Rethinking Shiloh: Myth and Memory

3. Anatomy of an Icon: Shiloh’s Hornet’s Nest in Civil War Memory

3 Anatomy of an Icon: Shiloh’s Hornet’s Nest in Civil War Memory The sweat-lathered soldier, caked with black powder and grime, peered through lengthening shadows to see if they were coming again. Along with neighboring units, his regiment, the 12th Iowa Infantry, had for some six hours repelled at least seven or eight attacks on their position. Those Rebels in butternut and gray had attacked over and over again, fresh unit after unit, only to be turned away by the thunder-like volleys from their Enfields and those of the regiments on either flank. But the enemy just kept coming back, finally with heavy artillery support that caused the Iowa boys to lie down and hug the earth as close as possible. Just when it seemed the situation could get no worse, news came that the enemy was now in their rear. Orders came to fall back, but the enemy seemed to have every avenue of escape blocked. In one area the crossfire was especially dangerous, causing the soldiers to term the place “Hell’s Hollow.” Soon, white flags began to appear. But this young soldier was spared from surrender because of a worse fate: a Confederate bullet slammed into his thigh and he went down. He spent a miserable night watching as his comrades surrendered and were carted off as prisoners of war, bleeding from his wound, and ultimately suffering on the battlefield through the long, rainy night.1 Forty years later, almost to the day, that same soldier stood on that same historic ground and must have felt extreme pride as he pondered what had happened all those years before. The man was David W. Reed, and although he did not know it at the time, he and his comrades had defended the famous Hornet’s Nest at Shiloh on April 6, 1862. Making him even more proud, Reed had by 1902 become the one man who wielded more power on how the Hornet’s Nest would be remembered than anyone else. Of the nearly 110,000 men who had struggled at Shiloh, Reed had become the authority on the battle. He was the historian on the commission charged with establishing Shiloh National Military Park, and his pen literally wrote volumes about what was important at Shiloh. In 1902, forty years after his miserable experience 46 Anatomy of an Icon on the battlefield in 1862, Reed issued his history of the clash: The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged. The Hornet’s Nest, his fight, played the starring role.2 Today, in large part because of Reed’s historical efforts, historians view the Hornet’s Nest as the focal point in the Battle of Shiloh. It is Shiloh’s Pickett ’s Charge; it is Shiloh’s Bloody Lane. It is the area that most visitors want to see. Telling evidence in the Shiloh National Military Park’s visitor center shows just how much of an American icon the Hornet’s Nest has become. On the large wall map (with battle lines located by David W. Reed, no doubt), so many visitors have pointed to the famous spots at Shiloh that at certain places the print is wearing thin. Thousands upon thousands of fingers have pointed to Pittsburg Landing, Shiloh Church, and Bloody Pond, causing small globes of wear on the map. In the Hornet’s Nest, however, the entire Union line is worn from one end to the other. It is as if visitors make their point that this place was crucial by emphasizing their touch all up and down the line there. But was the Hornet’s Nest really that important? If so, the attention is justified. If not, then the question of why it has become such an icon must be asked. Was the Hornet’s Nest really the focal point of the battle, or are we the benefactors of a collective and selective memory of Shiloh veterans? In actuality, the Hornet’s Nest’s iconic status is a result of a few veterans’ interpretation of the facts, and that interpretation has been growing in reputation ever since. An examination of those early veterans and their efforts in singling out the Hornet’s Nest, as well as later National Park Service historians in continuing that thesis, can offer many answers regarding the battle. When taken as a case study of Civil War memory, the Hornet’s Nest at Shiloh can not only provide a better understanding of the battle but also point...