Two Dreadful Days on the Battlefield. Shiloh
Annie Wittenmyer recounts her arrival by hospital steamer at Pittsburg Landing after news of a terrible battle and rumors that the Union army might be driven into the river. Amid darkness, rain, gunfire, gunboats, crowded steamers, torches, wagons, ammunition, and provisions, she sees wounded men and dead bodies along the shore. When the wounded call for water and food, she and two other ladies take charge of relief work on the unattended hospital boat. Using canned oysters, crackers, beef, and barrels of soup, the women feed the wounded as rapidly as possible. Wittenmyer carries soup from boat to boat until an officer assigns a soldier to carry the bucket for her. Men with broken limbs, wounded faces, and burning injuries plead not to be passed by, asking for soup, water, or relief from pain. She also helps surgeons dress severe wounds, working without food or rest until late at night, when a surgeon orders her to stop before she collapses. After eating, changing her bloodied and muddy clothing, and surviving the disturbance caused by an apparently crazed chaplain, Wittenmyer transfers to another hospital-workers’ boat under Dr. Grinstead. Though the Confederates have retreated toward Corinth, firing continues in the distance. She walks onto the battlefield, where wounded men have largely been collected but many dead remain. In a tent, she tends a severely wounded son of Sam Houston, lying among men in gray and blue. She later encounters two men carrying a wounded soldier whose lung wound is bleeding. Too weak to continue, he asks someone to pray. Wittenmyer kneels beside him, prays with him, and hears him say that the way is light and that he is no longer afraid. He dies as his companions weep. She closes his eyes, urges that his grave be marked, and reflects on the terrible cost borne by those who defended the flag and by all who witnessed war’s suffering.
By Annie Wittenmyer · First published 1895 · Genre: Memoir, Civil War History, Eyewitness Account · 2,199 words
First lines
The hospital steamer on which myself and two other ladies took passage to Pittsburg Landing from Cairo, Ill., reaching Savannah, Tenn., eight miles below there, about four o'clock A. M., April 7. There we heard the news of the terrible battle that had been fought the day before. Some said: "The Union army is defeated and driven to the very banks of the river, and are all likely to be captured to-day. " We were soon out of our berths and on the outlook. The boat, with a full head of steam, made all possible speed to reach Pittsburg Landing.
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Two Dreadful Days on the Battlefield. Shiloh is listed on Textopian as a historical account by Annie Wittenmyer, dated 1895 CE.
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- Work type: Historical account
- Author: Annie Wittenmyer
- Date: 1895 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Memoir, Civil War History, Eyewitness Account, War Literature, Military Nonfiction
- Length: 2,199 words
- Structure: 1 section, 49 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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Genres
- Memoir — The work is a first-person recollection by Annie Wittenmyer of her direct experiences assisting wounded soldiers during the Battle of Shiloh.
- Civil War History — It documents events surrounding the 1862 Battle of Shiloh, including Union and Confederate forces, military movements, hospital steamers, and battlefield conditions.
- Eyewitness Account — The narrative records scenes Wittenmyer personally saw and actions she personally performed, emphasizing immediate observation and remembered dialogue.
- War Literature — Its central subject is the human reality of armed conflict, including artillery fire, death, injury, fear, exhaustion, and the aftermath of battle.
Tags
American Civil War · Battle of Shiloh · Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee · April 1862 · Union Army · Confederate Army · Civil War hospitals · hospital steamers · battlefield nursing · women's wartime relief work · wounded soldiers · medical care