Seeing the Elephant: RAW RECRUITS AT THE BATTLE OF SHILOHUniversity of Illinois Press, 2003 M02 25 - 232 pages One of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War, the two-day engagement near Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862 left more than 23,000 casualties. Fighting alongside seasoned veterans were more than 160 newly recruited regiments and other soldiers who had yet to encounter serious action. In the phrase of the time, these men came to Shiloh to “see the elephant.” Drawing on the letters, diaries, and other reminiscences of these raw recruits on both sides of the conflict, “Seeing the Elephant” gives a vivid and valuable primary account of the terrible struggle. From the wide range of voices included in this volume emerges a nuanced picture of the psychology and motivations of the novice soldiers and the ways in which their attitudes toward the war were affected by their experiences at Shiloh. |
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14th Illinois 16th Wisconsin Alabama April 13 April 21 arms Army Military History attack Battery Battle of Shiloh battlefield Boyd brigade brother camp campaign Captain casualties Civil War Letters civilian combat command Company comrades Confederate Corinth dead Donelson enemy enlisted February federal fighting fire Fort Donelson fought Fremont Daily Journal friends front George Grant green gunner guns Hawk-eye Historical Library Historical Society Library hometown newspaper Hoosier Howard Tribune Illinois Illinois State Historical Indiana Historical Society Iowa Iowa State Historical Ironton John Johnston June Kentucky killed March Military History Institute minié ball Mississippi Missouri Mobile morale musket Nashville National Military Park Northern numbers officers Ohio Historical Society Papers patriotic percent Pittsburg Landing Quiner rebels recruits Reel regiment Shiloh National Military side sight sister soldiers South Southern surgeon tactical Tennessee River U.S. Army U.S. Army Military Union army Unionists unit victory volunteers wife Wiley William wounded wrote
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Page 2 - You see, this was our first battle, and the officers had not found out that minnie as well as cannon balls were blind; that they had no eyes and could not see. They thought that the balls would hunt for them and not hurt the privates. I always shot at privates. It was they that did the shooting and killing, and if I could kill or wound a private, why, my chances were so much the better. I always looked upon officers as harmless personages.