The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield Hardcover – March 3, 2006by Timothy B. Smith ( University of Tennessee Press)

The Battle of Shiloh was one of the pivotal encounters of the Civil War. Fought in a remote location in south central Tennessee, north of Corinth, Mississippi, the battle showed the nation that the Civil War would be long and difficult. The Battle of Shiloh opened up the western Confederacy to the Union invasion that would ultimately prove its undoing. And the battle resulted in the death of a high-ranking and charismatic Confederate leader, General Albert Sidney Johnston. I read this excellent collection of essays during the anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh, (April 6 -- 7, 1862), and it made me long to visit the Battlefield again.

Compared with other major Civil War battles, Shiloh has received little detailed attention and no collection of essays of which I am aware. This excellent collection of essays by Timothy B Smith helps to rectify the situation. Smith holds a PhD in history from Mississippi State University and is a former ranger at Shiloh National Military Park. He currently teaches at the University of Tennessee. Smith is the author of an earlier study of the establishment of Shiloh National Military Park, "This Great Battlefield of Shiloh." With this book of essays and another book, "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" soon to be published, Smith is establishing himself as an authority on Shiloh and its aftermath.

This collection consists of nine essays, most of which were published earlier, on various aspects of the Battle of Shiloh and its aftermath, Shiloh National Military Park, and the historiography of the battle. One of the earlier essays, "Oft-Repeated Campfire Stories" examines what Smith describes as the "Ten Greatest Myths of Shiloh." This essay is a good overview of the battle for those with some familiarity with it and with the controversies it has engendered. Other essays dealing with more specific aspects of the battle include an excellent study of the role of the Union Navy during the battle, "Gallant and Invaluable Service", a study of the frequently overlooked campaign against Corinth, Mississippi, which followed the battle, and a study of the role of Confederate General Alexander Stewart and his brigade in the chaos that was the Battle of Shiloh.


The remaining essays in the book deal with the historiography and the commemoration of the Battle of Shiloh. The first essay in the book, "Historians and the Battle of Shiloh" is an overview of the different ways historians have described the events of the battle. Smith identifies three separate views found in the literature before introducing his own view, which emphasizes the topography of the battlefield and which tends to downplay the importance previous historians have given to action at the Hornet's Nest and Sunken Road. Smith further explains his view of the battle in his soon to be published "Shiloh and the Western Campaign" which consists of the text of a PhD dissertation by Edward Cunningham setting out what is becoming an influential account of Shiloh.

Smith's essay "Shiloh Monument Dedication Speeches and the Rhetoric of Reunion" was, for me, the highlight of the collection. It it, Smith quotes extensively from speeches given by Northerners and Southerners at Shiloh from 1902 through the dedication of the Tennessee state monument in 2004. It is important to see this collection of speeches unearthed and explored. Smith emphasizes the themes of national unity and reconciliation that pervade these speeches. He points out that the United States of the present day has little of the spirit of unity that characterize these speeches and he offers thoughts on why that is the case. These speeches, and similar speeches at other Battlefields, deserve further study.

The remaining three essays in the book study the establishment and history of the Shiloh National Cemetry and the lives of two early superintendants at Shiloh: David Wilson Reed, the "Father of Shiloh National Military Park" who was responsible for the historically most influential account of the battle, and Reed's successor, DeLong Rice, whom Smith portrays as Shiloh's "Poet Preservationist".

Smith has written a thoughtful group of essays which will appeal to those readers with an interest in the Civil War and with a special fascination for the Battle of Shiloh.