Touring Tuesday - Shiloh National Military Park

Cycling past cannons at the Shiloh Battlefield (photo courtesy of Memphis Cyclist)

If you want to combine American history and cycling, a great way to do that is to visit national historic parks. One that I had the pleasure of visiting many years ago was Shiloh National Military Park in western Tennessee. Shiloh was a battle that really opened the eyes of both sides regarding how bloody the conflict was going to be. It had the 7th highest number of casualties of any battle during the war, and it occurred relatively early (April of 1862). The only major battle prior to Shiloh was the First Battle of Bull Run. It only had a total of about 5,000 casualties, compared to 23,000 at Shiloh). It became the benchmark that future battles were compared to. Many Civil War veterans said they were never more afraid than they were at Shiloh.

You can ride the 13 mile route in the park, where the posted speed limit is only 25 miles per hour and auto traffic is fairly light. You will get a sense of the ebb and flow of the battle. Confederate general Sidney Johnston, considered the South's finest officer at the time, launched a surprise attack that caught the Union troops completely off-guard. It looked like the battle could be a spectacular victory for the Rebels, but Johnston was shot (probably by friendly fire). His death caused the attack to lose some steam, and Union lines began to stiffen. Although Southern troops continued to push forward that day, they could not break Grant's last line of defense, which had some pretty formidable artillery that you can see in the park. Despite the difficulties, Grant remained his usual unflappable self. When Sherman said it had been a tough day, Grant agreed but added "Get 'em tomorrow, though." After General Buell arrived with fresh troops that night, they pushed the Confederates back the next day.

If you ride your bike through the park, it's very easy to stop and read the information on markers, or admire the monuments that have been placed there by states where the troops came from and other organizations. You will also pass by features like the "Hornet's Nest" (so many bullets were whistling by they sounded like a bunch of hornets) and "Bloody Pond" (wounded men drank from the pond and it eventually became red from their blood). There's also the "Peach Orchard'" where so many peach blossoms were clipped by bullets that it looked like falling snow to some soldiers.