What was the northern view of the Battle of Shiloh?

Answer 1

Secretary of War Stanton demanded to know if "any neglect or misconduct of General Grant or any other officer had contributed to the sad casualties". General Grant was stripped of active command and placed as 2nd in command---if only for a short time. In his memoirs, General Grant wrote about the confusion of the various interpretations and explanations of the events that occurred on that day by saying:

"The Battle of Shiloh. . . has been perhaps less understood, or to state the case more accurately, more persistently misunderstood than any other engagement between National and Confederate troops during the entire rebellion." Grant also wrote: Shiloh was the severest battle fought at the West during the war, and but few in the East equalled it for hard, determined fighting." One Union soldier wrote home that General Grant must be regarded "an imbecile character" for his blundering generalship. A judge from Iowa wrote a blistering attack on Grant in the newspapers: "The criminal carelessness, or something worse, on the part of General Grant, whereby so many brave soldiers were slaughtered, admits of no . . excuse. Newspaper correspondents may write as they please, but the united voice of every soldier in Grant's army condems him." General Lew Wallace saw the vast number of sightseers and volunteer aid societies that began to swarm over the battlefield. He said:

"I now believe the country has more Sanitary Commissions than regiments."

"I have seen them cut down trees to secure pieces of shells, cut off horse tails, pick up the shoes of the dead soldiers. Each one is a museum collector with the talent and industry of Barnum. "