49. Shiloh National Military Park, Tennessee

               Hello and welcome back to our blog.  For our latest post we are traveling to southern Tennessee, to the scene of the savage battle that took the Civil War down the path to becoming the bloodiest war the nation has ever fought.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               After capturing Forts Henry and Donelson guarding the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers in February of 1862, the Union army followed up their victory by capturing Nashville and driving up the Tennessee River.  Pushing deeper into Confederate territory, Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s next objective was capture the vital railroad junction of Corinth, Mississippi.  Moving his army upriver, the Union dropped Grant’s army off at Pittsburgh Landing, a water crossing on the Tennessee River near a rural church called Shiloh, just across the Tennessee state line.

The site of Pittsburgh Landing today where Grant's troops disembarked from riverboats prior to the battle.

               The Confederate commander in the western theater, Albert Sidney Johnston, realized the danger of losing the vital railroad junction at Corinth and was determined to prevent the Union from driving deeper south.  Johnston marshalled all available Confederate forces, even stripping precious troops from the garrison of New Orleans, to gather up a large enough force to push back Grant’s army.

               On April 6^th, 1862, Johnston’s army attacked the Union encampment at Shiloh.  The dawn attack gave Union troops little time to prepare themselves and the first units engaged were swept from the field.  The Confederates seemed unstoppable at first, swiftly pushing the Union back.  However, the chronically undersupplied Confederates stopped to plunder the Union camps, in particular taking time to eat the breakfasts then in the process of being cooked by Union soldiers.  The delay gave the Union just enough time to reorganize and grind the Confederate offensive to a halt.  Nevertheless, the Confederates continued to hurl themselves at the Union lines, but were unable to break the Union center, where troops were holding in a wooded area along a dirt road.  The position was dubbed “The Hornet’s Nest,” its name taken from the zipping sound of so many bullets being fired from it.  Finally, a combination of massed artillery and flank attacks pushed the Union out of The Hornet’s Nest, but Grant dug in along a last line of defense beside Pittsburgh Landing fortified with heavy artillery and fire support from nearby gunboats.  The Confederates dared not attack the position.

The Hornet's Nest with a monument to Union artillerymen.

               The next day, with additional reinforcements, Grant counterattacked with such force the Union drove the Confederates off in similar fashion as the Confederates had done the day before.  The Confederates retreated to nearby Corinth and dug in, while the Union lay siege to the town.  However, the Confederates realized further resistance at Corinth would be futile and withdrew.

               The Shiloh campaign turned out to be a disaster for the Confederacy.  In addition to failing to hold Corinth, the Confederate commander Albert Sidney Johnston was killed during the battle, and to make matters worse the depleted garrison of New Orleans could not hold of the Union Navy’s attack only weeks later, leaving the Confederacy's largest port in Union hands.  Most of all though, Shiloh had been a battle unlike any seen in American history.  The casualty count at Shiloh alone was greater than every battle the nation had fought prior to the Civil War combined and began the long string of battles that slaughtered hundreds of thousands through the remainder of the war.

The Confederate Monument at Shiloh.

THE MILITARY PARK:

               The Shiloh battlefield was the among the first four National Military Parks to be established by the U.S. government in the 1890s after Chickamauga & Chattanooga, along with Gettysburg and Vicksburg.  The park has two main areas, the first being the Shiloh battlefield on the banks of the Tennessee River, and the second being a patchwork of properties in and around nearby Corinth, Mississippi.

               The NPS preserved area of Shiloh battlefield covers almost the entirety of the ground fought over in 1862.  As Shiloh remains in a very rural area far from any major town the battlefield is virtually in the same state as it was during the battle, with the obvious exception of monuments and park amenities, and there is no development encroaching on the park.  Surrounded by the battlefield, but not on actual park lands because it is still an active congregation, is the Shiloh church from which the battle takes its name.  A replica of the original log cabin church sits next to a more modern church built in the early 20^th century.  Located next to the visitor center is Shiloh National Cemetery where the Union interred their dead following the battle.  As the Union held the field following the engagement the Confederate dead were buried in several mass graves.  In addition, the park preserves the Shiloh Indian Mounds National Historic Landmark, a series of earthen mounds from an ancient Indian settlement on the banks of the Tennessee River which happened to be on the edge of the battlefield.

The replica (at left) and modern Shiloh church.

               The Corinth Unit of Shiloh National Military Park is spread out in small parts around the nearby town of Corinth, Mississippi, preserving areas involved in first the siege of Corinth which took place immediately following Shiloh, and the Battle of Corinth where Confederates attempted to retake the town in October of 1862.  The Corinth Unit is much less developed than the Shiloh battlefield but does have a separate visitor facility, the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center.

A restored earthwork artillery battery adjacent to the Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Shiloh National Military Park is located in southwest Tennessee, a roughly two-and-a-half-hour drive from Nashville, and a little over and hour’s drive from Tupelo, Mississippi.  It is a little under a half hour’s drive from the Shiloh battlefield to the Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth, Mississippi.  The park grounds are open from dawn until dusk and both visitor centers are open from 8am to 5pm year-round with holiday exceptions.  Both visitor centers showcase short films and exhibits as well as artifacts from the battles of Shiloh and Corinth.  The park brochure provides a map for a driving tour of the Shiloh battlefield and the route from Shiloh to Corinth.  Visiting both the Shiloh battlefield as well as the Corinth sites can be done within one day.  The park is handicapped accessible and passport stamps can be found at both visitor centers.  Reenactment events are held yearly near the anniversary of the battle.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

The cannon alongside the road mark the line where Grant's troops finally stopped the Confederate advance on the first day of the battle and from where the Union launched its counterattack the next day.

The monument to Union troops from Iowa just behind the final Union defensive line.

The position of where the Confederates massed their artillery to bombard the Union position in The Hornet's Nest , which was concealed in the treeline in the distance.  The tents being erected in the background are part of preparations for the annual battle reenactment.

A Memorial fountain located in the rear of the Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth.