Unfolding over April 6th and 7th [1862], the Battle of Shiloh produced the most sprawling and bloody field of combat since the Napoleonic Wars, with an outcome that set the Confederacy on the road to defeat. Contrary to previous histories, Smith tells us, the battle was not won or lost on the first day, but rather in the decision-making of the night that followed and in the next day's fighting. Devoting unprecedented attention to the details of that second day, his book shows how the Union's triumph was far less assured, and much harder to achieve, than has been acknowledged. -- From the publisher.

"A grand design" -- "Time is precious and much needed" -- "The plains of Shiloh" -- "I would fight them if they were a million" -- "I was not only surprised, but astounded" -- "This valley of death" -- "The struggle for his encampments" -- "We've got to fight against time now" -- "Where the fight is the thickest" -- "I shall have to put the bayonet to them" -- "At all hazards" -- "They can never carry this line in the world" -- "Lick 'em to-morrow, though" -- "On Monday morning the thing changed" -- "Very hotly engaged at an early hour" -- "Up to the mouths of the guns" -- "We drove back the legions of the enemy" -- "The tables are turning" -- "Making them pay dearly for their purchase" -- "Get away with what we have" -- "Finish the job while we are at it".