Waterhouse's Illinois Battery

Illinois Battery "E", 1st Regiment Light Artillery,
Commanded by:
1. Captain A. C. Waterhouse, Wounded.
2. Lieutenant A. E. Abbott, Wounded.
3. Lieutenant John A. Fitch.

Back of monument:
Two guns of this battery were advanced about 300 yards but soon fell back to this position where the whole battery went into action. This ground was held from 7.00 a.m. to 9.30 a.m., April 6, 1862, when the battery lost two guns and moved back about 100 yards. Its loss in the battle was 1 man killed; 3 officers and 14 men wounded; total, 18.

The first picture shows the good sloping ground that Waterhouse defended in the morning. At the end of the open ground is Rhea Spring and Rhea Field is on the other side of the trees (about 300 yards away as the monument indicates). That is where this battery was in position first but would soon have to fall back to here. That first position is also where Sherman first encountered the enemy and knew that a real battle was starting instead of only panicked warnings from rookie commanders.

Willard's Illinois Battery

Illinois Battery "A", 1st Regiment Light Artillery
Commanded by Lieutenant P. P. Wood

Back of monument:
Went into action about 9.00 a.m., April 6, 1862, and vigorously engaged the enemy in this and other positions the immediate vicinity until 4 p.m. The battery lost in the battle 4 men killed; 1 officer, and 25 men wounded; total, 30.

In George F. Witham's book "Shiloh, Shells and Artillery Units" he says that one of the guns next to the monument is inscribed, "Battery A. Chicago Light Artillery, this "GUN" held this spot April 6, 1862. Loss in Battle of Shiloh, 4 men killed, 26 wounded, 48 horses lost but no Gun." Also inscribed on the gun are the following battles the battery was engaged in; "Vicksburg, Briclohort, Champion Hill, Arkansas Post, Cold Water, Shiloh, Donelson." I've never heard of Briclohort and a google search turns up nothing. Amazingly I've never taken a picture of these inscriptions, not sure how I've missed doing that over the years.

This battery is located just east of the Peach Orchard.

Blog Review

At the last roundtable meeting one of the members congratulated me on my blog appearing in a magazine. I hadn't heard anything about it and at first thought him a little crazy, but he had too many details for it to be something he dreamed up. Recently I had time to get to a good bookstore and go through their magazines. Lo and behold on page 69 of the July issue of America's Civil War there was a review of my blog. I'm flattered and surprised. With all the other great blogs out there I'm amazed that mine was picked to be reviewed. And the review is very nice, it doesn't point out any of my misspellings. I'm also a bit surprised that no one at the magazine contacted me about this. I would have certainly bought a few copies of the issue for family, friends and posterity. They might have even asked me a few questions about why I have a blog, or how I got started, things like that (both answers are for the money and fame). But no one ever contacted me, in fact if it hadn't been for a roundtable member congratulating me I may have never known about this review. I have included a scan of the review but in case you cannot read it too well here is the full text:

If a picture can be worth a thousand words, then Nick Kurtz's Battlefield
Wanderings blog is worth a mint. The Colorado native has filled his blog
with images from his frequent trips to Civil War battlefields, sites and
cemeteries, quietly capturing why the need to preserve these is so great.
He has an eye for both the sweeping vista - as evidenced by his recent series of
photographs of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga - and poignant detail - such as a
photo of an eroded monument that someone has valiantly (and perhaps illegally)
colored with white chalk to make the engraving easier to read. The Civil
War blogosphere is rife with verbiage from amateurs as well as professional
historians, but sometimes a photograph has an eloquence that cannot be matched
by the most elegant prose. Your brain might be fed by those other blogs,
but Kurtz's is a feast for the eyes.

Siege Artillery

Illinois Siege Guns, 2d Regiment--Artillery
Commanded by Captain Relly Madison

Back of monument:
This battery of Siege guns was the nucleus around which was rallied the line that successfully resisted the attack of Sunday evening, April 6, 1862. There were no casualties.

These guns never moved from Grant's Last Line. It was Colonel Joseph Dana Webster, Grant's chief of staff, who decided to move these guns from the Landing to their location in the last line defenses. The guns had been brought to the landing in anticipation of their future use at Corinth. Now the heavy guns were dragged up the hill and became part of the final defense. They were way to heavy to advance on the field of battle so on the second day of battle they stood ready in case disaster should befall Grant's army but this was unlikely.

There are only two pictures that exist of Shiloh in the days after the battle. One is of the siege guns and the other is of the boats at the landing. Why there are only two and who took them remains a mystery. My guess is that for whatever reason the photographer's supplies only permitted two. Either he was from Savannah and only had enough for two pictures or he came down the river and his supplies were damaged along the way only allowing him two pictures. Or perhaps he took a ton of pictures but in the trip back home to publish them only these two survived.
Colonel Joseph Dana Webster, the man who decided to use the siege guns at all in the battle.

Powell's Illinois Battery

Illinois Battery "F", 2d Regiment Light Artillery,
Commanded by Captain John Wesley Powell, Wounded

Back of monument:
Reached this position about 10:00 a.m., April 6, 1862, and until 4 p.m. was in action on this line. Casualties in battle were 1 officer and 5 men wounded; 3 men missing; total, 9.

John Wesley Powell is one of those amazing characters of American history. He is much better known for what he did after the war, exploring the West. He has quite an impressive list of exploring exploits, all the more impressive considering that his Shiloh wound necessitated the amputation of most of his right arm. He must have been a pretty hardy man as he returned to service after he recovered from his Shiloh wound and served until the end of the war. Then he went west and climbed up mountains and other physical feats that men with both arms found difficult. His expedition often was the first white men to accomplish some feats, like traveling the length of the Colorado River (which cuts the Grand Canyon) or climbing Longs Peak (which appears on the Colorado state quarter). He was the second director of the United States Geological Survey and the founder of the National Geographic Society. A recap of Powell's career, plus photos taken of his expedition of the Grand Canyon can be found here.

The monument is located in Wicker Field, north of the Peach Orchard.

I'm not sure of the date of this photo of Powell.
This photo is from 1865.

Silfversparre's Illinois Battery

Illinois Battery "H", 1st Regiment Light Artillery
Commanded by Captain Axel. Silfversparre

Back of monument:
This battery consisting of four 20 pounders, arrived at the Landing April 5, 1862. During Sunday the guns were brought by hand to this position and did good service in resisting the afternoon attack upon this line. The battery had 6 men missing.

This battery would have been on the left of Grant's last line defense. It is located very close to the national cemetery. In the background you can see the battlefield's flag pole at half mast, I was there during the period of mourning for President Ronald Reagan.

Taylor's Illinois Battery

Illinois Battery "B", 1st Regiment Light Artillery
Commanded by Captain Sam'l. E. Barrett

Back of monument:
Opened fire from this position April 6, 1862, and held it from about 7.30 until 10.00 a.m., when the battery retired and later moved to assist McClernand. Its loss in the battle was 1 man killed and 5 wounded; total, 6.

This battery is located across the road from Shiloh Church and now sits on the southern end of the church's cemetery. The obelisk is for Tennessee Governor Leonard Ray Blanton (1975-1979). According to his wikipedia site he seems to have been a rather corrupt politician.