A PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR OF THE SHILOH BATTLEFIELD

With the aid of photos taken in the Shiloh National Military Park on the anniversary of the battle in 2011, Dan Graff will discuss the American Civil War battle of Shiloh, including the myths that obscure the real history of the battle. He will also argue that Shiloh may have been the most important battle of the Civil War. On April 6, 1862, a Confederate army of 45,000 attacked a Union army of about the same size encamped along the Tennessee River at a tiny hamlet named Pittsburg Landing After two days of intense fighting, reinforced Federal troops forced a Confederate retreat. More than 20,000 men were killed and wounded in the battle, exceeding the combined losses in all battles of all American wars up to that time. The battle was named after the Shiloh meeting house, a small Methodist church on the battlefield. The church was the site of some of the bitterest fighting and wounded of both armies were cared for there. Wisconsin had three regiments at Shiloh, the 14th, 16th, and 18th Infantry, totaling about 2,500 soldiers. Dan will talk about the roles each of the Wisconsin units played. The 18th was recruited from Portage, Wood and Marathon Counties. Dan is a retired attorney with a degree in American history and a long standing interest in Civil war history and research. He is a past president of the Marathon County Civil War Roundtable and the Madison History Roundtable, a Civil War re-enactor, and a live-fire competition shooter with Civil War firearms and artillery. No registration required, free admission.

Woodson History Center

410 McIndoe Street, Wausau, WI 54403