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Civil War Battle Of Shiloh

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Civil War Battle of Shiloh Scholars still debate the various causes of the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). However, few disagree that the issue of slavery (and the status assigned to black Americans) had been eroding relations between Northern and Southern states from the first days of American independence, and culminated in actual armed conflict shortly after Abraham Lincoln’s first election to the presidency in 1860 (“The American Civil War,” n.d.). On April 12, 1861 Confederate troops under General Pierre Beauregard fired on Fort Sumter (in Charleston, South Carolina) with fifty cannons, thus initiating the beginning of the Civil War (“The U.S. Civil War,” 1996). And this, of course, was only the first of many military actions which would rage throughout the 5-year conflict. Economics, social policies, political maneuvering, and numerous other elements caused the war and its seemingly endless continuation. But to active combat soldiers, the importance of such issues often paled in comparison to the struggle for survival in battle. Throughout the course of the Civil War “Roughly 2% of the population, an estimated 620,000 men, lost their lives in the line of duty. Taken as a percentage of today 's population, the toll would have risen as high as 6 million souls” (“Civil War Casualties, n.d.). The numerous battles fought that were responsible for this horrific death toll included everything from small, armed, nameless skirmishes to full-blown engagements which involved

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