Ironically, the word shiloh is Hebrew for "Tranquil".
Chip and I visited Shiloh National Military Park yesterday. Established in 1894, it is considered one of the best preserved battlefields in the nation. During this 2 day battle nearly 24,000 soldiers were either killed, wounded, captured or missing.
The battlefield gets its name from the Church of Shiloh, Place of Peace, which stood not far from where the fighting ensued...
During April 6th and 7th, 1862 Confederate Generals Albert Johnston & P.G.T. Beauregard and Union Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell raged a fierce battle. Considered a pivotal battle in the war; the Union armies went on to take Corinth, only 22 miles to the south. Two rail lines converged in Corinth: The Memphis and Charleston Railroad and the Mobile to Ohio Railroad, making it one of the most important rail cities to conquer, second only to Richmond. Taking Shiloh, then Corinth, led Ulysses S. Grant to start his Vicksburg campaign.
While walking out onto the battlefield cannot begin to make clearer the bloodshed that occurred during those two days..nor do I even attempt to understand the bravery of those young soldiers, or what makes someone feel so strongly about a cause that they would risk life and limb. I did however look around me and imagined some of the very trees that stood there now gave shade even then to those brave men...I believe their sacrifices were not in vain as they were part of a war which united a great country...I was humbled by the enormity of it all: the numbers of those who perished...those interred at the cemetery without a name, simply a number on a headstone...the magnificent statues and monuments....the view out over the river...the beauty of the park...it truly is a Place of Peace.
Chip and I visited Shiloh National Military Park yesterday. Established in 1894, it is considered one of the best preserved battlefields in the nation. During this 2 day battle nearly 24,000 soldiers were either killed, wounded, captured or missing.
The battlefield gets its name from the Church of Shiloh, Place of Peace, which stood not far from where the fighting ensued...
During April 6th and 7th, 1862 Confederate Generals Albert Johnston & P.G.T. Beauregard and Union Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell raged a fierce battle. Considered a pivotal battle in the war; the Union armies went on to take Corinth, only 22 miles to the south. Two rail lines converged in Corinth: The Memphis and Charleston Railroad and the Mobile to Ohio Railroad, making it one of the most important rail cities to conquer, second only to Richmond. Taking Shiloh, then Corinth, led Ulysses S. Grant to start his Vicksburg campaign.
While walking out onto the battlefield cannot begin to make clearer the bloodshed that occurred during those two days..nor do I even attempt to understand the bravery of those young soldiers, or what makes someone feel so strongly about a cause that they would risk life and limb. I did however look around me and imagined some of the very trees that stood there now gave shade even then to those brave men...I believe their sacrifices were not in vain as they were part of a war which united a great country...I was humbled by the enormity of it all: the numbers of those who perished...those interred at the cemetery without a name, simply a number on a headstone...the magnificent statues and monuments....the view out over the river...the beauty of the park...it truly is a Place of Peace.
*(click the photos at right to enlarge)
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