Staff Ride Handbook For The Battle Of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862

by Jeffrey J. Gudmens

Illustrated with 27 maps and plans of the campaign and engagements at Shiloh.

The Staff Ride Handbook for the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862 provides a systematic approach to the analysis of this early battle in the western theater of the American Civil War. Part I describes the organization of both armies, detailing their weapons, tactics, logistics, engineering, communications, and medical support. Part II consists of a campaign overview that allows students to understand how the armies met on the battlefield. Part III is a suggested route for conducting a staff ride at Shiloh. For each stop, or “stand,” there is a set of travel directions, a description of the action that occurred there, vignettes by battle participants, a list of discussion or teaching points that a staff ride leader can explore at the stand, and a map of the battle actions.

Part IV provides information on conducting the integration phase of a staff ride. Suggested areas of discussion for use during the integration phase are included. Part V provides information on conducting a staff ride at Shiloh, including sources of assistance and logistics considerations. Appendix A provides the order of battle, including numbers engaged and casualties. Appendix B provides key participants’ biographical information. Appendix C is a list of Medal of Honor recipients for actions at Shiloh. An annotated bibliography gives sources for preliminary study.

Genres: Civil War

173 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2012

Reviews

[Jeffrey Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there was a way to give 3-1/2 stars because that's what I felt this book earned for a rating. It was simple enough to use for a staff ride handbook which covered all the basic points of the battle in an easy to read format but a bit more detail than what you would expect from perhaps a civilian version auto tour, as this is geared towards current and future military leadership. The vignettes are helpful as each story was pertinent to the section and did provide needed context to what was just discussed.

However, I did find the questions at the end of each chapter quite lame. I would expect better questions for a survey 100-level military history course at a civilian institution than that, so coming from the U.S. Army's Combat Studies Institute, I expected some deeper probing questions that would be more appropriate for looking more thoroughly into the subject matter.

The book flows pretty well but is pretty basic, which is why it gets the three-star treatment. Nothing spectacular but nothing bad here. If you used this book to do a battlefield tour, you would definitely find your way around and learn something, especially from the Union perspective. It's a little bit light on some Confederate perspectives but does try to approach the two armies with some degree of balance whenever possible.

[Sean Chick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The staff ride book for Shiloh has its share of flaws. Gudmens repeats the canard about rifled muskets revolutionizing the battlefield and the "questions" asked at the end of each stop are pointed and have obvious answers. Grant and Sherman are not taken to task enough in the narrative. The battle narrative also jumps around chronologically. Overall, I think the army can do a lot better than this.