Shiloh
Herman Melville
A Requiem.
(April, 1862.)
Skimming lightly, wheeling still,
The swallows fly low
Over the field in clouded days,
The forest-field of Shiloh--
Over the field where April rain
Solaced the parched ones stretched in pain
Through the pause of night
That followed the Sunday fight
Around the church of Shiloh--
The church so lone, the log-built one,
That echoed to many a parting groan
And natural prayer
Of dying foemen mingled there--
Foemen at morn, but friends at eve--
Fame or country least their care:
(What like a bullet can undeceive!)
But now they lie low,
While over them the swallows skim,
And all is hushed at Shiloh.
In September 1862, a major battle in the Civil War was fought at Shiloh, by the Tennessee River. After the Confederate army made gains on the first day, the battle resulted in a victory for the Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant. With almost 25,000 casualties (including almost 4,000 killed) Shiloh became the bloodiest battle in American history up to that time. The casualties were more than the total for the American Revolution, war of 1812 and the Mexican-American War combined.
