Prentiss seems as though he took advantage of several situations. Sad part is he wrote history to glorify himself. But behind him were smarter commanders that made him look good. Great info and video. Thank you.
Dan Ward again….its been a few years since I revisited the history of the 21st Missouri Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Shiloh! So I guess I need to make a couple corrections to my previous email comments to your UA-cam video re. general Prentiss and Everett Peabody! Turns out David Moore’s 21st Missouri was ordered to send out a contingency of troops for an evening scouting exhibition the evening before the battle, with no recognizable sign of any significant rebel force! Early the next morning it was Officer Powell who Peabody sent out by his own authority, due to obvious concerns! Upon Powell encountering the sizable confederate forces, and engaging, Prentiss is awoken, rides up and grills Peabody, then sends Col. David Moore out for reinforcements with half of Moore’s company strength, (including Company I, with my GGG Joseph Johnson Oliver), only to temporally stabilize the situation, and sent for the balance of his forces….along with several other regimental forces by this time! Powell was also killed along wi
There are many stories of desperation and gallantry in war, but I think few compare to the stories of the 1st Minnesota Light Artillery at Shiloh, and the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Regiment at Gettysburg. These two outfits, both from the same young state (1858 MN gained statehood) were asked to do hopelessly impossible tasks, and yet they did them without complaint, but with much suffering and death. Both were asked to stave off disaster and to sacrifice themselves: One, at the "Hornets Nest" to protect Grant's army, and the other, in the defense of Hancock's position on Cemetery Ridge. Many of the men in these units could not read or write, and many could barely make themselves understood in English. All they had was each other, and they fought ferociously to protect their comrades. They sustained such terrible losses over the course of the war. Can men do this only for "love of country"? I say no. They do this for love of fellow. These two units are mostly forgotten. They aren't from big states, "important" states, and so get little attention. Please read about these two units and think about these men; Men who loved their comrades and their families, and wanted nothing more than to save them, even at the expense of their own lives.
A connection to our family was with the 1st Minnesota at Shiloh. He kept a journal, of which we have a copy! The house he built still stands on our family farm.
My great, great grandfather was a private in the First Minnesota Light Artillery at Shiloh with Benjamin Prentiss. His name was John Ward. My great grandmothers cousin was also at Shiloh with the 72nd Ohio last name was Overmyer.
Prentiss does get credit for refusing to order a retreat _after_ Wallace himself ordered a withdrawal and went MIA on the battlefield (later found mortally wounded), apparently in respect to Grant's earlier order to hold at any cost. An order which apparently Prentiss interpreted literally. There's no question Prentiss' reputation benefitted from Wallace not being alive to take the limelight himself, but Prentiss followed his orders.
My great-great-grandfather fought with the 58th Illinois and was captured in Hell’s Hollow alongside Prentiss. There are statements in this video that are not supported by the facts. It is a shame the American Battlefield Trust posts videos that blindly accept a revisionist view of Shiloh without verifying the truth of the statements made. One example is the claim Prentiss went on a speaking tour after the battle to tout his heroism. That statement is false. There is no record of Prentiss going on a speaking tour and the Shiloh revisionists provide no evidence to back up that claim. A second example is the claim that most of the men who fought in the Hornets’ Nest were under the command of WHL Wallace. That is also a false statement easily refuted by looking at the facts. Wallace commanded the 12th and 14th Iowa in the Hornets’ Nest with a total of 931 men. Prentiss commanded approximately 500 survivors of his division and 575 men of the 23rd Missouri for a total of 1075 men. When the Shiloh revisionists make this claim they always ignore the 31st and 44th Indiana regiments from Lauman’s brigade that held the left side of the Hornets’ Nest. Lauman commanded 1122 men in these two regiments. These numbers come from David Wilson Reed’s history of the battle. The claim WHL Wallace commanded most of the men in the Hornet’s Nest is not even close to true. From the above figures it is shown Wallace commanded less than a third of the men in the Hornets’ Nest. The 8th Iowa with 689 men filled a gap in the Hornets’ Nest. The 8th Iowa was from Wallace’s division and he ordered them into the position but afterwards issued them no orders. Col. Geddes wrote in his report that once he took position in the Hornets’ Nest he received no orders from either his brigade commander (Sweeny) or his division commander (Wallace). But Prentiss gave orders to, and fought with, the 8th Iowa in the Hornets’ Nest. That puts the number of men commanded by Prentiss at 1764, almost twice as many as Wallace. Total number of men in the Hornets’ Nest was 3817. Rather than commanding most of the men in the Hornets’ Nest Wallace commanded less than a quarter. Prentiss commanded over 46 percent of the men in the Hornets’ Nest, more than either Wallace or Lauman, and if the hero of the Hornets’ Nest is the general who commanded the most men than Prentiss is the correct choice. Shiloh revisionism cannot alter the facts. A third example in the video that shows the care with which the video was put together is that the gentleman highlighted in the photograph at the end of the video is not General Prentiss. Prentiss is the small man standing to the right of the tree.
Direct relative of my family fought with 3rd Iowa Inf next to peach field . Nobody mentions them . John Harrison Smith was killed on second day and is buried at the Nationl.Cemetary Shiloh .Revisionist note .
Prentiss seems as though he took advantage of several situations. Sad part is he wrote history to glorify himself. But behind him were smarter commanders that made him look good.
Great info and video. Thank you.
Dan Ward again….its been a few years since I revisited the history of the 21st Missouri Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Shiloh!
So I guess I need to make a couple corrections to my previous email comments to your UA-cam video re. general Prentiss and Everett Peabody!
Turns out David Moore’s 21st Missouri was ordered to send out a contingency of troops for an evening scouting exhibition the evening before the battle, with no recognizable sign of any significant rebel force!
Early the next morning it was Officer Powell who Peabody sent out by his own authority, due to obvious concerns!
Upon Powell encountering the sizable confederate forces, and engaging, Prentiss is awoken, rides up and grills Peabody, then sends Col. David Moore out for reinforcements with half of Moore’s company strength, (including Company I, with my GGG Joseph Johnson Oliver), only to temporally stabilize the situation, and sent for the balance of his forces….along with several other regimental forces by this time!
Powell was also killed along wi
they should make more videos about Shiloh
Excellent Tim.
Great video and information! Keep it up everyone!
Still have to visit that battlefield. Been to Chickamauga, Gettysburg, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg and Lookout Mountain.
There are many stories of desperation and gallantry in war, but I think few compare to the stories of the 1st Minnesota Light Artillery at Shiloh, and the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Regiment at Gettysburg. These two outfits, both from the same young state (1858 MN gained statehood) were asked to do hopelessly impossible tasks, and yet they did them without complaint, but with much suffering and death. Both were asked to stave off disaster and to sacrifice themselves: One, at the "Hornets Nest" to protect Grant's army, and the other, in the defense of Hancock's position on Cemetery Ridge. Many of the men in these units could not read or write, and many could barely make themselves understood in English. All they had was each other, and they fought ferociously to protect their comrades. They sustained such terrible losses over the course of the war. Can men do this only for "love of country"? I say no. They do this for love of fellow. These two units are mostly forgotten. They aren't from big states, "important" states, and so get little attention. Please read about these two units and think about these men; Men who loved their comrades and their families, and wanted nothing more than to save them, even at the expense of their own lives.
A connection to our family was with the 1st Minnesota at Shiloh. He kept a journal, of which we have a copy! The house he built still stands on our family farm.
My great, great grandfather was a private in the First Minnesota Light Artillery at Shiloh with Benjamin Prentiss. His name was John Ward. My great grandmothers cousin was also at Shiloh with the 72nd Ohio last name was Overmyer.
Peabody and Powell were the heroes.
Wow, I had no idea Prentiss was the Pompey Magnus of Shiloh.
Pompey Magnus? Wow, what a learned man you are! I love it! So, who do you think was the Germanicus?
Thanks Tim for speaking the honest truth.
Kind of a shame how he admits the national battlefield movie doesn't even have the correct information.
Prentiss does get credit for refusing to order a retreat _after_ Wallace himself ordered a withdrawal and went MIA on the battlefield (later found mortally wounded), apparently in respect to Grant's earlier order to hold at any cost. An order which apparently Prentiss interpreted literally.
There's no question Prentiss' reputation benefitted from Wallace not being alive to take the limelight himself, but Prentiss followed his orders.
Respect from Germany for the union heros.
I know men that are like Prentiss.
My great-great-grandfather fought with the 58th
Illinois and was captured in Hell’s Hollow alongside Prentiss. There are
statements in this video that are not supported by the facts. It is a shame the
American Battlefield Trust posts videos that blindly accept a revisionist view
of Shiloh without verifying the truth of the statements made. One example is
the claim Prentiss went on a speaking tour after the battle to tout his
heroism. That statement is false. There is no record of Prentiss going on a
speaking tour and the Shiloh revisionists provide no evidence to back up that
claim. A second example is the claim that most of the men who fought in the Hornets’
Nest were under the command of WHL Wallace. That is also a false statement
easily refuted by looking at the facts. Wallace commanded the 12th and 14th
Iowa in the Hornets’ Nest with a total of 931 men. Prentiss commanded
approximately 500 survivors of his division and 575 men of the 23rd
Missouri for a total of 1075 men. When the Shiloh revisionists make this claim
they always ignore the 31st and 44th Indiana regiments from Lauman’s brigade that
held the left side of the Hornets’ Nest. Lauman commanded 1122 men in these two
regiments. These numbers come from David Wilson Reed’s history of the battle.
The claim WHL Wallace commanded most of the men in the Hornet’s Nest is not
even close to true. From the above figures it is shown Wallace commanded less
than a third of the men in the Hornets’ Nest. The 8th Iowa with 689 men filled
a gap in the Hornets’ Nest. The 8th Iowa was from Wallace’s division and he
ordered them into the position but afterwards issued them no orders. Col.
Geddes wrote in his report that once he took position in the Hornets’ Nest he
received no orders from either his brigade commander (Sweeny) or his division
commander (Wallace). But Prentiss gave orders to, and fought with, the 8th Iowa
in the Hornets’ Nest. That puts the number of men commanded by Prentiss at
1764, almost twice as many as Wallace. Total number of men in the Hornets’ Nest
was 3817. Rather than commanding most of the men in the Hornets’ Nest Wallace
commanded less than a quarter. Prentiss commanded over 46 percent of the men in
the Hornets’ Nest, more than either Wallace or Lauman, and if the hero of the Hornets’
Nest is the general who commanded the most men than Prentiss is the correct
choice. Shiloh revisionism cannot alter the facts. A third example in the video
that shows the care with which the video was put together is that the gentleman
highlighted in the photograph at the end of the video is not General Prentiss.
Prentiss is the small man standing to the right of the tree.
Direct relative of my family fought with 3rd Iowa Inf next to peach field . Nobody mentions them . John Harrison Smith was killed on second day and is buried at the Nationl.Cemetary Shiloh .Revisionist note .
Peabody in my opinion saved the union army
#StolenValor