Shiloh, Apr 11, 1862

Today, again the regiments were assigned the grim task of removing debris from the battlefield.  With burial of the decomposing remains now complete, the troops are re-establishing campsites and salvaging what materiel they can, while from the Cherry Mansion news arrived that General WHL Wallace had died with his loving wife at his side.  The general who had led his men so bravely alongsided Prentiss at the Hornets Nest had survived five days after the Minnie ball tore through his skull.

It was easy to see where the field had been most hotly contested.  Even with the bodies removed, the abandoned artifacts gave mute testimony to the holocaust that had occurred. Cannon and caissons as well as rifles and bayonets, cooking pots, tents, bedrolls, haversacks, canteens, backpacks, bowie knives, books, musical instruments and all of the other personal items that had made life seem ordinary under such extraordinary conditions were no longer needed by the newly buried warriors or the wounded in transit to far away hospitals.

The hope that one major battle might settle the dispute between neighbors was gone.  The "Yanks" now understood that they were unwelcome invaders in a foreign country.  While patrolling the areas around the field, they were no longer approached by curious children seeking attention.  The primitive yet religious existence of the small farming community, like so much else, had been obliterated in just two days.  Their innocence lost, they hid in a forest of fear. Their cabins and fields were destroyed, orchards laid bare, and livestock gone. They could only hope and pray that the invading hordes would soon move on to their next target.

Unidentified chaplain giving mass to 69th NY State Militia in Washington  DC
Photo courtesy of Wheaton College Archives and Special Collections - John & Joyce Schmale

Most combatants as well as the affected citizenry turned to religion for comfort and guidance. Thus, the chaplain was an important officer in each regiment and critical to the morale of the troops. Attendance at regular Sunday morning services was high. Small Bibles were printed in abundance and said to be the most common item found in a soldier's backpack.  One can only imagine how many were buried in the mud by the heavy rains at Shiloh.

What later armies would call Battle Fatigue or Post-Traumatic Stress was not a consideration in the 1860s. The men provided their own form of group therapy and found strength in the knowledge that they were not alone in their distress.  Sometimes, however, their well-meaning encouragements failed.  Desertion rates were high on both sides.