The Guns of Shiloh is a book written by Joseph A. Altsheler which starts with a story of the first great battle of the Civil War that had been fought and lost. Dick Mason, despite his youth, was aware that luck had been on the North's side right up until the very last minute.

He had no idea how the Northern charges had failed to make headway against Jackson's troops. "Don't take it so hard, my boy," said Sergeant Whitley. Although this battle has been lost, others will not. Beauregard's army is not going to sweep us off the face of the earth.

Although Dick experienced many dark days, this was possibly the darkest of his life. Dick saw everywhere arms and supplies thrown away by the fringe of a beaten army, the men in the rear who saw and spread the reports of panic and terror. But the regiments were forming again into a cohesive force, and behind them the regulars and cavalry still challenged pursuit.