Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-01-25
The BATTLE OF SHILOH.

in Chicago.
A Democrat" Reporter Interviews
General Prentiss on Incidents
Thereto.
An Opinion on the Century" Article
of Grant in Regard to McCOOk.
Those who visit Chicago without seeing
Mon. M. Pailpot's latest panorama
"The Battle of Shiloh" would doubtless
| turn their backs upon Rome without see
ing the Vatican, or bid goodbye to the
Zion of the Latter-day Saints without
having seen the Mormon Temple or Tab.
ernacle, after travelling a thousand miles
of desert to get peep at the curiosities
of Salt Lake City. No one can afford te
miss view of this greatest Of all achieve.
ments in panoramic art. Whatever there
is artistic to admire in the 'Siege of
Paris" and the "Battle of Gettysburg
on this side the Atlantic, and all there is
of excellence in the several noted pano-
ramas on the continent of Europe, is SC
far outdone in the
| MAGNIFICENT WORK OF SHILOH,
That one is led to question the fact OF
their being contemporaneous. Mons.
Poilpot has years ago attained the high
est eminence reached by panoramic art
lists, but his Shiloh, on every inch Of it's
canvass, displays perfection which al
most places his former works in the line
of experimental and obscure efforts.
This is all true, and those who have raved
over the realistic beauties OF any OF these
other admirable panoramas, will find
Shiloh new revelation of art. This is
due as we'll to the lessons learned from
the defects in his former works as to the
unprecedented painstaking of the artist,
which in this instance extended over
many long weeks of patient devotion to
details, Imagine the labor involved in
| delineating on the mammoth canvass
FIVE HUNDRED FIGURES
With the strictest regard for perfect like
ness in face and form to the various SUBJ
jects. Such was the artists task here,
and those five hundred officers have been
| placed in the respective positions which
they occupied in the engagement with
30 near an approach to perfection that in
| great number of cases visitors to the
panorama have recognized and pointed
out either themselves or their command
ers in the heat of battle. These five
hundred portraits are distributed among
several thousand others, more or less
natural, all of which have been placed
on the canvass with a faithful regard for
historical and natural details. The ar
lists marvellous perspective, his excel
lent portraiture of the field of Shiloh,
with its varied and picturesque surround
ings, and the exquisite care with which
every object is posed and located, consti-
tute an almost faultless reproduction of
THAT BLooDIEsT OF THE CONFLICTS
In the war of the Rebellion. The battle
field of Shiloh, which covered an area of
perhaps forty or more square miles, is
here brought within radius of little
more than one hundred yards, and by the
almost incomprehensible ingenuity of the
artist is made to appear in all its natural
ness of beauty, as these brave soldiers
beheld it on that memorable Spring
morn when, arrayed in silent suspense,
they awaited the signal for conflict that
was destined to leave thousands of their
numbers lying cold and inanimate on the
broad expanse of fields and meadows.
The different divisions of both armies
may be easily pointed out by those at all
familiar with the geography of the en-
gagement, and to aid this and to secure q
complete view of the entire country from
the elevated rotunda where spectators
stand, the artist has introduced a most
novel feature which adequately exposes
to view an almost exact topography,
from Gen. w. Fl. Wallace's division on
the extreme north to away beyond the
old Corinth road, where Gen. Prentiss
and his command so stubbornly held
their ground all day long on that mem
orable 9Th of April.
THE PANORAMA REPRESENTS THE ENGAGE
MENT
As it was at about o'clock on the after
noon of the 9Th, when after eight hours,
desperate and persistent charging the
Confederate forces were routing the entire
line of the Federal army. Only General
Prentiss' division refused to retreat be-
fore the pitiless and relentless onslaught
of the enemy, and that resolute stand
gained for his position, on that day, the
name of '"The Hornets Nest" and also
resulted in his being captured with his
two thousand faithful warriors, early
in the evening, while the rest of the Fed
eral forces succeeded in retreating in
safety. This feature of the battle is men
toned because it cuts an important figure,
both in the panorama and in the explain
atory and descriptive lectures.
GENERAL PRENTTss
Is perhaps the most conspicuous figure on
the canvass, and appears in the immedi-
ate foreground, mounted on his dashing,
white charger, hat and sword in hand,
cheering his men on in their repellant
defense of what had been all along con-
sidered the key to the Federal stronghold
and position. A stranger may easily
learn who this gallant-looking officer is
by listening to the lecture, for General
Prentiss himself is the lecturer, and the
extreme sensitiveness and modesty
which he manifests when in his descrip-
lions he points to "The Hornets Nest
would readily betray the fact before a
name is mentioned.
The lecturer is not what is usually
called eloquent, but when touching on
The capture of ''The Hornets Nesto and
ihe unwarranted and Infamous misrepre-
sensations connected with it, which have
:rept into history, his earnest and pa
hetic entreaties and protestations are as
powerful as the eloquence of Demosthe-
les. He becomes equally worked up
when referring to General Grant, and his
emotion while denouncing the pernicious