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QUINCY, ILL. -- An 18-year-old soldier's diary describes the first major battle of the U.S. Civil War.

Edward H. Warden said his experience on the battlefield was "horrible beyond description."

Warden's diary, a drum set and a large relief map of the battlefield are highlighted in the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County's Shiloh exhibit which opened April 6, 2012.

That is the same day, 150 years ago, that the battle began. Federal and Confederate armies suffered more than 23,000 casualties at Shiloh, hundreds of which were from Adams County. A full list of each man, his rank, company and elisment date can be found in here.

The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County has also included the saddle of Colonel Moses M. Bane of Payson. He was one of four community leaders who recruited hundreds of young Adams County men after President Lincoln's call in July 1861 for 500,000 volunteers.

Bane lost his arm in the battle.

Hundreds of others died the first day of the two-day battle as Quincy's General Benjamin Prentiss's Sixth Division successfully held off the advance of a massive Confederate army.

The exhibit features a rare image of General Prentiss, found recently in the HSQAC archives.

The Adams County Blueboys at the Battle of Shiloh exhibit runs April 6 through October 21, 2012. You can find the exhibit at The History Museum, 425 S. 12th in Quincy, Ill.