In the most detailed history ever of Union warships on the western waters of the Civil War, the author recounts the exploits of the timberclad ships Lexington, Tyler, and Conestoga. Converted to warships from commercial steamboats at the beginning of the conflict, the three formed the core of the North's Western Flotilla, later the Mississippi Squadron. The book focuses on the activities of these wooden warriors while providing context for the greater war, including accounts of their famous commanders, their roles in both large and small battles, ship-to-ship combat, and support for the armies of Gen. U.S. Grant and Gen. William T. Sherman.

Since the early 20th century the US Army has used Civil War and other battlefields as "outdoor classrooms" in which to educate and train its officers. Employing a methodology developed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1906, both the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and US Army War College conducted numerous battlefield staff rides to prepare officers for duties in both war and peace. Often interrupted by the exigencies of the nation's wars, the tradition was renewed and reinvigorated at Fort Leavenworth in the early 1980s. Since 1983 the Leavenworth Staff Ride Team has guided military students on battlefields around the world.For those unable to avail themselves directly of the team's services the Combat Studies Institute has begun to produce a series of staff ride guides to serve in lieu of a Fort Leavenworth instructor. The newest volume in that series, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Gudmens' Staff Ride Handbook for the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862 is a valuable study that examines the key considerations in planning and executing the campaign and battle. Modern tacticians and operational planners will find themes that still resonate. Gudmens demonstrates that leaders in Blue and Gray, in facing the daunting tasks of this, the bloodiest battle to this point on the continent, rose to the challenge. They were able to meet this challenge through planning, discipline, ingenuity, leadership, and persistence-themes worthy of reflection by today's leaders.

Since the early 20th century the US Army has used Civil War and other battlefields as "outdoor classrooms" in which to educate and train its officers. Employing a methodology developed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1906, both the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and US Army War College conducted numerous battlefield staff rides to prepare officers for duties in both war and peace. Often interrupted by the exigencies of the nation's wars, the tradition was renewed and reinvigorated at Fort Leavenworth in the early 1980s. Since 1983 the Leavenworth Staff Ride Team has guided military students on battlefields around the world. For those unable to avail themselves directly of the team's services the Combat Studies Institute has begun to produce a series of staff ride guides to serve in lieu of a Fort Leavenworth instructor. The newest volume in that series, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Gudmens' "Staff Ride Handbook for the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862" is a valuable study that examines the key considerations in planning and executing the campaign and battle. Modern tacticians and operational planners will find themes that still resonate. Gudmens demonstrates that leaders in Blue and Gray, in facing the daunting tasks of this, the bloodiest battle to this point on the continent, rose to the challenge. They were able to meet this challenge through planning, discipline, ingenuity, leadership, and persistence-themes worthy of reflection by today's leaders. Combat Studies Institute.

Since the early 20th century the US Army has used Civil War and other battlefields as "outdoor classrooms" in which to educate and train its officers. Employing a methodology developed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1906, both the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and US Army War College conducted numerous battlefield staff rides to prepare officers for duties in both war and peace. Often interrupted by the exigencies of the nation's wars, the tradition was renewed and reinvigorated at Fort Leavenworth in the early 1980s. Since 1983 the Leavenworth Staff Ride Team has guided military students on battlefields around the world. For those unable to avail themselves directly of the team's services the Combat Studies Institute has begun to produce a series of staff ride guides to serve in lieu of a Fort Leavenworth instructor. The newest volume in that series, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Gudmens' Staff Ride Handbook for the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862 is a valuable study that examines the key considerations in planning and executing the campaign and battle. Modern tacticians and operational planners will find themes that still resonate. Gudmens demonstrates that leaders in Blue and Gray, in facing the daunting tasks of this, the bloodiest battle to this point on the continent, rose to the challenge. They were able to meet this challenge through planning, discipline, ingenuity, leadership, and persistence-themes worthy of reflection by today's leaders. 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. It describes the organization of both armies, detailing their weapons, tactics, logistics, engineering, communications, and medical support as well as campaign overview that allows students to understand how the armies met on the battlefield.

The Leavenworth Staff Ride Team guides military students on battlefields around the world. This series of staff ride guides serves in lieu of a Leavenworth instructor. Jeffrey Gudmens' book provides a systematic encounter with Shiloh. Part I shows the organization of the armies. Part II consists of a campaign overview. Part III is a suggested route for conducting a staff ride. For each stop, or "stand," there is a set of travel directions, a description of the action that occurred there, vignettes, a list of teaching points, and a map of the battle. Part IV explains the integration phase of a staff ride. Suggested areas of discussion are included. Part V tells how to conduct a staff ride at Shiloh. 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.

One of the bloodiest and most bitterly fought battles of the Civil War took place at Shiloh Church (and Pittsburg Landing) on April 6-7, 1862. The Union, led by Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, held off a massive Confederate offensive led by Albert Sidney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard, paving the way for Union control of the Western Theater. When the fighting ended, nearly 20,000 soldiers were either dead or wounded, and the South had lost one of its ablest commanders in Johnston. Guide to the Battle of Shiloh combines eyewitness accounts of this Tennessee battle with explicit details about advances and retreats, leadership strategies, obstacles, achievements, and tactical blunders. In addition, it provides directions to key points on the battlefield as well as maps depicting the action and details of troop positions, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago.

This handbook serves to facilitate military staff rides to Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site in Kentucky. Perryville does not face the threat of encroaching development. Following the course of the requires no special arrangements with property owners. It includes information concerning the nature of Civil War armies, the 1862 Kentucky campaign, maps, and more specialized material detailing the Armies of the Ohio and the Mississippi. This guide offers a general sense of the flow of the battle of Perryville, punctuated by select snapshots of specific units and events for study and discussion. The battle provides an excellent vehicle for studying brigade and below operations.

This Civil War history and guide presents an engaging chronicle of the Battle of Shiloh with information and insights about the Tennessee battlefield. The Union Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Major General Ulysses S. Grant, had gathered on the banks of its namesake river at a spot called Pittsburg Landing, ready to strike deep into the heart of Tennessee Confederates, commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. Johnston’s troops were reeling from setbacks earlier in the year and had decided to reverse their fortunes by taking the fight to the Federals. Johnston planned to attack them at daylight and drive them into the river. As a brutal fight ensued, Grant gathered reinforcements and planned a counteroffensive. On the morning of April 7, he initiated his own bloody daybreak attack. The horrors of this two-day battle exceeded anything America had ever known in its history. Historian Greg Mertz grew up on the Shiloh battlefield, hiking its trails and exploring its fields. Attack at Daylight and Whip Them taps into five decades of intimate familiarity with a battle that rewrote America’s notions of war.