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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