Immediately north of Shiloh Church, a name which means “peace”, one of the early, large, bloody battles of the American Civil War took place. It was a two day conflict across April 6-7, 1862.

The Union Army was moving south. The Confederates needed to protect the rail connection at Corinth, MS. The Confederates attacked raw, Union troops near the Tennessee River landing of Pittsburgh. It was tough. It was bloody. Men died. Men were wounded or captured.

A small sample of the cannon involved in the battle. The Confederates’ line of sixty-two (62). The Union countered with fifty-three (53). By the afternoon of the second day, the Confederates withdrew and the Union troops were slow to pursue.

Many of the men involved in this battle, the entire war, were schoolboys in the year 1851. They matured quick or suffered consequences in the army.

Fictional Elm Ridge, Illinois, in the year 1851, is the setting for the sweet romance, New Dreams. New to America, Deutsch settlers are thinking of opportunity in peaceful professions — such as baking or honest labor. Click on the link provided to find out more about this tale of young people in a young land. https://amzn.to/3vWydWE