[Music] I think the most important thing about the Battle of Shiloh is that it is the first big battle of the Civil War you know we'll have other shallows coming along after this just with different names antium chaga gburg but you have to remember this is the first one of this kind Americans don't know anything like this there are more casualties here than there are men in armies in the revolution or the War of 1812 Shalo although it's not on the Mississippi River itself uh is still the largest battle that is fought in the Mississippi Valley campaign the Union forces will reach here by mid-march of 1862 after their victories at forts Henry and Donaldson the Confederates are concentrating 22 mies to our Southwest at kth Mississippi which is the crossing point of two major Confederate railroads the Memphis and Charleston and the mobile and Ohio they have to defend these major railroads in order to defend the Mississippi Valley it is for that reason that they will March northward in early April to destroy Grant's Army here uh before bu's Army the Ohio arrives the first shots of the battle of shalow occur at about daylight on the morning of April 6th 1862 in what's called fry field essentially the Confederates will move forward and begin to batter the union camps sustaining heavy casual including their Commander Albert Sydney Johnston eventually they will drive those Union forces back in three major successive lines of Defense into an enclave around Pittsburgh landing and Snake Creek Bridge but Grant has the upper hand at this point he has traded space for time all day long uh knowing that if he can reach Nightfall he has the battle essentially won because he'll get reinforcements in in the form of L Wallace's division as well as Don Carlos bu's Army the Ohio so Grant makes the decision the key decision here at shalow to stay and fight to me that's where he wins the Victory and the second day then becomes that much more important because that determines what level of Victory how big a victory shalow would become the Union forces are on the offensive on the second day pushing out from their Enclave around Pittsburgh Landing Snake Creek Bridge driving the Confederates back all day long in these successive lines of defense that the Confederates take up much like the the federals had the day before the bulk of the fight on the second day will occur right here on the same areas where the bulk of the fighting occurred on the first day the Hornet sest the peach orchard the crossroads eventually they will push the Confederates off the battlefield borgard who has replaced the now deceased Johnston uh will call a a retreat a withdrawal and they will March back to kenth for operations that will soon commence against kenth Mississippi shalow plays a major role in ulyses S Grant's career shalow is not the the crowning achievement by any means in fact he is in the dog house uh as a result of shalow both from his Commander Henry W HCK as well as the public these rumors get started that Grant was drunk at shalow and all of that and he really comes under a cloud because of this but he perseveres that dogged determination that we see in Ulisses S Grant uh he perseveres and eventually shalow becomes a badge of honor for Grant in his advancement in in the career that ultimately would take him to Vicksburg Chattanooga and eventually to uh the Virginia campaigns and uh eventually to the White House [Music]