Visiting two somber national sites

We are heading north to attend a couple of Winnebago rallies and find other new places to explore.  Our first stop on this journey was the town of Corinth, MS  We stopped at the Crossroads RV park, which was very pleasant and close to our route.  While there, we noticed that there was the  Corinth National Battlefield just a few miles down the road. 

 After looking up the history, we also realized that we had to divert a bit off our planned route to visit the Shiloh National battlefield in Tennessee. I knew some about Shiloh, but had not really heard about Corinth. It turned out that the battle of Shiloh would not have occurred if it was not for the town of Corinth.  This town was the crossroads of the railroad lines that provided the western confederate states access to the Atlantic ports. This access was vital to the survival of the Confederacy.  To give away the plot of the Battle of Shiloh, which occurred first, the Union Army defeated the Confederate forces at Shiloh, where the Confederacy was planning on preventing any attack on these vital railroad lines. After vicious fighting the Union Army again defeated the forces of the south and occupied the town and deprived the southern forces the use of these vital railroad lines.  The town was completely destroyed during the battle and there was a tremendous loss of life on both sides.  The park occupies a small plot of land to remember this horrible struggle and loss of life and property.

We then moved on to the Shiloh National battlefield in Tennessee.  In short, the Union dispatched a large Union Army south to take the town of Corinth and take control of the rail lines.  This force was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant.  He traveled south on the Tennessee River on steam boats and landed at a place called Shiloh. He intended to travel south to take the town of Corinth with little opposition.  At the same time a large southern force under the command of General Wallace was heading north to prevent such invasion. Fate determined  that they would meet at the place called Shiloh and engage in two days of vicious combat, death and destruction.  In the end, by luck as much as anything else, the Union Army prevailed.  The casualties on both sides totaled more death, injuries and missing than all the losses the country had suffered in all other hostilities since the founding of the country...in just one battle!  This battle also claimed the life of the most senior officer killed during the war,  Confederate General Wallace.  There are many fascinating details of these battles that cannot be covered here.  I recommend that those interested download the free Shiloh Battle App that provides great details of both battles including pictures, videos and personal narratives.  

 The National Cemetery at Shiloh is just another reminder of how awful this conflict was.