Shiloh National Military Park was established in 1894 to preserve the scene of the first major battle in the Western theater of the Civil War. The two-day battle, April 6 and 7, 1862, involved about 65,000 Union and 44,000 Confederate troops. This battle resulted in nearly 24,000 killed, wounded, and missing. It proved to be a decisive victory for the federal forces when they advanced on and seized control of the Confederate railway system at Corinth, Mississippi. The battlefield contains about 4,000 acres at Shiloh and an interpretive center at Corinth, Mississippi. The park has within its boundaries the Shiloh National Cemetery along with the well preserved prehistoric Indian mounds that are listed as a historic landmark. 

Gates.jpg (222132 bytes)    The gates to the National Cemetery    Cemetery2.jpg (126409 bytes)

Cemetery.jpg (193864 bytes)    Cemetery1.jpg (145253 bytes)    Cemetery3.jpg (173343 bytes)    Cemetery4.jpg (173343 bytes)

Iowa.jpg (115900 bytes)    Iowa Monument, on the left side an angel records the event

31stInfantry.jpg (230967 bytes)    31st US Infantry Memorial    FinalLine.jpg (249726 bytes)    Grant's final line of       

                                                                                                                defense on the first day

Landing.jpg (117559 bytes)    Pittsburg Landing where the Army of the Ohio came to Grant's rescue.

Wallace.jpg (220106 bytes)    General Wallace was killed at Shiloh

Tenn.jpg (143021 bytes)    The Tennessee Memorial, no doubt the best looking one.

ConfedMem.jpg (202281 bytes)    The Confederate Memorial    ConfedMem1.jpg (207806 bytes)

HornetsNest.jpg (180251 bytes)    The Sunken Road leading to the Hornet's Nest

HornetsNest1.jpg (258164 bytes)    The Hornet's Nest

Church.jpg (210386 bytes)    Shiloh Church (Shiloh means "Peaceful Place") Shiloh was an ancient village of central Palestine northwest of the Dead Sea. In the Bible, it was a meeting place and sanctuary for the Israelites and the site of a tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was kept until its capture by the Philistines. Generally understood as denoting the Messiah, "the peaceful one," as the word signifies (Gen. 49:10).

ConfedBurial.jpg (262678 bytes)    Confederate burial trench. Most were buried in mass graves.

Texas.jpg (218162 bytes)    Texas Memorial    Texas1.jpg (186247 bytes)

Texas General Albert Sidney Johnston, Commanding General of the Army of Mississippi was killed on the first day.

Johnston.jpg (194354 bytes)    Johnston1.jpg (189861 bytes)    Johnston2.jpg (188773 bytes)

Finally, the Bloody Pond.  I have a thing for ponds. While in Poland studying the Holocaust I almost threw a stone into a pond at Birkenau.  Then I learned the ashes of thousands of Jews were in there.  Since then, I have a thing for ponds.

BloodyPond.jpg (196471 bytes)    BloodyPond1.jpg (207257 bytes)

This shallow pool of water was in the path of the retreating Federal Army as it was pushed back toward the river on Sunday. Being the only water in the immediate vicinity, the wounded from both sides crawled here to quench their thirst and bathe their wounds. So many bled in and around the pond that the water became stained the color of blood.

If you stand soft and silent
In the night’s early chill,
You can still hear the cannon
Roar across “Shiloh Hill.”
-Mark Putnam