With the 45th Illinois After the Battle of Shiloh Was Over-- Part 1: Sleeping Amongst the Dead and 'Indignant Over Loss of My Girl's Picture'

Same source as previous post.

April 7, 1862

When darkness fell, the 45th took over their former camp again "filled as they were with the dead of both armies.  We had no difficulty in sleeping well, even though the silent dead lay all about us.  The dead do not disturb us; it is the living we should be  afraid of.

"We built fires and cooked our frugal meal, and, after eating, gathered 'round the camp fire and recounted the deeds of valor done during the  the great battle, speaking kind words of our brave comrades who had fallen.

"A few Sibley tents, torn and riddled by shot and shell, were all we had left.  I lost my shirts, blankets, letters from home, my testament (mother's gift) and a picture of 'the girl I left behind me.'  I was more indignant over the loss of my girl's picture then I was  over the other articles."

--Old Secesh

What the War Was Really About

From Civil War Talk

April 9, 1862 diary entry by James Hannegan of the 5th Ohio  Cavalry after the Battle of Shiloh.

"Went over the battleground again today & saw some of the most shocking sights I ever beheld.    Men were lying dead in every possible position.  Some with their heads torn off, limbs scattered around & the dead horses were in heaps all over the field & today it was quite cool which is very favorable, otherwise this stench would be almost intolerable.

"Most of the dead  bodies have been robbed by our own men.  The faces of the dead were perfectly black.  Our men have been busy ever since the battly burying the dead, but hundreds still unburied.

"Every house in the neighborhood is filled with wounded rebels.  Some have been brought in today who have been lying in the woods since Monday."

--Old Secesh

Civil War Dead

Quite accidentally last night, I came across the TV show on PBS concerning the Civil War dead.  In typical, but predictable fashion, yet another Burns has put together a great piece of history, this time delving into what became of the war's dead on both sides.

Unfortunately, I only saw the last 30 minutes, but that was of great interest with the Union's movement toward National Cemeteries and the business of locating all the wide-scattered burial sites and identifying as many of the soldiers as possible. 

And, these were numbers never before encountered.

It was interesting that black US soldiers were the ones who mostly dd the work for the North.

In the South, it was the women who did the most in recovering and reburying the Confederate dead.


I found the account of the nation's first Memorial Day observance by blacks in Charleston, SC, of particular interest.  I had never heard of the Confederate prison at the Hampton Park that had formerly been for horse racing.  Several hundred Union prisoners died there and in May 1865, the blacks of the city held an observance.

A fitting way to close the show.

I'll Need to see the Whole Thing.  --Old Secesh