Shiloh........................

     Even with the dead bodies heaped up around him, Grant retained his equanimity and unwavering faith in victory.   When General Buell suddenly materialized on the scene and glimpsed the crush of terrified stragglers at the landing, he asked Grant about his plans for retreat.  The thought having never entered his mind, Grant replied coolly, "I haven't despaired of whipping them yet!"  He had the gift of believing in his men and simply refused to concede that things looked so gloomy.  At around 5 p. m., right after a scout reported to Grant, the man's head was blown off, spattering him with blood.  Grant didn't flinch, staring fixedly ahead.  "Not beaten by a damn sight," he mumbled, going about his business.  One journalist said Grant glanced at the sinking sun and observed evenly, "They can't break our lines tonight.  Tomorrow we shall attack with fresh troops, and of course will drive them."  Here was Grant's matchless strength:  he did not crumble in adversity, which only hardened his determination, and knew that setbacks often contained the seeds of their own reversals.  The most dangerous situation brought out his indomitable will.  He now kept up his spirits despite a ghastly toll of seven thousand Union soldiers killed or wounded and to three thousand captured that day. . . .

      Wrapped in his greatcoat, Grant returned to the haven of the nearby oak tree with its spreading canopy of branches.  Sherman found him standing there, steaming with rain, hat pulled low over his face, collar upturned, holding a lantern and chewing a cigar.  "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Sherman remarked.  "Yes", replied Grant with a drag on his cigar.  "Lick 'em tomorrow though." . . .

     Everyone was stunned by the scale of carnage at Shiloh, which posted a new benchmark for mass slaughter.  Deeming it the war's bloodiest battle, Grant commented "that the Fort Donelson fight was, as compared to this, as the morning dew to a heavy rain."  Men who survived it could never scrub its harrowing imagery from their memories.  Americans found it hard to comprehend the dimensions of the losses, which were beyond historical precedent.   Of more than on hundred thousand soldiers who pitched into the fray, twenty-four thousand had been killed or wounded—a casualty count dwarfing that of the battle of Waterloo.  Shiloh's casualties eclipsed the total of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War combined. . . .

     Before Shiloh, Grant had nursed hopes for a titanic battle that would triumphantly crush the rebellion.  Now, stunned by the combative spirit of his foes, he knew there would be many more bloodbaths in a long, grinding war of attrition.  This began his conversion to a theory of total warfare in which all of southern society would have to be defeated. . . .

     For Grant, Shiloh represented a personal victory.  He had rescued his army from his own errors, showing a gumption and an audacity that altered the battle's course.  He had shown coolness under fire and a willingness to take monumental gambles.  The battle also instilled lasting confidence in the Army of the Tennessee, shattering anew the fighting mystique of the rebel soldiers.  The South, Grant noted, had demonstrated dash and pluck at the outset of the battle, but his own men had exhibited the true staying power.

-Ron Chernow,  Grant