Shiloh

I'm sure a lot of people are thinking this is about the Neil Diamond song, but that Shilo is spelled without an "H". No, this is the National Battlefield in Shiloh, Tennessee. We didn't actually start at Shiloh. No, we began the day at Corinth, Mississippi which was to be our last time in the state with the mosquito as the state bird. It also meant we were a bit ass backwards since the first Battle of Corinth was after the Battle of Shiloh. Actually, it wasn't really a battle. The Confederate Army snuck down to Tupelo and left it for the Union. The Second Battle of Corinth took place a few months later when the Confederates decided to retake a city they had previously given up without a fight. Neither of these battles should be confused with the original Battle of Corinth which was the Romans beating the Hell out of a bunch of Greeks. And happened in 146 BC. By waiting a few months, the rebels allowed the Federals to dig in and reinforce it. Needless to say, this did not end with a grand rebel victory. General Earl Van Dorn (who I constantly confuse with Van Earl Wright from CNN Headline sports back in the day) had to retreat further south which would lead to the Union Army's eventual siege of Vicksburg. So, thinking about it, our whole trip was ass backwards as we went from Vicksburg to Corinth to Shiloh when it should have been reversed.

The battlefield at Corinth wasn't too spectacular. I think the problem was that the area had been built up before they did anything with it. It doesn't seem too historical when you're taking the driving tour of the area and the cannon battery is now a power transformer for a subdivision. However, the Corinth Interactive Center was very nice. It had a couple of good videos which my father slept through. Some nice inside displays. It also had a nice re-creation of a defensive cannon batter. Well, except the concrete they used wasn't exactly historically accurate. They also had a very imaginative fountain/pool that was a Civil War calendar. It ran downhill with years listed on the side and each block in the middle having major Civil War engagements engraved on them. Then there were blocks that had the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments cut into them. A really nice display, but one the rangers were very protective of. They asked us to leave just because I decided to walk the length of the blocks. Well, that and peeing in the pool at the end.

But we did make it to Shiloh which was one of the bloodiest battles early in the Civil War. In fact, there were more casualties at Shiloh then all the other American wars to that point combined. Near a church named after the Hebrew city Shiloh which ironically means "peace". The Union forces were sleeping when the Confederates launched their attack. Rumor was that General Grant was drunk which caused the surprise attack to work. That's just a myth, but I wouldn't hold it against him if being in rural Tennessee made him want to get blitzed. But his men were nearly pushed into the Tennessee River. Then the rebels took a break with the plan to finish off their opponents the next day. Too bad for them, a whole new Union Army showed up with fresh troops which meant day two saw the Confederates pushed out of the area. It was also the battle that made people realize the Civil War was going to be a long and bloody struggle.

The nicest thing about the Shiloh Battlefield park is that I donated $25 and they named a stack of cannonball after me. Well, not really. General William Tecumseh Sherman's headquarters were out in the middle of the woods about 200 yards from the road which wasn't too nice. That exercise allergy kicks in again. This park didn't go crazy with the monuments as much as Vicksburg, but it still had quite a few out there. Nor was it full of big breasted statues likeVicksburg. And when there was one, she had some kind of iron breast-plated bra on her. I'm not sure what kind of pervert came up with that one. One of the nicest things about the larger battlefields is that they have seasonal interactive shows where a ranger dresses up and acts out some aspect of life. Vicksburg had the coolest with the cannon firing routine. Still, Shiloh didn't disappoint. They had a man who dressed in traditional Confederate garb, mainly because most people don't realize that most Confederates didn't really wear gray. The CSA didn't have a supply system set up when war began. The ranger also demonstrated the proper technique for using the standard military rifles of the day. The picture on the left is him shooting a spectator who kept interrupting his lecture.

The size difference between Shiloh and Corinth meant that Shiloh had a quality driving tour because most everything was in the park. Like many battlefields, Shiloh did have a military cemetery, but in the post war era, the Union could afford to rebury their dead in the actual cemetery. The Confederates were broke so all they could do was leave their dead in the grave trenches that they were originally buried in. But iron bras and trenches of dead people weren't the only things to see there. Some time back, a group of people decided to rebuild the old church that the battlefield was named after. Don't think they needed engineers for that one. When we were there, a lot of pictures were being taken because it's apparently quite popular for senior photos. I thought the professional photographer taking cheesecake pictures of some high school guy was a little odd. A teenage girl taking cheesecake pictures of another teenage girl was much odder. And not nearly as erotic as I'd hoped. Still, the church really didn't have much to do with the battle outside the name. One of the more interesting things to see was the pond. Sure, if you look at the picture, it appears to be stagnant, muddy pond full of insects. And it was. Especially insects and some funky looking fish. Still, Bloody Pond as it is known became infamous during the battle as soldiers from both sides crawled to it after the first day to drink and clean their wounds. Some died there which means you'd better get there early or you're getting some nasty stuff to drink.

Shiloh was the last of the sightseeing as we left for my folks' house in Missouri. But something happened in Jackson, Tennessee that was so shocking that I'm not sure anyone will believe it. We stopped for dinner at a Denny's. Not only was the waitress quick and attentive, the manager even stopped by a couple of times to make sure our drinks were filled. I realize the thought of good service at a Denny's is a myth to most of us, but I've seen with my own eyes that it can happen.