March 27, 2025 • 28 mins
A mysterious blue-green glow emanated from the wounds of soldiers on the Shiloh battlefield in April 1862. Those with glowing injuries seemed to survive at higher rates than their comrades, earning the phenomenon the name "Angel's Glow." For 140 years, this Civil War medical mystery remained unsolved.
The Battle of Shiloh stands as one of the Civil War's bloodiest engagements, with nearly 24,000 casualties over just two days of fighting. Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant were caught by surprise when Confederate troops launched a dawn attack on April 6th. The fierce combat around Shiloh Church and the area known as "Hornet's Nest" exemplified the brutal nature of this conflict, where mini balls, artillery fire, and bayonets caused devastating injuries.
With primitive medical knowledge and no understanding of infection control, wounded soldiers typically faced dire odds. Yet something extraordinary happened as the injured lay waiting for treatment in the cold, muddy battlefield. Their wounds began to glow—an unsettling sight that nonetheless seemed to correlate with improved survival.
The scientific breakthrough came in 2001 when 17-year-old Bill Martin, whose mother studied bioluminescent bacteria, connected the dots. The glowing came from Photorhabdus luminescens, bacteria that live symbiotically with nematode worms. These organisms typically can't survive human body temperature, but the unseasonably cold weather and soldiers' hypothermic conditions created the perfect environment. As nematodes consumed infected tissue, they released bacteria that produced natural antibiotics—effectively delivering life-saving treatment decades before modern medicine understood the concept.
Join us as we explore this fascinating intersection of military history, medical mystery, and microbiology that reminds us how nature sometimes provides unexpected paths to survival in humanity's darkest moments. Subscribe to History Buffoons for more of history's strangest and most compelling stories.
https://www.superbugs.online/reading-corner/angels-glowhttps://www.warhistoryonline.com/american-civil-war/glowing-angels-saved-civil-war-soldiers-m.html
Shiloh: Animated Battle Map by American Battlefield Trust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlhlk3bp-f4
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
oh, hey there wow, that was really loud on my end
and it was really echoey.
Oh, hey, there oh hey there, ohhey there, oh hey there, get in
there.
Nice thing, stop sorry.
I just love that movie so muchname the movie dodgeball.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Dodgeball is so great it really is.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Vince vaughn's best work should have got an oscar
okay, so this is um the originof Weird by the History Buffoons
.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I am Kate.
We're the.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
History Buffoons.
She's Kate, I'm Bradley and weare on a time crunch.
We are on a time crunch oh myGod, we have to do the thing.
That's okay.
So we don't normally do a beeron Origin.
We've done one before.
I think it's only been one,however, this is new.
This is brand new.
I saw this.
I texted to Kate the picture.
(01:06):
She's like we got to try that.
I'm like, all right, let's doit.
So Kate is a big fan of Modelo.
She likes it with lime.
Yes, this is a Corona.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yes, Very similar.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Same company, but this is called Corona Sunbrew.
Citrus Cerveza, cerveza, whichmeans beer.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I was going to say head Means, what Head Cabeza, my
bad.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, that's way different.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Anyways, because.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I don't say Magusa Cerveza, I say Magusa Cerveza
Cerveza.
But it does say that it hasbrewed with real citrus peels,
with a splash of real citrusjuice.
So it's got lime and orange init oh my gosh, I want to try it,
let's do it, let's do it, sipoh my oh, oh my, oh dear, oh my,
(01:56):
that is not bad oh my, that's,quite tasty that's quite
refreshing if you like citrusand you like beer.
This is quite refreshing If youlike citrus and you like beer.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
This is quite refreshing.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
This is quite delicious.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Holy balls.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, sorry we had to take another sip.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That is so good, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I'm ready for summer.
I am so glad I bought a 12-packinstead of a 6-pack.
Yes, because it was only $5more for a 12-pack.
It's great.
Sign me up.
I love it.
No, this is really good.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I should have brought two over here, son of a bitch.
So this is the origin of weird.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Origin of weird.
Let's go, let's find the originof weird.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We're going to go back in history, naturally.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well, that's what we do.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
We're going to go to April 1862.
Do you know what happened inthe United States in 1862-ish?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
April 1860?
.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, just like the year 1862.
I wasn't around then 1861, 1863, 64, 65, particularly.
Can I say something real quick?
Uh-huh, I'm excited to find out.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
The American.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Civil War 186262 1861 to 1865.
Oh sure, we are going to be inapril 1862, gotcha, and so we're
almost a year in at this pointokay, okay.
So the union led by ulysses sgrant, so the north had their
eyes set on corinth, mississippicorinth yes okay, I'm gonna ask
you a question before we moveon to corinth let's do it?
(03:33):
What does the s and ulysses sgrant mean?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
stupendous no shoddy no steven no I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That should have been your answer.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yes, because it literally means nothing.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So he just had a middle initial.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So his name was Hiram or Hiram or something like that
.
Ulysses was his middle name, oh, and Grant was his last name.
And when he signed up for theArmy.
Whoever wrote his name downwrote it down as Ulysses Grant,
but he didn't know that Ulysseswasn't his first name.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Real name yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
So he just put whoever it was.
I read it, but I don't careright now.
But whoever wrote it down waslike S is a good middle initial,
we'll just put S, so he wasalways, since then, known as
Ulysses S Grant.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I had no idea.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, okay, anyway, corinth.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
What's up, Hiram?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
So Corinth was a major railroad junction in.
Mississippi, so it was a reallyvital artery for the
Confederacy.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Do you know how to spell Mississippi?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I .
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There it is.
Okay, I learned that from mylike really young elementary
school days, okay so so for thefolks listening at home, she
just put her fingernails on hershirt and was like, yeah, I'm
good, yep, I'm good.
Anyways, oh wait, she's herfingernails on her shirt and
(05:05):
we're like, yeah, I'm good yepanyways.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Oh wait, she's taking a sip of beer and go.
So corinth was a major railroadjunction, so if you cut that
off, you choke off the south'sability to move troops okay um,
and their supplies, right, right.
So grant's army was camped outat pittsburgh landing, which was
about 20 miles away fromcorinth, okay, and they were
waiting for reinforcements fromdon carlos buell's army of ohio
(05:33):
don carlos buell.
Yeah, so that's quite the nameso grant and buell were going to
like combine forces.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Okay, pittsburgh landing so grant's waiting for
this other infantry yeah, theywere going to merge together.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Super Army yes, exactly Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So they were spread out, they were a little bit
relaxed.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And no one really expected any kind of assault
here.
Okay, but it happened, oh, dearConfederate General Albert
Sidney Johnston.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Not familiar.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
He was actually really well respected, he was
experienced and he was actuallyprobably one of the highest
ranking officials in the civilwar.
Oh really, yes, I did not knowthat.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yes, so he knew he had hit grand before buell and
his army showed up sure I wonderif my brother my brother r, my
oldest brother was a huge fan ofthe Civil War, Like he studied
it a lot in high school and such.
I wonder if you know about thisguy.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yeah, maybe so days before the battle, and I will
explain the battle Sure, itrained.
Oh really, it wasn't just likea drivel, it was the acid rain
was.
It was a downpour, oh dear, andit turned all these roads into
muddy awfulness.
Yeah, that doesn't sound goodso imagine trying to move tens
(06:52):
of thousands of men, cannons,wagons through this muddy, nasty
quagmire of a mess I like thatyou used the word quagmire.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
That's fantastic it slowed johnston's north, but it
didn't stop him, well, no, butit slowed him down.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
But by the evening of April 5th 1862, his army was
positioned just a few miles fromthe Union camps, ready to
pounce right.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Sure.
So April 6th, Sunday morning,like early early early, early,
super early in the morning, atdawn, oh, early, super early in
the morning.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
At dawn.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
The Confederates burst from the woods.
So Mississippi, tennessee werein the thick of wooded areas.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So they were hiding in the woods.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And it was a complete surprise to the Union soldiers,
Many of them like greenrecruits like super fresh.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Super new yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Completely caught off guard Sure, and the initial
assault hit the Union divisionsof Sherman and Prentiss.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And then there was chaos, confusion, desperate
fighting.
The Confederates pushed reallyhard driving the Union line back
towards Pittsburgh Landingbecause, remember, they're like
advancing to corinth right, sure.
So the fighting wasparticularly intense around
shiloh church okay okay, ashiloh church was a small log
(08:16):
structure that became kind ofthe focal point of the battle
okay, okay so there was like athicket of trees around shiloh
church called the hornet's nest.
Oh, dear and a bunch of likeominous well, it's like a bunch
of like undergrowth where theunion soldiers like made like a
(08:36):
huge desperate stand, okay.
So, um, the fighting there waspretty fierce.
It was brutal close quarterstruggle.
Sure, union soldiers dug inbehind whatever they could find,
poured volley after volley intothe advancing confederates from
the trees, oh jesus, okay rightso the sound of musket fire was
(09:00):
like a swarm of angry hornets,hence the name Hornet's Nest.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
No, I mean, that makes sense Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
They held on for hours.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
By precious time for the rest of the Union Army to
regroup Right.
So tragically, general Johnsonwas killed leading an attack,
and maybe that's why you didn'thear of him.
Oh, because he died within ayear of the Civil war so he, he
died early on.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
That that's probably a good reason why I, I
personally, I mean, yeah, again,I'm not a civil war historian,
but I mean I, I feel like, andall I've learned, and like again
my brother, huge civil war guy.
He used to do a lot of shit yeahnot reenactment, reenactments
or anything like that, but youknow he used to do a lot of I
don't want to say reports, Iguess.
(09:47):
Whatever it was, yeah, he wasinterested, yeah, very
interested.
So I okay that would make sense, because if he died pretty
early on, which you said withina year, yes, you okay, though,
you just crossed your eyes, ohmy god.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
The the corona sun brew is just amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I love it no, I am actually.
I am a big fan of this and Ireally wish my fridge wasn't
over there, because I want tograb a second one shortly so a
bullet severed an artery in hisleg and then he bled to blood,
to death yeah, that will do ityeah so it was a devastating
blow to the confederacy, bothtactically and psychologically,
(10:22):
sure?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
and then, uh, pgt borogar don't ask me what his
initials are, but or, what hisfull name is.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
But what is his full name?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
pgt.
Borogar took command okay and,by nightfall, believed he had
secured a victory and called ahalt to the attacks.
Oh shit, but here's the kicker.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
While the Confederates were celebrating,
yes, buell's army was arriving,of course, and they started
ferrying across the TennesseeRiver, which was right there.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Reinforcing Grant's battered forces.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I swear we'll get to the weird part.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I trust you.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
The Union now had the numbers and grant was ready to
counter-attack okay so april 7th.
Now we're talking a whole 24hours later.
Right, the tables turned ohdear grant launched a counter
attack, pushing back against theexhausted confederate lines.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Buell's army are fresh sure they haven't seen
battle recently, so they arefresh.
They just showed up, yeah, so Imean they've been probably
resting on their way in Exactly.
Even if they've been marchingin or whatever, but they haven't
been attacking.
So yeah, yes, yeah, no, thatmakes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So the fighting was just as bad as the previous day,
but now the Union had themomentum.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Right so.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Union gunboats on the Tennessee River added to their
volleys and attacks.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
And border guard, realizing that he was
outnumbered and outgunned,ordered a retreat back to
Corinth.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
And Grant chose not to follow them.
Oh, okay, that ends the Battleof Shiloh.
Okay, Okay.
And Shiloh was the church.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Okay, the casualties of Shiloh.
Okay, okay, and shiloh was thechurch.
Yes, yes, yes, okay, thecasualties of shiloh how many,
oh my god it is considered thesixth deadliest battle in the
civil war.
Holy shit, gettysburg is numberone at 50 000 something, yeah
battle of shiloh wasapproximately three sorry nope
(12:26):
23,000, 24,000.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Holy balls, yeah, that many.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So Union casualties Wow, 1,754 killed, 8,000 wounded
.
Jesus, 30,000 missing orcaptured.
Confederate casualties about10,000, 11,000.
That's crazy Mm-hmm.
So sixth deadliest battle inthe Civil War.
Thousand mission missing orcaptured.
Confederate casualties aboutten thousand eleven thousand,
that's crazy so six deadliestbattle in the civil war.
There were about 50 majorbattles and another 100 smaller
(12:56):
battles.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Okay, it's funny because if that's the six
deadliest, yeah, I, I honestlyover like a 24 hour period plus
or minus, right I I I mean, mymemory is not the greatest.
I've had a few beers since then, but I've never heard of this
one.
I know so that's, that's justwild that it would be like the
sixth most deadliest battle.
(13:18):
I just I've never heard of it.
So that's just wild.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So Grant, despite his victory, actually did face a
lot of criticism.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
The press said that he was being lambasted for being
caught off guard I like thatword and allowing his army to be
surprised Sure.
No, I get that and many calledfor his removal, oh Lord.
But President Lincoln said,quote I can't spare this man, he
fights, end quote he fights,yes, good man.
(13:51):
So he recognized Grant'stenacity, his ability to learn
from his mistakes and hisdetermination.
And, of course, grant laterbecomes a US president, right.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Okay.
So Shiloh Right Alsohighlighted the importance of
logistics and supplies.
Right, the sheer scale of thebattle strained the capabilities
of both armies.
The need for efficienttransportation, communication
supply lines becomes evident.
Right, the use of steamboats onthe Tennessee River was pivotal
(14:25):
for the Union.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Oh, I suppose yeah, yeah, I mean just to probably
move supplies, troops, whatever,yeah, right so shiloh marked a
shift in the psychologicallandscape of the war okay the
soldiers who survived werestarting to to to um receive
like get the ptsd what we nowcall ptsd.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, exactly right so the battle also showed the
importance of naval supports inon the river right right the
gumboats was just a huge victoryfor the union and it provided
crucial artillery supportagainst the Confederates right
Sure.
So in the end, shiloh wasbrutal, chaotic, transformative.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Lots of people died.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Now imagine the wounds, oh dear, that the
soldiers endured.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
I don't want to because it sounds terrible.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
But I'm going to tell it to you.
Oh dear, we're going to talkmusket ball wounds.
That sounds terrible.
Have you heard of the mini ball?
Yes, I have actually do youknow what it is?
no I put you asked me if I heardof it, yeah, so it is um like
it's a lead bullet right that iskind of the size and shape as
(15:42):
like a thimble, like a sewingthimble, sure okay so it's
designed to expand upon impact,resulting in massive tissue
damage oh, so it kind of tearsthrough you kind of thing, sure
so it can shatter bones, torethrough tear, through muscle um.
It can carry dirt and clothingfragments deep into the wound,
increasing risk of infection,extensive internal damage with
(16:08):
vital organs, etc.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Sure, sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And then we've got artillery wounds.
So this is shrapnel andcannonballs.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Shrapnel can tear through groups of soldiers,
causing multiple wounds at onceit sure can yep.
Cannonballs can crush limbs,even whole bodies, and then we
have bayonet and saber wounds,wounds which is a lot less
common at this time but stillthere and close quarter combat
and very dangerous, like if yougot a bayonet, especially
(16:38):
because the way they were shaped.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, you were pretty fucked back in those days
because, the shape of them justreally fucked.
You couldn't close the woundright kind of thing.
So yeah, no, that those were awhile, but yeah, maybe not as
prevalent, but still there yeah,so and then we have the
infections.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yep, major killer.
Oh, in the civil war, oh yes,medical practices were primitive
.
Antiseptics were hardly used.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Okay, correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm sorry to interrupt.
I don't know if what I heardwhen I heard this was correct,
but didn't that kill like almostas much, if not more?
I actually don't have thenumber on that but you've heard
you've heard something alongthat lines that it killed a lot
of people it did kill a lot ofpeople could you imagine how
(17:24):
many people would have survivedwith the proper care?
But they didn't have that backthen, obviously but that brings
me to something weird.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Weird it's called angels glow angels glow the
battlefield itself is soaked byrain churned into mud sure
breeding ground for disease.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Right remember andersonville oh, I sure do.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yes, place is messed up with the issue of the limited
medical understanding at thetime and the lack of knowledge
about infection and effectivetreatments yeah the wounded lay
waiting for medical attentionand this weird phenomenon okay,
starts to happen.
Oh, in the darkness of night,because they're laying here for
(18:08):
a couple days, yeah they'rewaiting.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yes, Basically yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
In the darkness of night, sure, their wounds
started to glow like all aradium glow.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Unsettling but not scary.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Lipped at point.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
So they were witnessing this strange
illuminescence.
So okay the soldiers whosewounds glowed seemed to recover
more readily than those whosewounds didn't okay so that's why
they called it angels glow.
It was actually warding offdeath for some of these soldiers
(18:45):
.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
That is weird back then no one understood what was
happening obviously and itremained a civil war mystery for
140 years okay, so we found outin 2001 2001 look at me going
math bill martin in 2001 and hisfamily.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yes, we're on a trip at the battle of shiloh.
He's, he's like on the groundso he's taking a tour?
Yep, he's taking a tour of thisbattleground.
Sure he's with his family.
He's 17 and he's veryscience-minded oh all right.
And he actually really likeslearning about the civil war.
Sure he learned about thisangel's glow and a light bulb
(19:24):
went off like literally it wentoff fucking sure he had.
This.
17 year old had a hugeadvantage his mother was a
bacteriologist well, that seemsprevalent to the story he'd
grown up learning about herresearch and at
Speaker 2 (19:42):
the time she was actually studying bioluminescent
bacteria that sounds very onpoint for what we're talking
about.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So while in Shiloh, he asked his mother if the
bacterias she was researchingcould have been responsible for
the glowing wounds.
Sure, and she didn't know theanswer to that.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So she's like, let's look into it.
Yes, go investigate, let's dothis let's figure this shit out.
She's like let's look into it.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yes, go investigate, let's do this, let's figure this
shit out.
So, 17 year old Bill and his 18year old friend John, who is
also a science enthusiast, setout to test Bill's hypothesis
through experimentation.
Sure, so Bill and John startedby meticulously researching the
conditions at Shiloh during thebattle.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
They discovered that the cold, wet and muddy terrain
would have been ideal forphotohabdus luminescence.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Can you say that?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
one more time Photohabdus luminescence, that's
so weird.
We're going to call it Pluminescence, and that's
actually how my article statedit.
It was P luminescence Okay,it's not just me being lazy, so
P.
Luminescence is abioluminescent bacterium that
(20:55):
lives symbiotically within aparasitic worm called a nematode
.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
A nematode, so that's like a type of frog, no A
nematode it nematode so that'slike a type of frog no A
nematode.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
It's a parasitic worm .
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I was joking, but yes .
Speaker 1 (21:12):
When a nematode feeds on its host, it regurgitates.
Oh, it throws up, releasing theglowing bacteria from its
digestive tract.
Oh, okay.
This explained the luminescenceRight, but the key question
remained.
Nematodes don't typicallysurvive in the human body due to
its warmth.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Are they more cold?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Yes, the weather at Shiloh was unreasonably cold,
unseasonably cold, oh sure.
And rainy, and the woundedsoldiers were left exposed for
extended periods of time in themud.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Well, they were just sitting there like you said, so
okay.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
So this exposure likely led to hypothermia,
causing their body temperaturesto drop.
Ooh, coupled with the fact thatthe glow appeared at night,
when temperatures were evenlower, their Bill and John's
theory began to kind of solidify.
Sure, so the combination of thewet, muddy environment allowed
the nematode to thrive.
Okay, and the Sure.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Wow, that's weird.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Sure Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
The research revealed that P luminescence wasn't
harmful.
Instead, it acted as a naturalantibiotic.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Huh, Killing off other bacteria that caused wound
infections and hindered healing.
So I mean that was really agodsend to these people.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Because, most likely, if that didn't happen, they
would have been for lack of abetter word fucked, yes, wow,
that's crazy they it essentially.
It essentially acted likemodern antibiotics yeah, in a
way because it it helped withcertain things that probably
wouldn't have happened otherwise.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So that that's, that's wild okay and this was
something that civil war medicscouldn't have grasped at the
time.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Of course not.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
The medical potential of bacteria, the foundation of
antibiotics, wasn't understooduntil Alexander Fleming's
discovery of what in 1928?
.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Penicillin.
Penicillin you got it.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Had they had known, they might have even attempted
to inoculate other soldiers withP luminescence Sure.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
No no kidding have even attempted to inoculate
other soldiers with pluminescence, sure, no, no
kidding.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
So their groundbreaking work earned bill
and john the top prize at the2001 international science and
engineering fair in san jose,california.
Wow, before their discovery,some historians dismissed the
stories of glowing wounds asmere folklore okay but the
logical and well-supportedfindings that these kids did,
(23:49):
with the help of bill's motherright, provided a such a great
explanation to like providecredibility to what these
soldiers were experiencingthat's wild.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
No, I never heard of that before.
And it makes total sensebecause it was the perfect
almost lack of a better wordbreeding ground for these worms.
You said yes nematode and theirbacteria, their regurgitated
bacteria but, like you said, ifit was, it was just the right
temperature because if it wastoo warm wouldn't happen and the
(24:23):
right um weather right, yeah,no, that's, that's wild yeah, so
that's the weird story of thebattle of shiloh and angels glow
I just I never heard.
I mean I definitely never heardof angels glow, but yeah I.
I don't recall the battle ofshiloh.
I'll have to ask my brother,like hey have you ever heard of
this?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
there's a whole.
There was, so I am going toreference a video.
Yeah, it's like American CivilWar history or something on
YouTube.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
But there is a very I think it's like an 18-minute
documentary about this battle,but it shows the maps as well.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Oh nice.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And the different configurations that these troops
were doing on each other, andit was really.
It was really interesting tosee.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
But this particular youtube channel has a lot of
these little short documentarieswith corresponding maps like,
and that's pretty cool becauseit also then kind of helps you
work your way through itvisualize.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I'm a very visual learner.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I am 100% the same as I talk through a microphone for
an audio.
Microphone.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Microphone.
Anyway, isn't that weird.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
That is super weird.
Yeah, no, I really like that.
That's wild because, especiallywith the time that that
happened, these people got to belike what the fuck?
Yes, why am I glowing?
Yeah, they have no idea.
No, and rightly so.
Why would they know that?
Yes, but with further research,even hundreds of years later.
(25:56):
Basically, this is why, yes, soit's cool that a was found out,
even if it took a while.
And b, why am I going?
What's happening to me?
Speaker 1 (26:07):
but I'm feeling better.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I'm not dead yet kind of reminds me of the simpsons
episode of uh, uh, the.
What was it?
The school superintendent orwhatever went to go to seymour
skinner, the, the principal'shouse, and then the Aurora
Borealis was in his kitchen.
(26:30):
He's like the Aurora Borealisis in your kitchen.
Yeah, can I see it?
No, what?
It's just funny.
I am totally just not quotingit properly because it's super
funny, but no, how would theyhave known that?
Yeah, exactly, I mean 1860, oneto 1 to 5, but you said 2.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
1 to 5.
Yeah, the Battle of Bull Runwas in July of 61.
Right and Shiloh was April 62.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Right, so 1862.
These people aren't going toknow why is my skin glowing.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
What the fuck is going on, not knowing it's some
random worm regurgitating onthem.
Regurgitating and actuallyhelping them.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I feel like we need to name something nematode.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Let's do it, crickets .
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Anyway, you mean crickets.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I said let's do it.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
How do you like your Corona?
Sunbrew, citrus, cerveza.
I really liked it, that wasit's got a little bit of like a
sour back end it's.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
It's got some citrus a little sour back end.
Yeah, it's it's.
I really actually I am a bigfan I like it I've had one and
I'm about to have a second one.
So no, I I rather enjoyed it sowe can have more.
Well, I suppose All right,buffoons.
That's it for today's episode.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Buckle up, because we've got another historical
adventure waiting for you.
Next time Feeling hungry formore buffoonery, or maybe you
have a burning question or awild historical theory for us to
explore.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Hit us up on social media.
We're History Buffoons Podcaston YouTube X, instagram and
Facebook.
You can also email us athistorybuffoonspodcast at
gmailcom.
We are Bradley and Kate.
Music by Corey Akers.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Follow us wherever you get your podcasts and turn
those notifications on to stayin the loop.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Until next time, stay curious and don't forget to
rate and review us.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Remember, the buffoonery never stops.
oh, hey there wow, that was really loud on my end
and it was really echoey.
Oh, hey, there oh hey there, ohhey there, oh hey there, get in
there.
Nice thing, stop sorry.
I just love that movie so muchname the movie dodgeball.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Dodgeball is so great it really is.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Vince vaughn's best work should have got an oscar
okay, so this is um the originof Weird by the History Buffoons
.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I am Kate.
We're the.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
History Buffoons.
She's Kate, I'm Bradley and weare on a time crunch.
We are on a time crunch oh myGod, we have to do the thing.
That's okay.
So we don't normally do a beeron Origin.
We've done one before.
I think it's only been one,however, this is new.
This is brand new.
I saw this.
I texted to Kate the picture.
(01:06):
She's like we got to try that.
I'm like, all right, let's doit.
So Kate is a big fan of Modelo.
She likes it with lime.
Yes, this is a Corona.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yes, Very similar.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Same company, but this is called Corona Sunbrew.
Citrus Cerveza, cerveza, whichmeans beer.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I was going to say head Means, what Head Cabeza, my
bad.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, that's way different.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Anyways, because.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I don't say Magusa Cerveza, I say Magusa Cerveza
Cerveza.
But it does say that it hasbrewed with real citrus peels,
with a splash of real citrusjuice.
So it's got lime and orange init oh my gosh, I want to try it,
let's do it, let's do it, sipoh my oh, oh my, oh dear, oh my,
(01:56):
that is not bad oh my, that's,quite tasty that's quite
refreshing if you like citrusand you like beer.
This is quite refreshing If youlike citrus and you like beer.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
This is quite refreshing.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
This is quite delicious.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Holy balls.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, sorry we had to take another sip.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That is so good, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I'm ready for summer.
I am so glad I bought a 12-packinstead of a 6-pack.
Yes, because it was only $5more for a 12-pack.
It's great.
Sign me up.
I love it.
No, this is really good.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I should have brought two over here, son of a bitch.
So this is the origin of weird.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Origin of weird.
Let's go, let's find the originof weird.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We're going to go back in history, naturally.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well, that's what we do.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
We're going to go to April 1862.
Do you know what happened inthe United States in 1862-ish?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
April 1860?
.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, just like the year 1862.
I wasn't around then 1861, 1863, 64, 65, particularly.
Can I say something real quick?
Uh-huh, I'm excited to find out.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
The American.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Civil War 186262 1861 to 1865.
Oh sure, we are going to be inapril 1862, gotcha, and so we're
almost a year in at this pointokay, okay.
So the union led by ulysses sgrant, so the north had their
eyes set on corinth, mississippicorinth yes okay, I'm gonna ask
you a question before we moveon to corinth let's do it?
(03:33):
What does the s and ulysses sgrant mean?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
stupendous no shoddy no steven no I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That should have been your answer.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yes, because it literally means nothing.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So he just had a middle initial.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So his name was Hiram or Hiram or something like that
.
Ulysses was his middle name, oh, and Grant was his last name.
And when he signed up for theArmy.
Whoever wrote his name downwrote it down as Ulysses Grant,
but he didn't know that Ulysseswasn't his first name.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Real name yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
So he just put whoever it was.
I read it, but I don't careright now.
But whoever wrote it down waslike S is a good middle initial,
we'll just put S, so he wasalways, since then, known as
Ulysses S Grant.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I had no idea.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, okay, anyway, corinth.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
What's up, Hiram?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
So Corinth was a major railroad junction in.
Mississippi, so it was a reallyvital artery for the
Confederacy.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Do you know how to spell Mississippi?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I .
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There it is.
Okay, I learned that from mylike really young elementary
school days, okay so so for thefolks listening at home, she
just put her fingernails on hershirt and was like, yeah, I'm
good, yep, I'm good.
Anyways, oh wait, she's herfingernails on her shirt and
(05:05):
we're like, yeah, I'm good yepanyways.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Oh wait, she's taking a sip of beer and go.
So corinth was a major railroadjunction, so if you cut that
off, you choke off the south'sability to move troops okay um,
and their supplies, right, right.
So grant's army was camped outat pittsburgh landing, which was
about 20 miles away fromcorinth, okay, and they were
waiting for reinforcements fromdon carlos buell's army of ohio
(05:33):
don carlos buell.
Yeah, so that's quite the nameso grant and buell were going to
like combine forces.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Okay, pittsburgh landing so grant's waiting for
this other infantry yeah, theywere going to merge together.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Super Army yes, exactly Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So they were spread out, they were a little bit
relaxed.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And no one really expected any kind of assault
here.
Okay, but it happened, oh, dearConfederate General Albert
Sidney Johnston.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Not familiar.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
He was actually really well respected, he was
experienced and he was actuallyprobably one of the highest
ranking officials in the civilwar.
Oh really, yes, I did not knowthat.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yes, so he knew he had hit grand before buell and
his army showed up sure I wonderif my brother my brother r, my
oldest brother was a huge fan ofthe Civil War, Like he studied
it a lot in high school and such.
I wonder if you know about thisguy.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yeah, maybe so days before the battle, and I will
explain the battle Sure, itrained.
Oh really, it wasn't just likea drivel, it was the acid rain
was.
It was a downpour, oh dear, andit turned all these roads into
muddy awfulness.
Yeah, that doesn't sound goodso imagine trying to move tens
(06:52):
of thousands of men, cannons,wagons through this muddy, nasty
quagmire of a mess I like thatyou used the word quagmire.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
That's fantastic it slowed johnston's north, but it
didn't stop him, well, no, butit slowed him down.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
But by the evening of April 5th 1862, his army was
positioned just a few miles fromthe Union camps, ready to
pounce right.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Sure.
So April 6th, Sunday morning,like early early early, early,
super early in the morning, atdawn, oh, early, super early in
the morning.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
At dawn.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
The Confederates burst from the woods.
So Mississippi, tennessee werein the thick of wooded areas.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So they were hiding in the woods.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And it was a complete surprise to the Union soldiers,
Many of them like greenrecruits like super fresh.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Super new yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Completely caught off guard Sure, and the initial
assault hit the Union divisionsof Sherman and Prentiss.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And then there was chaos, confusion, desperate
fighting.
The Confederates pushed reallyhard driving the Union line back
towards Pittsburgh Landingbecause, remember, they're like
advancing to corinth right, sure.
So the fighting wasparticularly intense around
shiloh church okay okay, ashiloh church was a small log
(08:16):
structure that became kind ofthe focal point of the battle
okay, okay so there was like athicket of trees around shiloh
church called the hornet's nest.
Oh, dear and a bunch of likeominous well, it's like a bunch
of like undergrowth where theunion soldiers like made like a
(08:36):
huge desperate stand, okay.
So, um, the fighting there waspretty fierce.
It was brutal close quarterstruggle.
Sure, union soldiers dug inbehind whatever they could find,
poured volley after volley intothe advancing confederates from
the trees, oh jesus, okay rightso the sound of musket fire was
(09:00):
like a swarm of angry hornets,hence the name Hornet's Nest.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
No, I mean, that makes sense Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
They held on for hours.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
By precious time for the rest of the Union Army to
regroup Right.
So tragically, general Johnsonwas killed leading an attack,
and maybe that's why you didn'thear of him.
Oh, because he died within ayear of the Civil war so he, he
died early on.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
That that's probably a good reason why I, I
personally, I mean, yeah, again,I'm not a civil war historian,
but I mean I, I feel like, andall I've learned, and like again
my brother, huge civil war guy.
He used to do a lot of shit yeahnot reenactment, reenactments
or anything like that, but youknow he used to do a lot of I
don't want to say reports, Iguess.
(09:47):
Whatever it was, yeah, he wasinterested, yeah, very
interested.
So I okay that would make sense, because if he died pretty
early on, which you said withina year, yes, you okay, though,
you just crossed your eyes, ohmy god.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
The the corona sun brew is just amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I love it no, I am actually.
I am a big fan of this and Ireally wish my fridge wasn't
over there, because I want tograb a second one shortly so a
bullet severed an artery in hisleg and then he bled to blood,
to death yeah, that will do ityeah so it was a devastating
blow to the confederacy, bothtactically and psychologically,
(10:22):
sure?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
and then, uh, pgt borogar don't ask me what his
initials are, but or, what hisfull name is.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
But what is his full name?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
pgt.
Borogar took command okay and,by nightfall, believed he had
secured a victory and called ahalt to the attacks.
Oh shit, but here's the kicker.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
While the Confederates were celebrating,
yes, buell's army was arriving,of course, and they started
ferrying across the TennesseeRiver, which was right there.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Reinforcing Grant's battered forces.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I swear we'll get to the weird part.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I trust you.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
The Union now had the numbers and grant was ready to
counter-attack okay so april 7th.
Now we're talking a whole 24hours later.
Right, the tables turned ohdear grant launched a counter
attack, pushing back against theexhausted confederate lines.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Buell's army are fresh sure they haven't seen
battle recently, so they arefresh.
They just showed up, yeah, so Imean they've been probably
resting on their way in Exactly.
Even if they've been marchingin or whatever, but they haven't
been attacking.
So yeah, yes, yeah, no, thatmakes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So the fighting was just as bad as the previous day,
but now the Union had themomentum.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Right so.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Union gunboats on the Tennessee River added to their
volleys and attacks.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
And border guard, realizing that he was
outnumbered and outgunned,ordered a retreat back to
Corinth.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
And Grant chose not to follow them.
Oh, okay, that ends the Battleof Shiloh.
Okay, Okay.
And Shiloh was the church.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Okay, the casualties of Shiloh.
Okay, okay, and shiloh was thechurch.
Yes, yes, yes, okay, thecasualties of shiloh how many,
oh my god it is considered thesixth deadliest battle in the
civil war.
Holy shit, gettysburg is numberone at 50 000 something, yeah
battle of shiloh wasapproximately three sorry nope
(12:26):
23,000, 24,000.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Holy balls, yeah, that many.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So Union casualties Wow, 1,754 killed, 8,000 wounded
.
Jesus, 30,000 missing orcaptured.
Confederate casualties about10,000, 11,000.
That's crazy Mm-hmm.
So sixth deadliest battle inthe Civil War.
Thousand mission missing orcaptured.
Confederate casualties aboutten thousand eleven thousand,
that's crazy so six deadliestbattle in the civil war.
There were about 50 majorbattles and another 100 smaller
(12:56):
battles.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Okay, it's funny because if that's the six
deadliest, yeah, I, I honestlyover like a 24 hour period plus
or minus, right I I I mean, mymemory is not the greatest.
I've had a few beers since then, but I've never heard of this
one.
I know so that's, that's justwild that it would be like the
sixth most deadliest battle.
(13:18):
I just I've never heard of it.
So that's just wild.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So Grant, despite his victory, actually did face a
lot of criticism.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
The press said that he was being lambasted for being
caught off guard I like thatword and allowing his army to be
surprised Sure.
No, I get that and many calledfor his removal, oh Lord.
But President Lincoln said,quote I can't spare this man, he
fights, end quote he fights,yes, good man.
(13:51):
So he recognized Grant'stenacity, his ability to learn
from his mistakes and hisdetermination.
And, of course, grant laterbecomes a US president, right.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Okay.
So Shiloh Right Alsohighlighted the importance of
logistics and supplies.
Right, the sheer scale of thebattle strained the capabilities
of both armies.
The need for efficienttransportation, communication
supply lines becomes evident.
Right, the use of steamboats onthe Tennessee River was pivotal
(14:25):
for the Union.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Oh, I suppose yeah, yeah, I mean just to probably
move supplies, troops, whatever,yeah, right so shiloh marked a
shift in the psychologicallandscape of the war okay the
soldiers who survived werestarting to to to um receive
like get the ptsd what we nowcall ptsd.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, exactly right so the battle also showed the
importance of naval supports inon the river right right the
gumboats was just a huge victoryfor the union and it provided
crucial artillery supportagainst the Confederates right
Sure.
So in the end, shiloh wasbrutal, chaotic, transformative.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Lots of people died.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Now imagine the wounds, oh dear, that the
soldiers endured.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
I don't want to because it sounds terrible.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
But I'm going to tell it to you.
Oh dear, we're going to talkmusket ball wounds.
That sounds terrible.
Have you heard of the mini ball?
Yes, I have actually do youknow what it is?
no I put you asked me if I heardof it, yeah, so it is um like
it's a lead bullet right that iskind of the size and shape as
(15:42):
like a thimble, like a sewingthimble, sure okay so it's
designed to expand upon impact,resulting in massive tissue
damage oh, so it kind of tearsthrough you kind of thing, sure
so it can shatter bones, torethrough tear, through muscle um.
It can carry dirt and clothingfragments deep into the wound,
increasing risk of infection,extensive internal damage with
(16:08):
vital organs, etc.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Sure, sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And then we've got artillery wounds.
So this is shrapnel andcannonballs.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Oh dear.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Shrapnel can tear through groups of soldiers,
causing multiple wounds at onceit sure can yep.
Cannonballs can crush limbs,even whole bodies, and then we
have bayonet and saber wounds,wounds which is a lot less
common at this time but stillthere and close quarter combat
and very dangerous, like if yougot a bayonet, especially
(16:38):
because the way they were shaped.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, you were pretty fucked back in those days
because, the shape of them justreally fucked.
You couldn't close the woundright kind of thing.
So yeah, no, that those were awhile, but yeah, maybe not as
prevalent, but still there yeah,so and then we have the
infections.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yep, major killer.
Oh, in the civil war, oh yes,medical practices were primitive
.
Antiseptics were hardly used.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Okay, correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm sorry to interrupt.
I don't know if what I heardwhen I heard this was correct,
but didn't that kill like almostas much, if not more?
I actually don't have thenumber on that but you've heard
you've heard something alongthat lines that it killed a lot
of people it did kill a lot ofpeople could you imagine how
(17:24):
many people would have survivedwith the proper care?
But they didn't have that backthen, obviously but that brings
me to something weird.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Weird it's called angels glow angels glow the
battlefield itself is soaked byrain churned into mud sure
breeding ground for disease.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Right remember andersonville oh, I sure do.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yes, place is messed up with the issue of the limited
medical understanding at thetime and the lack of knowledge
about infection and effectivetreatments yeah the wounded lay
waiting for medical attentionand this weird phenomenon okay,
starts to happen.
Oh, in the darkness of night,because they're laying here for
(18:08):
a couple days, yeah they'rewaiting.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yes, Basically yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
In the darkness of night, sure, their wounds
started to glow like all aradium glow.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Unsettling but not scary.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Lipped at point.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
So they were witnessing this strange
illuminescence.
So okay the soldiers whosewounds glowed seemed to recover
more readily than those whosewounds didn't okay so that's why
they called it angels glow.
It was actually warding offdeath for some of these soldiers
(18:45):
.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
That is weird back then no one understood what was
happening obviously and itremained a civil war mystery for
140 years okay, so we found outin 2001 2001 look at me going
math bill martin in 2001 and hisfamily.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yes, we're on a trip at the battle of shiloh.
He's, he's like on the groundso he's taking a tour?
Yep, he's taking a tour of thisbattleground.
Sure he's with his family.
He's 17 and he's veryscience-minded oh all right.
And he actually really likeslearning about the civil war.
Sure he learned about thisangel's glow and a light bulb
(19:24):
went off like literally it wentoff fucking sure he had.
This.
17 year old had a hugeadvantage his mother was a
bacteriologist well, that seemsprevalent to the story he'd
grown up learning about herresearch and at
Speaker 2 (19:42):
the time she was actually studying bioluminescent
bacteria that sounds very onpoint for what we're talking
about.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So while in Shiloh, he asked his mother if the
bacterias she was researchingcould have been responsible for
the glowing wounds.
Sure, and she didn't know theanswer to that.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So she's like, let's look into it.
Yes, go investigate, let's dothis let's figure this shit out.
She's like let's look into it.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yes, go investigate, let's do this, let's figure this
shit out.
So, 17 year old Bill and his 18year old friend John, who is
also a science enthusiast, setout to test Bill's hypothesis
through experimentation.
Sure, so Bill and John startedby meticulously researching the
conditions at Shiloh during thebattle.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
They discovered that the cold, wet and muddy terrain
would have been ideal forphotohabdus luminescence.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Can you say that?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
one more time Photohabdus luminescence, that's
so weird.
We're going to call it Pluminescence, and that's
actually how my article statedit.
It was P luminescence Okay,it's not just me being lazy, so
P.
Luminescence is abioluminescent bacterium that
(20:55):
lives symbiotically within aparasitic worm called a nematode
.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
A nematode, so that's like a type of frog, no A
nematode it nematode so that'slike a type of frog no A
nematode.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
It's a parasitic worm .
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I was joking, but yes .
Speaker 1 (21:12):
When a nematode feeds on its host, it regurgitates.
Oh, it throws up, releasing theglowing bacteria from its
digestive tract.
Oh, okay.
This explained the luminescenceRight, but the key question
remained.
Nematodes don't typicallysurvive in the human body due to
its warmth.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Are they more cold?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Yes, the weather at Shiloh was unreasonably cold,
unseasonably cold, oh sure.
And rainy, and the woundedsoldiers were left exposed for
extended periods of time in themud.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Well, they were just sitting there like you said, so
okay.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
So this exposure likely led to hypothermia,
causing their body temperaturesto drop.
Ooh, coupled with the fact thatthe glow appeared at night,
when temperatures were evenlower, their Bill and John's
theory began to kind of solidify.
Sure, so the combination of thewet, muddy environment allowed
the nematode to thrive.
Okay, and the Sure.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Wow, that's weird.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Sure Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
The research revealed that P luminescence wasn't
harmful.
Instead, it acted as a naturalantibiotic.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Huh, Killing off other bacteria that caused wound
infections and hindered healing.
So I mean that was really agodsend to these people.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Because, most likely, if that didn't happen, they
would have been for lack of abetter word fucked, yes, wow,
that's crazy they it essentially.
It essentially acted likemodern antibiotics yeah, in a
way because it it helped withcertain things that probably
wouldn't have happened otherwise.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So that that's, that's wild okay and this was
something that civil war medicscouldn't have grasped at the
time.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Of course not.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
The medical potential of bacteria, the foundation of
antibiotics, wasn't understooduntil Alexander Fleming's
discovery of what in 1928?
.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Penicillin.
Penicillin you got it.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Had they had known, they might have even attempted
to inoculate other soldiers withP luminescence Sure.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
No no kidding have even attempted to inoculate
other soldiers with pluminescence, sure, no, no
kidding.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
So their groundbreaking work earned bill
and john the top prize at the2001 international science and
engineering fair in san jose,california.
Wow, before their discovery,some historians dismissed the
stories of glowing wounds asmere folklore okay but the
logical and well-supportedfindings that these kids did,
(23:49):
with the help of bill's motherright, provided a such a great
explanation to like providecredibility to what these
soldiers were experiencingthat's wild.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
No, I never heard of that before.
And it makes total sensebecause it was the perfect
almost lack of a better wordbreeding ground for these worms.
You said yes nematode and theirbacteria, their regurgitated
bacteria but, like you said, ifit was, it was just the right
temperature because if it wastoo warm wouldn't happen and the
(24:23):
right um weather right, yeah,no, that's, that's wild yeah, so
that's the weird story of thebattle of shiloh and angels glow
I just I never heard.
I mean I definitely never heardof angels glow, but yeah I.
I don't recall the battle ofshiloh.
I'll have to ask my brother,like hey have you ever heard of
this?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
there's a whole.
There was, so I am going toreference a video.
Yeah, it's like American CivilWar history or something on
YouTube.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
But there is a very I think it's like an 18-minute
documentary about this battle,but it shows the maps as well.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Oh nice.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And the different configurations that these troops
were doing on each other, andit was really.
It was really interesting tosee.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
But this particular youtube channel has a lot of
these little short documentarieswith corresponding maps like,
and that's pretty cool becauseit also then kind of helps you
work your way through itvisualize.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I'm a very visual learner.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I am 100% the same as I talk through a microphone for
an audio.
Microphone.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Microphone.
Anyway, isn't that weird.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
That is super weird.
Yeah, no, I really like that.
That's wild because, especiallywith the time that that
happened, these people got to belike what the fuck?
Yes, why am I glowing?
Yeah, they have no idea.
No, and rightly so.
Why would they know that?
Yes, but with further research,even hundreds of years later.
(25:56):
Basically, this is why, yes, soit's cool that a was found out,
even if it took a while.
And b, why am I going?
What's happening to me?
Speaker 1 (26:07):
but I'm feeling better.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I'm not dead yet kind of reminds me of the simpsons
episode of uh, uh, the.
What was it?
The school superintendent orwhatever went to go to seymour
skinner, the, the principal'shouse, and then the Aurora
Borealis was in his kitchen.
(26:30):
He's like the Aurora Borealisis in your kitchen.
Yeah, can I see it?
No, what?
It's just funny.
I am totally just not quotingit properly because it's super
funny, but no, how would theyhave known that?
Yeah, exactly, I mean 1860, oneto 1 to 5, but you said 2.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
1 to 5.
Yeah, the Battle of Bull Runwas in July of 61.
Right and Shiloh was April 62.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Right, so 1862.
These people aren't going toknow why is my skin glowing.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
What the fuck is going on, not knowing it's some
random worm regurgitating onthem.
Regurgitating and actuallyhelping them.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I feel like we need to name something nematode.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Let's do it, crickets .
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Anyway, you mean crickets.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I said let's do it.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
How do you like your Corona?
Sunbrew, citrus, cerveza.
I really liked it, that wasit's got a little bit of like a
sour back end it's.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
It's got some citrus a little sour back end.
Yeah, it's it's.
I really actually I am a bigfan I like it I've had one and
I'm about to have a second one.
So no, I I rather enjoyed it sowe can have more.
Well, I suppose All right,buffoons.
That's it for today's episode.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Buckle up, because we've got another historical
adventure waiting for you.
Next time Feeling hungry formore buffoonery, or maybe you
have a burning question or awild historical theory for us to
explore.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Hit us up on social media.
We're History Buffoons Podcaston YouTube X, instagram and
Facebook.
You can also email us athistorybuffoonspodcast at
gmailcom.
We are Bradley and Kate.
Music by Corey Akers.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Follow us wherever you get your podcasts and turn
those notifications on to stayin the loop.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Until next time, stay curious and don't forget to
rate and review us.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Remember, the buffoonery never stops.
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