Shiloh

The young men in the ward went to Shiloh National Battlefield and I (SD) went with them.

OVERVIEW



Shiloh was the first truly bloody engagement of the Civil War, with more than 23,000 combined casualties (killed/wounded/missing). After the battle, all the bodies were thrown in a burial trench. Eventually, the Union dead were individually reinterred, although many bodies could not be identified. The rebel dead were left buried together in the trench.

THE BATTLE APRIL 6-7th, 1862

The battle arose when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee moved by boat down the Cumberland river from Ft. Donelson, TN landed at Pittsburgh Landing, TN in preparation to attack Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston (yes, for those in Utah, that Johnston's army) Army of the Mississippi headquartered at Corinth, MI about 45 miles away. Grant was under orders to wait for Gen. Buell's army which was marching from Nashville, TN. It would take several weeks for Buell's troops to arrive. In the meantime, Johnston decided to attack before Buell could join with Grant . Despite the five days it took Johnston to get in place, due to rain and mud, Grant's army failed to detect the movements and failed to entrench.

Just before 5 am on the morning of April 6, 1862, a reconnaissance patrol led by Major John Wesley Powell (yes, for those in Utah, that John Wesley Powell), came under fire from charging Confederate troops and hurriedly put up a temporary battle line. After an hour of pitched fighting, these Union troops were driven from their position; however, their gallant effort allowed the unprepared Union main camp to organize into battle lines at a "sunken road" that extented for a mile or more.


At the "Sunken Road", the Union troops held back repeated Confederate assaults until the very late afternoon. To give the young men some sense of the difficulty of infantry charges, We timed JD and one of the other young men running across the open field from the Confederate position to the fence line of the Union defensive perimeter. It took him 38 seconds. Which would have been sufficient time for a cannon firing cannister (shrapnel loaded cannon shots that annilated infantry soliders) to fire 4 times.

On the far left of the Sunken road defensive perimeter was a Peach orchard which had a small pond. During the battle, the pond's water turned bloody from wounded men and horses. (We joked that the fish in the pond turned carnivorous because they followed our movements around the pond.)


It was in this area that A.S. Johnston was killed, mortally wounded by a bullet most likely fired by Confederate solider. For many Southerners, they believe that the loss of Johnston here resulted in the loss of the civil war, as Gen. Beauregard,( the second in command who had been reluctant to attack in the first place), did not continue the attack after the late afternoon and instead waited for morning. By their reasoning, continuing the attack would have destroyed the Army of the Tennessee and therefore eliminated the major threat to the South. (Most historian agree that the Civil War was won/lost in the Western theater, but whether a better general than Beauregard would have succeeded in crushing Grant's army on the evening of 6th is not so apparent.)

(STAY TUNED FOR MOVIE OF CANNONS FIRING)

The center of the Union defense was finally broken when the Confederate troops assembled more than 500 cannon on the slope facing down to the sunken road in order to bombard the Union center. It was at this battery position that reenactors from the Alabama regiment (CSA) demonstrated firing a Civil War cannon. (According to the reenactors, in actual battle, most of the safety precautions the rennactors employed such as double mopping the cannon, bringing charges from the rear, letting the cannon muzzle cool, etc... were dropped.)


After their demonstration, the rennactors returned to their camp near the battery and we had a chance to talk with them about why they pursued it as a hobby. Many of them took spend about a third of their weekends a year doing it.

When the the Union lines were finally broken, they were able to retreat into strong defensive positions around Pittsburgh Landing and were reinforced during the night by the advanced forces of Buell's Army. The next day, they counterattacked and drove the Confederates back over the ground they had gained the previous day. At the end of the day, the Confederate army was in full retreat and eventually marched back to Corinth in defeat.

The number of American (both USA and CSA) casualities from this battle was more than from all American wars combined up to that time. While Shiloh resulted in large territorial gains for the Union army, the enormity of the casualities eclipsed much of the political advantage that might have otherwise derived. The thought that the war would end quickly vanished. Grant is later said to have realized after Shiloh that there would be no way to save the Union without complete conquest of the South.

INDIAN MOUNDS


Shiloh National Battlefield also by chance preserved indian mounds from what was once a large Mississippian Indian settlement. So we explored these as well.

Youth Pioneer Trek

On the 11th-13th of June I (jd) had a chance to go on a youth trek. The trek took place on a large area of land out in rural Tennessee. Our ward had a family of 12. On the trek we had to wear our period style clothes (which meant long sleeved shirts, pants, and a pair of suspenders).

Day 1

Upon arrival at the base we put together our handcarts. Before we could load our stuff a huge storm let loose heavy rains and winds, forcing all of us into the mess hall. We ate a meager lunch and heard some stories from our leaders while we waited out the storm. When the storm let up we finished loading our carts and started off, with two people at the bar, two in the back and the rest pulling on rope attached to the front . Because of mechanical problems our group was delayed to the end of the train. Shortly after it started to rain again and the wind picked up. There were many hills and creek crossings. That day we covered about 4.5 miles. We made camp in a clearing in the woods. Our shelter was just a large tarp over the cart and tied to the ground. That night another big storm came in almost worst than the first. We all had trouble sleeping, what with the wind howling, the rain pelting our tarp, and lightning lighting up the skies. Luckily our family stayed dry. The same could not be said for some of the other families. One family's tarp had collapsed from the weight of the water. Several families had set up shop in a perfect draining ditch.

Day 2

After a breakfast of piping hot oatmeal we broke camp and headed out. Because of the previous night's drenching the trails were muddy and messy. We made several more water crossings followed by steep uphills. In all we covered about 9.5 miles. With 0.75 miles to go, all of the young men were pulled out for the "Mormon Battalion", which turned out to be service projects (there was much disappointment for the lack of firearms). For the service project we cleared two primitive camp sights. After that we marched back and made camp.

Day 3

After another breakfast of oatmeal we had a testimonial meeting. We then had an easy 1 mile trip back to base camp. After disassembling the carts we had the feast. There were ribs, chicken, corn, potatoes, beans, cobbler, and best of all, soda. After eating till we were full and a little more some of us went on a short hike to a magnificent bluff with a great view of the valley. It was a great experience.

Pioneer Youth Trek(More Pictures)

Pioneer Youth Trek. The kids looks great in their pioneer outfit with straw hat and suspender and all.

Tales of Twilight

Every Friday in June, we will get the chance to listen to music and stories plus have a picnic at the nearby park.

Lovely Flowers from Our Garden

I enjoy planting different flowers and I love watching them bloom.

MARIGOLDS

STARRY NIGHT

TICKSEED NANA

SPEEDWELL RED FOX

LILIUM

Achievement Day Tea Party

Girl's from our ward had their end of the school year Tea Party. We had sandwiches, fruits, cookies and drinks. We watched some pictures of the girls during their achievement day.

Streets of Philadelphia

Went to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Their days of glory were a long time ago in a nation far far smaller (and in a city far more full of promise and less of decay.)



Some thoughts...

A small building and broken bell, now sit quietly in repose, but the mighty experiment unleashed there still rolls on... can one nation dedicated to the proposition that all men (and women and maybe this time we really mean ALL) are created equal, continue to endure? Will government of the people, by the people, for the people perish from the earth?

We have passed through many dark days together since those self-evident truths were proclaimed in that small room. Some of those dark day forged the mystic cords of memory across a continent. Others have stretched those same cords to the breaking point during physical and verbal battles over competing interpretations of good governance. Yet so far, every time those cords have been stretched, they have mended with time and grown stronger. Can we not now see that those cords of memory and common experience that stretch across a seemingly broad chasm of cultures, opinion, and values create the very dynamic tension that serves to catapult us toward the future? That in debating and sharing our competing understandings of the very meaning of a more perfect union, of justice, tranquility, and general welfare, and how to provide for the common defense, that we deepen and enrich all of our visions of our nation?

In the hustle and bustle during the final adoption of the Constitution in that now quiet room, Benjamin Franklin is imputed to have said that he finally was convinced that the half sun on the back of Washington's chair was rising, not setting. That same chair still sits quietly in that room and perhaps is waiting for this generation to squarely face the same question.



Whether or not this nation remains the world's superpower or not will not be the test of how we answer that question. What is important is whether we continue the experiment together. Can government of the people, for the people, by the people continue to refine out all the old prejudices, all the old superstitions, and to bring out the shining core of glory in all the old values we hold dear and faithful but still remain bound by our fears, petty grievances, weaknesses, and ignorance? Will we continue to seek out better ways to live together in unity despite our very real differences?

The now silent bell is inscribed "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land." Then let the memory of that bell's clarion call so many generation ago, sound once again in our memory. Let us, like those generation of old, face the uncertain future by uniting together despite our differences. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to carry on the work they set forth so long ago at this place. Let us each in our own non-violent way seek to extend the blessing of liberty and self-determination to those still captive to poverty and threats of death, to ignorance, to sickness, to hatred, to sin, and to despair. That all may live lives of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that together we may achieve and cherish a just and lasting future for ourselves, with peace among ourselves and with all nations.