Shiloh Take 2

Greetings and salutations from Iuka, MS where Tony and I are staying for a second night.  We decided to remain at the Grand Harbor Marina so that we could take their courtesy car to see the Shiloh battlefield.  If you are regularly reading the blog you will recall that on October 18 as we were traveling north on the Tennessee River, we passed by Pittsburg Landing which was where General US Grant, and then General DC Buel landed their troops for this epic Civil War Battle fought April 6-7. 1862.

The Shiloh National Military Park is an outstanding, educational park and WELL worth a visit.  After a 30 minute video at the visitor center we set out on the 12.8 mile driving tour of the main battle lines of this two day blood bath.  The entire area was well marked with monuments that indicated the headquarter positions of each of the groups of soldiers on both sides and also numerous and very informative signs that showed troop positions clearly marked as to the day of the position (since the fortunes reversed for each side on the second day).  This is a huge improvement from previous visits to battlefields over the years where there were a few key placards but the battlefield was mostly peaceful preserved park land.

This battle was named for Shiloh Church which was located in the area of the battle.    A replica of this first church is shown here and this is surrounded by several Confederate burial trenches.  

There is also a modern church on the site that is currently used as a place of worship.

As we continued on the trail we could see the incredibly rough conditions that these battles were fought in, through woods and steep hills in the muddy spring.  It was staggering  to imagine that there were 65,000 Union Troops and 45,000 Confederate troops engaged in this battle!!  Trying to imagine this many soldiers in active combat in the area we traveled and all the logistics involved in housing and supporting 110,000 troops in an area of 7.8 square miles was mind blowing.  And, just as sobering, were the casualties: 13,047 Union and 10,669 Confederate.  

Also in the park is the Shiloh Indian Mounds Historic Landmark which is a walking tour of a pre-historic Mississippian Native American village that thrived there between 1100-1300 AD.  The mounds were homes and burial mounds for this group of Mississippian peoples that led an agricultural lifestyle.  

We could have spent much more time in this area as there is also extensive material to see related to nearby Corinth Unit which was the site of later battles in 1862 but we had to return our vehicle.

We returned to the boat and with what little sunshine we had left, we started planning for our next travel days and played music together in the cockpit as we witnessed another incredible sunset.