A Beacon of Hope

Day two at the Battle of Shiloh: The Union army is reinforced and launches a counterattack. The Confederates retreat south to Corinth, Mississippi. The shocking combined casualties of 24,000 men are more than in all the wars fought to date in the United States. Thousands of slaves begin surrendering to Union forces, choosing to become agents of their own emancipation. In Corinth, the Union army sets up a contraband camp for thousands of African Americans, and Lincoln begins drafting the Emancipation Proclamation.