Shiloh Battlefield

We took some time today to do some exploring around the area, and went about 60 miles north of Red Bay to visit Shiloh National Military Park, just over the border near Savannah, TN.  At this location, along the beautiful Tennessee River,  one of the most decisive battles in the Western Campaign of the Civil War was fought in only two days:  April 6 and 7, 1862.
The Confederate soldiers, under Generals Johnston and Beauregard, were near to victory over the Union force under General Grant on the first day of the battle -- but a fateful military decision was made to wait until the following morning to completely wrap things up.  Military historians generally agree that part of that decision resulted from the disorganization caused by Johnston's death during the battle, and Beauregard's assumption of Confederate command.  Grant's troops were bolstered during the night by reinforcements under General Buell, who arrived after a forced march from Nashville and were ferried across the river to the battlefield in the early morning hours of the second day.  The Confederates were overwhelmed when they attacked the next morning and had to retreat south over the next week to Corinth, Mississippi (where a further decisive battle was fought in October of 1862).


It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, with a combined total of almost 24,000 men killed, wounded, or missing in only two days of fighting.  Historians have soberly noted that this was more than the combined total of United States casualties of the American Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, and The Mexican-American War.  It was the beginning of the end for the Confederate cause in the west, with the final defeat in that theatre occurring with the siege of Vicksburg in 1863.  Additional detail of the battle itself can be found in the Wikipedia entry for Shiloh.
It was our first experience at a Civil War site, and it was very interesting.  The whole battlefield is very well preserved and is marked by monuments to the various companies and battalions from the various forces.  There is also a sizeable National Veterans Cemetery within the battlefield, with soldiers from several wars buried there.
 

We took the driving tour around the battlefield, and followed the chronology of the battle at the places where it took place.  After we were finished there, we drove south to Corinth, MS where we spent time at the Corinth Civil War Interpretative Center, finding out about Corinth's place in Civil War history.

After the battle at Shiloh, the Union's next strategic target was Corinth, since it was one of the most critical railroad junctions in the South.  Significant battles were fought there for the 6 months following Shiloh, with the Union finally gaining control and moving further south to Vicksburg.


 As a final note and deviating from the Civil War history . . . . . after we finished at the museum, we stopped by the local Wal Mart to stock up on a few things, and found unleaded gas there at 2.839 per gallon!!!  I'm not sure how long its been since we bought gas that inexpensively (it seems like years), but it was a welcome sight.  The unfortunate thing is that we had to give up a chunk of our investment portfolio to get it back to that level.