Shiloh in Hardin County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

The Cost of Battle

— Shiloh National Military Park —

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, October 13, 2021

1. The Cost of Battle Marker

Inscription. Statistics alone cannot express the suffering and loss at Shiloh. After the battle, cries of the wounded and dying still filled the air and bodies littered the ground. Union burial details searched the battleground for remains, burying Union and Confederate soldiers separately, often in large trenches. Despite efforts to bury all the dead immediately, Union troops continued to discover remains until June.

Unfortunately, the Federals were unable to identify their Confederate opponents killed during the battle. Officially classified as "unknown," they were buried separately throughout the battlefield. The historic mass grave in front of you is one of five that Shiloh battle veterans were able to identify and preserve when the national park was established in 1894.

When the grave was ready we placed the bodies therein, two deep; the father, brother, husband, and lover, all to lie till Gabriel's trumpet shall sound. All the monument reared to those brave men was a board, nailed to a tree at the head of the trench, upon which I cut with my pocket knife, the words: '125 rebels.'
Corporal Wilbur F. Crummer
45th Illinois Infantry

Erected by National

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Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. (Marker Number Stop 11.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, US Civil. A significant historical year for this entry is 1862.

Location. 35° 8.758′ N, 88° 20.091′ W. Marker is in Shiloh, Tennessee, in Hardin County. It is on Jones Field Road west of Corinth Pittsburg Landing Road, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Shiloh TN 38376, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Confederate Burial Trench (within shouting distance of this marker); 14th Illinois - 25th Indiana (about 400 feet away, measured in

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, October 13, 2021

2. The Cost of Battle Marker

a direct line); 18th Illinois Infantry (about 500 feet away); McAllister's Battery (about 500 feet away); 7th Illinois Infantry (about 600 feet away); 29th Illinois Infantry (about 600 feet away); Ross's Battery Camp (about 600 feet away); Camp of 15th Illinois Infantry (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Shiloh.

Also see . . . Shiloh National Military Park. National Park Service (Submitted on October 17, 2021.)

Confederate Burial Trench image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, October 13, 2021

3. Confederate Burial Trench

Credits. This page was last revised on October 17, 2021. It was originally submitted on October 17, 2021, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 297 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 17, 2021, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.