The Battle of Shiloh: the bloodiest battle at the time in US history. More than 13,000 Union and approximately 62,000 Confederate troops were killed, wounded, captured or missing. Of 45,000 Confederates engaged, there were more than 10,000 casualties. In Ray Bradbury’s The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, Bradbury uses symbolism to portray April 5th, 1862, the night before the Battle of Shiloh ,, which, at the time, was the bloodiest battle in American history. Bradbury casts a picture of peach blossoms showing youth, a drum, showing the steady heartbeat of the army, and the General, a father figure to the drummer boy.
In the beginning, the drummer boy of the Union Army, Joby, is awoken by a peach stone, or the pit of a peach, hitting him. Peach blossoms are falling onto the skin of Joby’s drum. Joby, who had just turned fourteen in the story, and states, “It was indeed a solemn time and a solemn night for a boy just turned fourteen in the peach field near the Owl Creek not far from the church at Shiloh.” The General find Joby, and asks if he joined legitimately. He then realises it was a foolish question, and says, “‘Do you shave yet, boy? Even more of a damn-fool. There’s your cheek, fell right off the tree overhead. And the others here not much older. Raw, raw, damn raw, the lot of you.’” Likening Joby’s cheek to the peach’s fuzz shows how young Joby is. Peaches are symbols of longevity, self-discipline, endurance, and youth.
Joby is afraid of the battle ahead. He cannot defend himself with a drum, he thinks. The men have rifles and bayonets. Joby only has “a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield.” Joby sees weapons as great symbols of patriotism, saying, “There wasn’t a man‑boy on this ground tonight did not have a shield he cast, riveted or carved himself on his way to his first attack, compounded of remote but nonetheless firm and fiery family devotion, flag‑blown patriotism and cocksure immortality strengthened by the touchstone of very real gunpowder, ramrod, minnieball and flint.” The General, U.S. Grant, shows Joby the strength of his drum. Grant shows him that it was Joby who set the pace, he who motivated the ranks, he who kept the men in check. Joby stirred the hearts of the men so they would remain fearless in the wave of enemies crashing around them. Grant the asks, “‘Will you do that, boy? Do you know now you’re general of the army when the General’s left behind?’” Joby nods, resolute. Before, he saw the drum as a signal of weakness, inability to defend himself. Now he sees it as a sign of patriotism, a powerful beat that would stir the hearts of every soldier.
U.S. Grant, aka Unconditional Surrender Grant, is the General. When he approaches Joby, Joby sees a father figure, genial and disarming. Joby says, “He smelled as all fathers should smell, of salt sweat, ginger tobacco, horse and boot leather, and the earth he walked upon.” Joby is comforted by Grant. Grant is sure the army is not ready for battle, and tells this to Joby. “‘It’s going to be a crazy time,’ said the General. ‘Counting both sides, there’s a hundred thousand men, give or take a few thousand out there tonight, not one as can spit a sparrow off a tree, or knows a horse clod from a minnieball…We should turn tail and train four months, they should do the same…It’s wrong, boy, it’s wrong as a head put on hind side front and a man marching backward through life…More innocents will get shot out of pure Cherokee enthusiasm than ever got shot before. Owl Creek was full of boys splashing around in the noonday sun just a few hours ago. I fear it will be full of boys again, just floating, at sundown tomorrow, not caring where the tide takes them.’” Grant is anxious for the safety of his troops, and shows that is the way he comforts Joby, and in the way he worries for his army. He shows parental concern in the thoughts he voices, and the worries he expresses.
In conclusion, Ray Bradbury tells a compelling tale of the drummer boy before defiling off to war. He shows symbolism in the peach blossoms dropping onto Joby’s drum, the drum’s patriotic beat strong in the heart of the army, and the General, Ulysses S. Grant, guiding the army into battle.