When did the battle start being called Shiloh?

[Sons of Liberty]

So ironic that such a violent place would have a Bible name that means "place of peace."

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Diary of Lieutenant Colonel William Camm follows. Pages 843 - 861 cover Shiloh. Sam Huson is not mentioned, but the colonel gives a very descriptive account of the fighting. With some good maps of the battlefield it might be possible to trace some of the regiments movements from Camm's descriptions.
http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2929:4.lincoln

Whoa, really? I know he was killed in the first surprise wave through the camp- between the letter his parents received and where the 14th Illinois was at that moment it would be GREAT to be able to pin down his grave more exactly. I wrote to the Park Service, who were helpful but said it would be impossible, saying which Illinois soldier would be him. The thing is- this letter says " I have just come from burying your son on the battlefield.... ". Somewhere exists a record, a statement- something, of a detail burying the men who fell of his regiment. Part of the battlefield which was re-taken, too- he'd been stripped of his valuables, the letter enclosed a lock of his hair as the only thing to give his parents. ( tears! )

I realize the Park Service is terribly, terribly under funded hence over worked, I'm just a little convinced somewhere exists evidence Samuel Huson's grave ( graves? Reinterred? ) could be indentified. I think they told me there are 14, may be 11- unidentified Illinois soldiers there. I do need to get to Shiloh, little shameful not to have seen it yet, really will be a little emotional. Samuel's grave has been a ' thing' for an awfully long time.

He'd just begun his law practice when war broke out.

 

[huskerblitz]

JPK, I understand your pain. I'm attempting the same with my ancestor at Chickasaw Bayou. The odds are completely against finding the exact location.

On the other hand, have you consulted the U.S. Burial Registers? Ancestry.com has images of the ledgers used for the reburial in 1867 with notes on location of graves and any possible identifying characteristics.

Yes, still extremely unlikely but maybe worth a look.

 

[Perry Cuskey]

Thanks Ernie! One of the unidentified Illinois there is my uncle, Samuel Huson, 14th Illinois. We have the letter his fellow corporal wrote to his parents- horrible to read, but tells of how this man had just returned from burying Sam on the battlefield. In all the chaos, his marker must have become lost- he's now ' missing' despite that letter, must remain forever unknown. I've frequently wondered if perhaps the 14th Illinois's records wouldn't contain something helpful- he was buried by his regiment, near where he fell in the first wave through the camps.

JPK - If your ancestor was buried in an individual grave, I'm afraid it's probably impossible to locate the spot anymore. But if he was buried with the other members of the regiment killed there, then the site has been marked, and you can locate it pretty easily, as outlined below. Also, it sounds as if he was buried very near their first position, so even if he was not buried in the regimental burial site, he was almost certainly buried very nearby.

Here's a link to the monument to the 14th Illinois, located on their first battle line. Click on "View Picture Here" to see it close-up, along with the text on both sides...

http://shilohbattlefield.org/details.asp?WidePhoto=TN003M051L.jpg

Here's where that monument is located on the battlefield. You can of course zoom in and out to get an overall perspective, and switch to "Earth" view to see the landscape....

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...71051,-88.3483378,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

Here's a picture of their burial site, which as you'll see on the next map, is very close to their monument...

http://shilohbattlefield.org/details.asp?WidePhoto=TN003TB04L.jpg

And the map-view of it's location....

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...83633,-88.3423727,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

The 14th was in support of General McClernand's first defensive line, roughly paralleling the Main Corinth Road (Confederate Road on the map) near what's known as The Crossroads. An intersection a little to the left of the monument on the map. The fighting in this area was incredibly intense before the Confederates finally overran the line. The 14th was one of the regiments that caught the brunt of the attack after the initial breakthrough, and had to deal with both charging Confederates and retreating Federals from the line directly in front of them. Saying it must have been awful probably doesn't do it justice.

If your ancestor was removed to the national cemetery, here's a map showing where in the cemetery his grave would be located, although it sounds like it's probably an 'Unknown.' The front of the cemetery is to your left, and you'll find the 14th Illinois's section near the lower-right of the map....

http://www.shilohbattlefield.org/cemetery/map.htm

Finally, here's a page where you can view all of the markers in the park for your ancestor's regiment...

http://shilohbattlefield.org/results.asp?varCWUNIT=UIL0014RI&Submit=Submit

I hope this helps and that you get the chance to visit the park someday. It's worth the visit.

Perry

 

[ronzzo]

So interesting! Although does drive beginners a little crazy, battles called different names. Shiloh/Pittsburgh Landing is more obvious, maybe because it's referred to so frequently, the others become really confusing.

Does make you wonder- if Gettysburg were called something else, what on earth would it have been? Couple of creeks/runs. TWO ridges, 10 roads, how many landmark farms? OH! And a bridge, well, several of those too, only one appears to be still covered, were any others 150 years ago? ( and haunted...., 'nother thread )

If I were to name it, I'd call it the Battle of Cemetery Ridge.

 

[kevikens]

If I were to name it, I'd call it the Battle of Cemetery Ridge.

Be careful. I have read that the locals called that elevation "Granite Ridge".

 

[kevikens]

I just realized something. Some readers might have thought I was engaging in levity at referring to Cemetery Ridge as "Granite Ridge" because of all the granite monuments now covering the prominence. Actually, because the underlying rock formation of these ridges is granite, that name frequently appears in place names of the region. As it turns out Gibbon and Webb used the term Granite Ridge in their written reports when writing about Cemetery Ridge because the locals frequently used that term. The battle changed that.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

Shiloh Church.

Shiloh Meeting House, actually...