Shiloh National Military Park

Last April, the family took another day trip to visit the Shiloh National Battlefield. The battlefield is located about 3 hours west of where we live in Lynchburg, TN near the town of Savannah. I had visited the battlefield many years ago, but the rest of the family had never gone. Our visit coincided with about the same time of the year that the Battle of Shiloh (or the Battle of Pittsburg Landing as it was known in the South) took place so we would be seeing it as the soldiers did during this epic two-day battle. If you want to plan a visit to the battlefield, I'd recommend starting at the National Park Service website which you can access here.

The Battle of Shiloh was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. The Union Army of the Tennessee, under Major General Ulysses S. Grant, had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped near Pittsburg Landing on the west bank of the river, where Confederate forces under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and Pierre G. T. Beauregard launched a surprise attack on Grant's army. Johnston was killed in action during the fighting; Beauregard, who succeeded to the command of the army, decided against pressing the attack late in the evening. Overnight Grant was reinforced by one of his own divisions stationed further north and was joined by three divisions from the Union Army of the Ohio under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. This allowed the Northern soldiers to launch an unexpected counterattack the next morning which completely reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day.

Ulysses S, Grant, commander of the Army of the Tennessee

Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of the Ohio

Albert Sidney Johnson, commander of the Army of Mississippi

Pierre T.G. Beauregard, succeeded to command of the Army of Mississippi after Johnson's death.

On April 6, 1862, the first day of the battle, the Confederates struck Grant's army with the intention of driving them away from the river and into the swamps of Owl Creek to the west. Johnston, who was greatly outnumbered, hoped to defeat the Army of the Tennessee before the anticipated arrival of the Army of the Ohio under the command of Buell. As was the case for many battles during the war, Confederate battle lines became confused during the fighting, and instead of being pushed toward's Owl's Creek, Grant's men fell back to the northeast, in the direction of Pittsburg Landing. It seemed as if the Union lines were about to collapse when they were bought time by a heroic stand made on a Union position on a slightly sunken road, nicknamed the "Hornet's Nest." This action, which was defended by the men of Brig. Gens. Benjamin M. Prentiss's and William H. L. Wallace's divisions, provided critical time for the remainder of the Union line to stabilize under the protection of numerous artillery batteries. Wallace was mortally wounded when the position collapsed, while several regiments from the two divisions were eventually surrounded and surrendered. General Johnston was shot in the leg and bled to death while personally leading an attack. Beauregard, his second in command, acknowledged how tired the army was from the day's exertions and decided against assaulting the final Union position that night.

William H. L. Wallace, Union commander of the 11th Illinois who was mortally wounded at the Hornet's Nest.

Benjamin Prentiss, Union commander of the 23rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry.

Tired but unfought and well-organized men from Buell's army and a division of Grant's army arrived in the evening of April 6 and helped turn the tide the next morning, when the Union commanders launched a counterattack along the entire line. Confederate forces were forced to retreat from the area, ending their hopes of blocking the Union advance into northern Mississippi. The Battle of Shiloh was the bloodiest battle in American history up to that time, although it was superseded the next year by the Battle of Chancellorsville and, soon after, the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, which would prove to be the bloodiest of the war.

Since both of the boys are young, we decided to stick to the self-guided auto tour of the park. You can find a link to the map of that tour here. First, we started at the Visitor's Center.

Remiel and Zachary outside the Visitor's Center at Shiloh National Military Park.

Iowa monument

Remiel and Zac on the steps of the Iowa monument

Monuments dedicated by the States line the roadways in the Park.

Picture time near the Confederate Monument

Near the Hornet's Nest

The site of Ruggle's Battery which attempted to take the Hornet's Nest.

This is a reconstruction of the church that existed at the time of the battle.

Monument to Mississippi soldiers

Shiloh Branch which runs through the battlefield.

Blue signs denote Northern troop movements.

Red signs denote Southern troop movements.

The site of the first encounter between Northern and Southern troops at Shiloh.

The family at Shiloh National Battlefield

Union forces rallied here at noon April 6, mounting a counterattack that briefly checked the
Confederate offensive. Next day, fresh Federal troops drove the Confederates from the field.

The desperate assaults Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard hurled through this pond on April 7 failed to halt Grant's
counteroffensive. With chances for victory gone, Beauregard withdrew his army to Corinth., MS.