Peter Clenott

The author of The Generals of Gettysburg examines the characters and actions of the military leadership at this Tennessee Civil War battle. “Character is destiny,” wrote the Greek philosopher Heraclitus more than twenty-five centuries ago. Most writers of military history stress strategy and tactics at the expense of the character of their subjects. Larry Tagg remedies that oversight with The Generals of Shiloh, a unique and invaluable study of the high-ranking combat officers whose conduct in April 1862 helped determine the success or failure of their respective armies, the fate of the war in the Western Theater, and, in turn, the fate of the American union. Tagg presents detailed background information on each of his subjects, coupled with a thorough account of each man’s actions on the field of Shiloh and, if he survived that battle, his fate thereafter. Many of the great names are found here in this early battle, from Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and Don Carlos Buell to Albert S. Johnston, Braxton Bragg, and P. G. T. Beauregard. Many more men, whose names crossed the stage of furious combat only to disappear in the smoke on the far side, also populate these pages. Each acted in his own unique fashion. This marriage of character (“the features and attributes of a man”) with his war record offers new insights into how and why a particular soldier acted a certain way, in a certain situation, at a certain time. Nineteenth century combat was an unforgiving cauldron. In that hot fire some grew timid and listless, others demonstrated a tendency toward rashness, and the balance rose to the occasion and did their duty as they understood it. This book explores all of their individual stories. “Does a good job of shining a bright light upon the great preponderance of highly placed citizen-generals in the Shiloh armies.” —Civil War Books and Authors