The First Major Campaign in the West

Sean Michael Chick’s The Shiloh Campaign, on the first major campaign in the Western Theater, that reached its climax at Shiloh, is one of the most recent books in the ‘Casemate Illustrated Civil War’. The book is construction consistent with previous volumes in the series is, therefore, logically designed. And, again like the other books in the series, The Shiloh Campaign contains vivid and useful images as well as helpful vignettes throughout. In terms of the narrative’s focus on the events, there are a number of notable strengths, but also some areas where the development could be more clear, particularly when covering the first day of the battle itself.

Consistently, the Casemate illustrated books are most effective when considering an entire campaign in proper balance, without over- or under-estimating any particular aspect of the operation. Chick’s book is no different, and the way in which he presents both the prelude to the battle itself and the aftermath, to include the Confederate retreat and Federal pursuit to Corinth, is commendable. These facets of the campaign are often overlooked when considering the great battle itself, but The Shiloh Campaign does not fall into that trap, and considers the events of the entire campaign in a clear, concise, and balanced manner. The only critique to be noted in this organizational context would be that, after the Confederate retreat to Corinth, Chick’s focus remains predominantly on the Union forces, while the Confederate circumstances are much less developed. That critique is, though, a rather minor quibble in the overall construct of the book.

Like his treatment of the events leading up to and following the battle, Chick does an excellent job of discussing the events of April 7th. Too often, accounts of Shiloh spend the preponderance of narrative on the April 6th Confederate attack, and relegate the following day’s fighting to a very general statement addressing broad Union advance and steady Confederate retreat. Here, though, Chick devotes 30 pages – fully a quarter of the book’s narrative – to this second day, providing a clear and insightful commentary on the Union counterattack.

The most notable challenge of the book, though, is the treatment of the first day of the battle. That first day was certainly one of chaotic fighting, and clarity on the different attacks, retreats, general movements, and contexts of each event is tricky to establish, but there are places where the flow of action is difficult to fully ascertain in Chick’s account. The primary issue is the lack of detailed maps, and the placement of those that are provided in the text. This issue is somewhat surprising, in that those utilized are from Bradley Gottfried, whose brilliant maps are easily the most useful battlefield depictions one can find of the Eastern Theater of the war. The maps used, though, are detailed down only to the brigade level, with division arrangements often difficult to ascertain (particularly on the Confederate side). Chick’s narrative often delves down to the regimental level, making understanding of some events challenging. The maps are oriented with the North facing to the left of the page, a minor inconvenience, to be sure, but one that adds to the challenge of comprehension. And, often the maps seem to be misplaced in the pagination.

An example of this challenge can be seen in the first two (of three) chapters Chick presents on the first day of the battle. In that first chapter, “The First Attack on Grant’s Encampment,” the focus of the narrative is on the attacks to the Eastern and Western ends of the battle. The fighting in the center, along the defensive line set up by Sherman and McClernand near the Duncan, David, and Sarah Bell fields, is discussed in the following chapter. While there is certainly a chronological sense to this arrangement, there is only one map to address this range of action, placed in that initial chapter, depicting the battlefield situation at 10 a.m. The only other map for the first day is in the third of the first-day chapters, “The Last Confederate Push,” and depicts the situation at 2:30 p.m., arguably well before the last Confederate attacks.

Aside from the above challenge, Chick’s treatment of each army’s leadership is excellent for a book of this size. A consistent theme throughout The Shiloh Campaign is an evaluation of various commanders throughout the fight. While there are no revelations here, Chick articulates many of the successes and failures experienced by the various commanders on each side clearly and succinctly. For instance, he is critical of many of Grant’s decisions throughout the campaign, while giving praise to both Sherman and Bragg for their conduct.

The criticisms of the mapping aside, this is a useful addition to the scholarship on the Shiloh Campaign, and will be particularly beneficial to those who have a basic understanding of the Western Theater, with a desire to gain a holistic understanding of the events of early 1862.

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Our Reviewer: Dr. Michael Boden teaches global and Civil War history at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY. A retired Army Veteran, he is a former Assistant Professor of History at West Point, and is on the Board of Trustees of the Dutchess County Historical Society, where he is currently researching the history of the county's Soldiers in the Civil War. He previously reviewed Such a Clash of Arms: The Maryland Campaign, September 1862, No Sacrifice too Great, Russia’s Turkish Wars, and The First Day at Gettysburg.

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Note: The Shiloh Campaign, 1862: Battle for the Heartland is also available in e-editions.

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