sherman set his unrelenting mouth, And Grant knew not the season or the day, Though spring had come! A turmoil held the Land In vast confusion, out of which these three Came on, with purpose clear, with sword in hand, To meet on Shiloh Field their destiny!_

_Where their lines struck live now but squirrel and bird! Calm April has her way with flower and tree,— But there are lasting voices to be heard At Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee!_

FIRST VOICE (That of a young man from the North)

_If Grant and Sherman push on through, We’ll cut the Southern States in two! It’s not a question of white or black,— But when States leave, we’ll bring them back! They talk and talk in Washington, While in the South they’re training men! We had ’em whipped at Donelson,— But now they’re ready to fight again!_

_When the brood mare foals, I’ll be away,— I always spaded the garden in spring! And what of the oats, the wheat and the hay? Who will shock as the reapers swing? Or mend the roads in thicket and copse, Or boil the syrup from maple drops?_

_Timber to fell, fires to make,— Ice to cut on the frozen lake! I wonder if Dad will be able to plow,— And whether Mother is living now?_

_Why do we stay on Shiloh hill, With our backs to the muddy river; With Rebels to fight and Rebels to kill, Why camp in the woods and shiver? We drilled with Sherman in Ohio, And now by the Tennessee! Where do the Southern pickets go That fire on you and me? I reckon to Corinth to drill in the mud,— But we have drilled a few Who stained the Michie hill with blood To remember me and you!_

SECOND VOICE (That of a young Southern man)

_Hang all Yanks to the end of a limb! One of us equals ten of him! What’s a Southern man to do But load his rifle and see this through? The Yankee Buell is miles away, While Sherman here on Shiloh creek, Has no entrenchments, so they say! Let’s hit the Yanks while they are weak! But winter is here and times are hard,— I wonder who’ll slaughter and render the lard With me in Corinth? Who’ll tend the mill, With corn on hand and orders to fill? Dragging guns through water and mud, With cotton to plant and rice to flood! The Army’s taken our horses and mules And the children walk to the parish schools! General Johnston’s almighty slow Gettin’ this army ready to go!_

_And who in hell made the Corinth road? Horse to leather, man to rope,— Slither, stagger with the load,— Through rain, the mud and darkness grope! Timber the ruts where the freshets run— Dam off the floods; move up, move on,— Live or die, but every gun Must reach the ridge with its caisson! Cover your powder from the wet; Keep hammers clean and barrels dry,— Wipe your pistol and bayonet! Tomorrow watch the Yankees die!_

THIRD VOICE (That of an old army sergeant)

_Privates sleep where the rain pours down! Generals have a bed in town! Hayfoot, strawfoot never knows Whether his gun is loaded or not! Load again and if she blows ... Dead and buried, and soon forgot!_

(A ringing rifle volley is heard)

_Volley fire! That’s what you hear! And that means more than a picket brush! Turn your head away from the rear And set yourself for their first rush! (Load your guns, if you know how, With your fingers stiff with fright! Northern boys from yard and mow, Southern boys from field and plow, God forbid, your time is now!) Dress your line! The guide is right!_

(The sounds of battle rise to a crescendo then fade to the silence of the woods)

FOURTH VOICE (That of an elderly farmer)

_Pray God they never march again Across my farm, tearing the land to bits,— Wheeling their guns and leaving broken men Blasted and burned wherever shell-fire hits! I have the papers now about the fight That rolled across my orchard, ridge and hill! Half of the truth is all they dare to write About what happens when men fight to kill!_

_Now this: “Cleburne advanced across the stream”! Advanced! He met a line that crashed and flamed Not loud enough to cover up the scream, As those in front fell over dead and maimed! Over the fallen who still shrieked and cried, The Mississippi troops moved in the flash Of Sherman’s powder, burning as they died, Meeting the fire with stab and saber slash!_

_“Sherman fell back”! They ran from tree to tree Along the greening ridge, now blue with smoke, Where struggling wounded staggered desperately, Holding torn arms or legs that bent and broke! Fell slowly back through burning oak and beech, Carrying an officer shot through the chest! Behind my orchard bright with blooming peach, “Prentiss took line across the Hornets’ Nest”!_

_Out of the “Sunken Road” men rose to fire Into the faces of advancing men Who found the flaming leaves a funeral pyre,— While those who lived rallied and charged again! Around my little pond they clubbed and fired Until the banks were beaten into mud, Where lay the crying wounded, trapped and mired, Bleeding until the water stained with blood!_

_“Then Ruggles massing his artillery Opened his fire upon the Union line,” Shaking the earth with blazing battery That razed the trees, the thickets and the vine! Men and my fence dissolved in splintering sound To red-stained rubble! Then “General Wallace fell,”— And when his men saw him knocked to the ground, The center broke, and both the wings as well!_

_Pushed to the river bank, for one last stand, Artillery and infantry stood side by side, Guarding the only place where boats might land! “Hold now”! Or drown in the Confederate tide! Then on this wild confusion, darkness came, And with the darkness, rain and piercing chill, Lit only by the sudden, thundering flame, As Union gunboats fired across the hill ..._

_All night they carried wounded back to town,— By barge and boat,—and some they put to knife In that small shack, near where the steps go down, With screaming I’ll remember all my life! Their General Grant just couldn’t stand the sound The wounded made! He sat out by a tree Under a little tent and nearly drowned In rain; sitting as close as you to me!_

_Fresh Yankee troops crossed over through the night,— Buell’s troops, come down from Nashville way! Grant sent them in and started up the fight As soon as there was light, come break of day! Then hell broke loose again across my farm,— More frightened, screaming men came running back, Coughing and bloody,—broke in leg or arm,— And some with powder burns, completely black!_

_By afternoon, they said it was a rout,— But no one followed far, that I could see! While Beauregard got his Confederates out, The Yankees seemed content to let them be! And when they told me General Johnston died In my ravine, I thought: “The South is dead”! And so thought those who took that Corinth ride With their dead general in a wagon-bed!_

_And I thought too: this farm is dead to me! I’ll never cross my orchard lot again But I’ll remember how it looked to see My pasture spread, with fallen, silent men! But there is fruit again; the grass is high,— I guess by fall I’ll have my fences set! I’ve got some hay down, lying cut to dry,— And hard work helps a man who must forget!_

_And I keep thinking that it may not be The South has met her end! This may begin A time when men no longer feel so free To say to other men: you live in sin For which there’s need to cure you with a gun! It could be here was born a brotherhood,— That from this waste and ruin we have won A hope for us as yet not understood!_

_I wonder too about this Lincoln man! He must have feelings just as you and I! He must have thought when all this fight began: O God Almighty, now more men must die! He’s uglier than sin, but maybe he Will keep his will above the sound of guns And not turn arrogant in victory, Remembering how the South, too, lost her sons!_

_I wept and prayed while I threw in the dead Like lumps of soil: “O God of all Creation,— Let it not be in vain our sons have bled! In your Son’s name,_ MAKE US AGAIN A NATION!”

[2]Copyright by author.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Historical Handbook Series

No. 1 Custer Battlefield No. 2 Jamestown, Virginia No. 3 The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died No. 4 Saratoga No. 5 Fort McHenry No. 6 Lee Mansion No. 7 Morristown, a Military Capital of the Revolution No. 8 Hopewell Village No. 9 Gettysburg No. 10 Shiloh No. 11 Statue of Liberty No. 12 Fort Sumter No. 13 Petersburg Battlefields No. 14 Yorktown No. 15 Manassas (Bull Run) No. 16 Fort Raleigh No. 17 Independence No. 18 Fort Pulaski No. 19 Fort Necessity No. 20 Fort Laramie No. 21 Vicksburg No. 22 Kings Mountain

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—Included a musical transcription, playable MIDI, printable PDF, and a variant text of the Drummer Boy song.

—In song texts, repeated phrases are delimited by |: and :|.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.