Ambrose Bierce at the Battle of Shiloh
“Although the Confederacy showed military initiative and daring early in the war, the Union ultimately succeeded due to improvements in leadership and strategy, key victories, greater resources, and the wartime destruction of the South’s infrastructure.” Ambrose Bierce was a famous short story writer who had served in the Civil War. In this account, he recalls marching through the remnants of the battlefield at the conclusion of the Battle of Shiloh.
None had escaped...all the wretched debris of the battle still littered the spongy earth as far as one could see, in every direction. Dead horses were everywhere; a few disabled caissons, or limbers, reclining on one elbow, as it were; ammunition wagons standing disconsolate behind four or six sprawling mules. Men? There were men enough; all dead apparently, except one...A bullet had clipped a groove in his skull, above the temple; from this the brain protruded in bosses, dropping off in flakes and strings...
“Ambrose Bierce Recalls his Experience at the Battle of Shiloh.” The American Yawp Reader, 1881.
Question 1
The Civil War was America’s deadliest conflict with several thousand casualties after each battle. How was the South at a disadvantage in this style of war?
Question 2
Most of the battles took place in the South. How could this have benefited the Confederacy early on?
Question 3
Most of the battles took place in the South, how could this have been a detriment to the Confederacy later on?
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