''Angel Glow''

By Crusader1307

 In a phenomenon not understood for many decades, ''Angel's Glow'' was the name given to an occurance ''first'' reported during The American Civil War Battle of Shiloh (April, 1862). The epic engagement in Tennessee pitted almost 100,000 combatants of both Union and Confederate Armies. The hard won Federal victory and avoidable loss for The Southern Army, likewise generated 23,000 combined dead and wounded. But in was on the second day of The Battle (April 7th), that the strange phenomenon was reported. MANY soldiers from The Union Army suffered in the field as they waited for the overwhelmed Surgeons and Corpsman. It rained that April day (and night). Many soldiers lay with ''terrible wounds'' – most fatal. But in the warmth of the night, Officers reported a ''strange, blue glow'' which rose from The Battlefield. In fact, even when soldiers were finally retrieved, they still continued to ''glow''.

It was also learned that many hundreds of Soldiers had wounds that they should have died within hours – but did not. Especially so, where those Men who ''glowed'' (not all did it seemed). Wounds seemed to be ''sealed'' (to a degree), as if they were ''covered with an invisible hand of protection''. This was ''seen'' as ''The Hands of Angels'', I truth, what would be discovered Centuries later – was that the combination of warmth, moisture and woolen uniforms, generated a bacterium which ''fed on the wounds'' (causing no feeling or pain). The bacterium generated a type of bioluminescent ''glow'' (as perceived and so reported by both sides). The ''critters'' it seemed, formed a pseudo- protective barrier on some wounds, which – apparently, saved many lives. The phenomenon is NOT often reported in History, due to the ''perfect storm'' of conditions needed to generated the bacterium.