The Civil War is not something that one desires to relive, but Shiloh by Shelby Foote brings to life one of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Foote takes the reader through the Battle of Shiloh from 17 different soldiers’ perspectives. Foote combines his narrative style with traditional historical style to depict the importance of the Battle of Shiloh with accuracy to engage his audience. Through the development of his narrative style, Foote is able to change the way American histories are written. Shelby Foote utilizes Union and Confederate perspectives to present a true narrative on the Battle of Shiloh, while highlighting the human experience in war, to influence the American’s view on history. Foote’s family history and personal experiences greatly influenced his writings. …show more content…
It was a miniature in the sense that the North was victorious, high causalities, and demonstrated the differences of the south in tactics and motivation. This miniature war was a turning point in the Civil War. The Battle of Shiloh altered the course of the war, as the Confederacy lost its most influential general, Albert Sidney Johnston. The losing control of Corinth and Shiloh gave Union General Lee an advantage for the rest of the war by controlling the Corinth railroad (Landess 321-347). This battle also highlighted the key differences in the battle strategies of the North and South, as the North had begun to adopt a guerilla style and the South maintained a Napoleonic battle strategy (Landesss 321-347). This collision of opposing tactics led to 23,746 men being killed, wounded, or lost in the Battle of Shiloh (“Battle”). This bloody battle occurred on Sunday, April 6th and Monday, April 7th 1862 (Foote). The battleground is near Corinth, Tennessee which is close to the Tennessee River