Advancing Troops Sobered by Carnage at the Battle of Shiloh
A Wisconsin Civil War Story
On June 10, 1862, an unidentified soldier in the 14th Wisconsin Infantry denounces the politicians who started the war after he witnessed the scale of suffering in Tennessee.
Battle of Shiloh, 1862
Shiloh, Tennessee. Etching by F.O.C. Darley and W. Ridgway. View the original source document: WHI 69987
Sketch of Map of Battle of Shiloh, 1862
Shiloh, Tennessee. View the original source document: WHI 33023
From Original Text: "At daylight we were sent forward.
This route to the scene of strife opened strange scenes to our eyes, for our path lay over a portion of the ground so hotly contested the day before.
We passed by and over the dead and wounded of Sunday — poor, ghastly, mangled forms of friend and foe, with their pale faces turned to view — poor fellows with their heads shot off, their vitals torn out, their limbs lost or mutilated, and some still writhing in feeble and speechless agony, who had lain through the long and stormy watches of that fearful night, with no one to care for or help them.
It was a fearful, sickening sight, and many a strong, brave man turned his head aside."
How to Cite
For the purposes of a bibliography entry or footnote, follow this model:
- E.B. Quiner Scrapbooks: "Correspondence of the Wisconsin Volunteers, 1861-1865," Volume 5, page 147.