Concerned by increased Confederate activity near the Union camps at Pittsburg Landing, Colonel Everett Peabody had tried on the night of April 5th to convince his division commander, Brigadier General Benjamin Prentiss, that the army was in danger. 1/10

Failing in this, Peabody decided to act on his own. Accordingly, and against orders, at 3 in the morning on April 6th, Peabody sent out a small combat patrol with orders to locate the nearby enemy and engage them. The goal was to alert the army to the approaching danger. 2/10

This patrol clashed with a Confederate outpost around 5 a.m., spoiling the Confederate surprise and igniting the battle. A short time later an irate Prentiss accused Peabody of bringing on an engagement against orders, and implied he would face a court martial for doing so. 3/10

By 9 a.m., Prentiss's division was shattered and his camps overrun, and Everett Peabody lay dead near his headquarters tent, killed while imploring his men to hold on. But his actions had helped stall the Confederate advance at the very start, buying time for the army. 4/10

Prentiss would rally a small portion of his division and join a new Union defensive line along a stretch of ground that would become famous as the Hornets' Nest. Late that afternoon Prentiss was forced to surrender with some 2,200 men after being surrounded. 5/10

The Confederate army regrouped for one final attack against the last remaining Union line of defense. But a combination of factors ended this attempt almost before it began. The reinforced Union army counterattacked the next day and won the battle. 6/10

Initially facing intense criticism due to a mistaken report that he was captured at the start of the battle, Prentiss over time was able to redeem his reputation. By the time of his death in 1901, his standing as the man who saved Grant's army at Shiloh was all but secured. 7/10

In the meantime, Everett Peabody faded into a decades-long obscurity that did not end until the 1970's, when two separate historians, first Wiley Sword and later James Lee McDonough, finally focused long-overdue attention on Peabody's crucial role in the battle. 8/10

For his part, Prentiss seems to have tried to forget Peabody as quickly as possible, not even mentioning his brigade commander's death when writing his official report on Shiloh. This failure on Prentiss's part, deliberate or not, contributed to Peabody's long obscurity. 9/10

In recent years and after a long absence, Peabody's role has finally been incorporated into the story of Shiloh, while Prentiss's alleged saving of Grant's army has come under increased scrutiny. It is perhaps another example of how ever-changing history can truly be. /End