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Gregory Mertz
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Attack at Daylight and Whip Them: The Battle of Shiloh, April 6–7, 1862 (Emerging Civil War Series) Kindle Edition

by Gregory A. Mertz (Author), Timothy B. Smith (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
This Civil War history and guide presents an engaging chronicle of the Battle of Shiloh with information and insights about the Tennessee battlefield.
 
The Union Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Major General Ulysses S. Grant, had gathered on the banks of its namesake river at a spot called Pittsburg Landing, ready to strike deep into the heart of Tennessee Confederates, commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. Johnston’s troops were reeling from setbacks earlier in the year and had decided to reverse their fortunes by taking the fight to the Federals.
 
Johnston planned to attack them at daylight and drive them into the river. As a brutal fight ensued, Grant gathered reinforcements and planned a counteroffensive. On the morning of April 7, he initiated his own bloody daybreak attack. The horrors of this two-day battle exceeded anything America had ever known in its history.
 
Historian Greg Mertz grew up on the Shiloh battlefield, hiking its trails and exploring its fields. Attack at Daylight and Whip Them taps into five decades of intimate familiarity with a battle that rewrote America’s notions of war.
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  1. Part of series
    Emerging Civil War
  2. Print length
    393 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Savas Beatie
  5. Publication date
    March 15, 2017
  6. File size
    43.1 MB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"As a volume in the Savas Beatie series “Emerging Civil War”, this is primarily intended for the relative novice, but even the veteran student of the war will likely find it interesting."
The NYMAS Review

"Mertz's book possesses the series's typical abundance of photographs and other illustrations. There are seventeen maps, which is an unusually large number for an ECW entry."
Civil War Books and Authors

"Combining microhistory with a bit of historiography as well as it does...is the ideal battlefield guide for those souls, although the casual passerby will benefit from Mertz’s insights as well."

The Civil War Monitor

“Smith aptly contrasts Shiloh as a place of large violence and death at the time of the battle, with the religious connotations of the place, illustrated by the Shiloh Meeting House. Shiloh today is a place for peace and reflection. Furthermore, the battlefield is a place to relearn and to recover love for the United States, its accomplishments, and its potentialities."
Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Greg Mertz has worked for 35 years for the National Park Service and is currently the Supervisory Historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Raised in what is now Wildwood, Missouri, he has a degree in park administration from the University of Missouri and a masters in public administration from Shippensburg University. He has written several articles for Blue and Gray magazine, is the founding president of the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table, and is a former vice president of the Brandy Station Foundation.

Timothy B. Smith (Ph.D. Mississippi State University, 2001) is a veteran of the National Park Service and currently teaches history at the University of Tennessee at Martin. In addition to many articles and essays, he is the author, editor, or co-editor of eighteen books, including Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg (2004), which won the nonfiction book award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation (2012), which won the Fletcher Pratt Award and the McLemore Prize, Shiloh: Conquer or Perish (2014), which won the Richard B. Harwell Award, the Tennessee History Book Award, and the Douglas Southall Freeman Award, and Grant Invades Tennessee: The 1862 Battles for Forts Henry and Donelson (2016), which won the Tennessee History book Award, the Emerging Civil War Book Award, and the Douglas Southall Freeman Award. He is currently writing a book on the May 19 and 22 Vicksburg assaults. He lives with his wife Kelly and children Mary Kate and Leah Grace in Adamsville, Tennessee.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07QNRWRXZ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Savas Beatie (March 15, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 15, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 43.1 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 393 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 59 ratings

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Gregory Mertz

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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • marypenny
    5.0 out of 5 stars Take this with you to Shiloh
    Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I was very grateful at how clearly this “walk 50 paces and turn to the left” book would help me understand the battle of Shiloh. The pictures of the monuments were so well explained, the maps so clearly showing troop movements and the terrain which so helped determine the battle itself. I look forward to visiting Shiloh later this year, and will take this book with me.
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Very Well Done
    Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2021
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    The author provides good detail without being too verbose; well covers the key points of the battle and the key leaders during critical moments of decision.
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  • RGMods
    5.0 out of 5 stars Well layed out
    Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2019
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    This book can only be improved by using it at Shiloh. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it at home, and cannot wait to take it to the battlefield and follow it's direction.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Arriba 21
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good guide to the field
    Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2021
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    Greg Mertz provides a very readable account on how the battle unfolded and how key points can be best seen.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Cindy Q
    5.0 out of 5 stars CONVENIENT TOUR GUIDE
    Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019
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    Clear chronological description of the battle. Highlighted major events in separate chapters.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • robin friedman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Commemorating Shiloh Through The Emerging Civil War Series
    Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2019
    The timing was exquisite. My receipt of this study in the Emerging Civil War Series, "Attack at Daylight and Whip Them" by Gregory Mertz coincided with the anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh, fought April 6-7, 1862, at Pittsburgh Landing in Tennessee, 22 miles north of Corinth, Mississippi. The National Park Service holds battle walks and other activities each year to commemorate the battle. I was unable to attend the events but commemorated the battle and thought of the ongoing activities at the Shiloh National Park while reading this study.

    The Emerging Civil War Series offers short accounts consisting of texts, photographs and maps of important Civil War battles and events geared both to new readers and to those readers with a broad background in the Civil War. Each book is written to present a fresh view of its subject together with a basic understanding. Greg Mertz, the author of this volume has long been a student of Shiloh and has 38 years experience as a Civil War historian for the National Park Service. I had eagerly awaited this volume on the Battle of Shiloh based upon my fascination with the battle, other reading on the battle I had done, and a trip to the battlefield some years ago. The book did not disappoint. It helped me understand my passion of Shiloh and for the Civil War and it increased my understanding of a complex, crucial battle.

    Shiloh was the largest, bloodiest battle of the Civil War at the time it took place and was pivotal in changing the character of the war and in its eventual outcome. After serious earlier reverses, the Confederate Army of the Mississippi (later renamed the Army of Tennessee) commanded by Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T Beauregard launched a surprise attack on the Union Army of the Tennessee commanded by Major General U.S. Grant at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The attack essentially began near the Shiloh Meeting House about three miles from the Landing. On the first day of the battle, the South carried the attack to near the river front where Grant had established a powerful last line of defense. Albert Sidney Johnson had been killed at about 2:30 in the afternoon trying to lead troops around the left of the Union defense. The first day of the battle ended at about 6:00 when Beauregard called it off in a decision that remains controversial but seems to me and to I think the majority of students correct.

    Grant received reinforcements over the night of April 6 from the Union Army of the Ohio commanded by Major General Don Carlos Buell and from a division of Grant's own army commanded by Major General Lew Wallace which, for reasons which also remain controversial, was slow to reach the battlefield on April 6. On April 7, after further severe fighting, the Union Armies drove the Confederate Army from the field and back to Corinth.

    Mertz offers a clear, detailed account of the Battle of Shiloh in a relatively short volume. The book offers some brief, necessary background on the prior events leading to the battle and is at its best in describing the opening Confederate attacks in the early morning of April 6 and the varied ways the Union commanders responded to and met the attacks. The terrain, heroic action by forward Union units and individuals, and cool-headed strong defense by Union General W.T. Sherman among others helped blunt the Confederate attack and buy precious time for defense.

    Consistently with other recent studies of the battle, Mertz tries to downplay the significance of the fighting at the fabled Hornet's Nest/Sunken Road mid-way through the opening day of the battle. Even with this, the Hornet's Nest action assumes a large role in the book. The book gives a good discussion of the significance of the delay in the Confederate attack and of the nearly impregnable line Grant constructed to hold the Union position. Mertz also offers a discussion of the April 7 action that sometimes is slighted in earlier accounts.

    The book rightly emphasizes the role of terrain in the fighting and outcome of the battle. Shiloh is crossed by many small creeks, by ravines, and by wooded hills. The terrain worked throughout to assist the Union defense. A visit to Shiloh is the best way to see and understand the importance of terrain to the battle.

    The book includes maps and images that assist the reader together with a driving tour and an annotated short bibliography. In particular, I enjoyed Mertz' detailed discussion of the beautiful Daughters of the Confederacy monument to the battle. Mertz explains the symbolism of the monument and the view it presents of the battle and its outcome.

    Tim Smith, who has written several books about Shiloh, wrote a moving Foreword to this book. Smith describes the "mystical" character Shiloh has assumed to those fascinated by the battle and discusses the significance of the battle to the further course of the war. Smith aptly contrasts Shiloh as a place of large violence and death at the time of the battle, with the religious connotations of the place, illustrated by the Shiloh Meeting House. Shiloh today is a place for peace and reflection. Furthermore, the battlefield is a place to relearn and to recover love for the United States, its accomplishments, and its potentialities. As Smith writes: "The patriotism unleashed when coming under the spell of Shiloh also teaches each new generation its history and what it can achieve in the future."

    I was grateful for the opportunity to think again about Shiloh and to commemorate the anniversary of the battle through reading this fine study. The publisher of the Emerging Civil War Series, Savas Beatie, kindly sent me a review copy.

    Robin Friedman
    6 people found this helpful
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  • David Marshall
    5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding tour guide
    Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2019
    Numerous battlefield tour guides have appeared in recent years. Most of them have provided a guide to a major engagement, while a few have covered movements prior to or after the battle. The guides vary in the detail in the narrative and the number of visited sites. Gregory A. Mertz’s “Attack at Daylight and Whip Them”, which looks at the battle for Shiloh from April 6-7, 1862.

    Unlike the typical guide, this new work published by Savas-Beatie covers the changing nature of Civil War combat and horrific casualties. This outstanding volume of the Emerging Civil War Series takes place in Tennessee in 1862, where the Confederate Army led by General Albert Sidney Johnston faced the Union Army led by General Ulysses S. Grant. One of the war’s first major action’s, which produced tens of thousands of casualties. The fighting and understanding of the conflict transformed forever. Shiloh became the bloodiest battle in United States History up to this point in the war. This Union victory helped the Union not only in the Mississippi Valley Campaign but also in winning the west and ultimately the Civil War. Though a Union victory, the fighting came at a great expense of life as well as Southern despair. Grant’s triumph showed the North that Federal armies could be victorious a major battle.

    The Confederate loss at Shiloh was a major setback to the Southern cause and came at a terrible expense. The Confederates commander Albert Sidney Johnson characterized 1862 as a time to “conquer or perish”. This was the South’s best opportunity to stop the Union juggernaut. The commanding general was killed at Shiloh which led the command of Western armies to never have a successful and commanding figure again. One reason for the western army’s demise was the chaos in leadership of the many commanding and corps generals. As one southern writer supposedly stated, “The South never smiled again after Shiloh.”

    The author has included 32 important stops on this lengthy tour plus the Shiloh National Cemetery, with GPS coordinates at each site. The driving tour follows the park’s driving tour though the order of the stops is different than the one most tourist/visitors self-tour will utilize. The authors battlefield tour is somewhat chronological but not exact. It is suggested that trampers to the battlefield begin all tours at the visitor’s center. People will be able to enjoy the any monuments and markers that are nicely identified by the authors. It is suggested whenever possible to park on the road shoulders while not protruding into the roadway. Caution is urged while following the tour especially on congested and busy roads that have developed around all locations.

    An important part of this treatment is the author’s excellent insight and analysis, the prologue to the battle which provides readers with a clear understanding and appreciation of what became this famous battle. Additionally, besides the excellent information provided in the narrative, the Appendix A: Lew Wallace’s Controversial March to Shiloh, the Order of Battle and Suggested Reading, as well as an abundance of first-hand accounts and tales of officers and soldiers who experienced the struggle will benefit readers. They provide troop movements as well as highlighting pivotal portions of the battlefield and terrain that are critical for visitors. An understanding of terrain is crucial in any engagement, and the authors include a good breakdown of it. With each phase of the battle, the author reveals how the terrain features helped and hindered attackers and defenders.

    A tour guide that has many sites and embraces so many miles must be clear and precise in its directions, which this guide does well. The detail provided at each stop is well-written and not overwhelming. This great historian author uses quotes from participants judiciously. The book is well researched and examines key moments of the battle from both a strategic and tactical perspective. Readers will not only learn what happened but will be provided to why from both a Northern and Southern perspective. The writing is clear, balanced and informative.
    Seventeen detailed maps clearly illustrate key moments during this battle as well as the troop movements. Cartographer Hal Jespersen produced a series of clear, concise and detailed maps that appear in this 192-page volume which will be helpful to everyone who read and uses this volume as they drive throughout the battlefields. An understanding of terrain is crucial in any engagement, and the authors include a good breakdown of it. With each phase of the battle, the author reveals how the terrain features helped and hindered attackers and defenders. There are 166 helpful images with photos of key players that will enhance the reading of this narrative. For people that love monuments, you will not be disappointed by the photos and insight provided. Both visitors and armchair enthusiasts will love the many pictures and maps. For individuals who enjoy studying artillery, you are going to learn and become even more informed.

    This outstanding author has been studying the Civil War for many years as a student and thirty-eight for the National Park Services. One of the leading experts on Shiloh wrote a wonderful and helpful foreword for this tome. Mertz has been assisted or inspired by/with his research by National Military Park Historian Frank O’Reilly. Additionally, the author has been helped by historians Ed Bearss, Chris Mackowski, and Kris White.

    This tour will undoubtedly take several hours which for a casual visitor to the battlefield, the text should be a welcome companion. Serious Civil War buffs will find the narrative to have much to offer, novices should enjoy the introductory story and battlefield trampers will love a well-planned route and excellent tour.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Charles Atman
    4.0 out of 5 stars Very good narrative in capsule form.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Contains lots of walk/driving tour info.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • George Ferguson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Book arrived ok.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 20, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Very nice book. Promptly sent.
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  • Tony
    5.0 out of 5 stars Aborder la bataille décisive de Shiloh
    Reviewed in France on July 20, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Très bon ouvrage d'introduction sur la bataille de Shiloh.
    L'auteur donne une bonne vision globale du déroulement de cette bataille capitale sur le front de l'ouest durant la guerre de sécession.
    Affrontement meurtrier, mort d'A.S. Johnston, assaut du Hornet's Nest, gestion de l'armée confédérée très discutable de la part de P.G.T. Beauregard, etc.
    Les conseils bibliographiques pour approfondir le sujet sont excellents.
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