Field Trip To Shiloh

I just got back from a quick trip to Pickwick Dam near Pittsburg Landing, Savannah, Tennessee and Shiloh National Battlefield Park.  It brought back the memories of a field trip that we took from Charjean Elementary School.  It was the longest field trip that I can remember. We started before daylight and there had to be at least four buses or more that came to pick us up and I remember we did not get back until way after nightfall.  That’s right, we went to the National Battlefield, depending on where you were born, it was referred to as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing or it was named after a church near where the battle started, this church had a Jewish name that meant “ place of peace “which was Shiloh. 

We stopped a few times along the way to see some of the important sites leading up to the Shiloh National Battlefield.  The one I remember the most was a small stone church, I believe it was a Presbyterian church, and the ladies of the Presbyterian Church Historical Society invited us all off the bus and told us of the story of this simple little stone church that was used for a hospital for both sides of the conflict at various times as the battles raged around this Presbyterian church.  They also showed us the damage that was done by musket balls in the building itself and one large dent that was caused by a cannonball.  I’m not sure but I think they gave every one of us a small cup of lemonade and a cookie and sent us on our way.  It was a long and tedious bus ride so we greatly appreciated these ladies of the church giving us a rest and a touch of refreshment.  I really don’t remember what we did about food on this long trip but I’m sure we ate somewhere at some time are other, but I guess that’s not really important to my story so we’ll continue with our trip. 

The bus finally pulled into the Shiloh National Battlefield and the teachers all got off the buses and met with some Park Rangers. The teachers got back on board and had some color badges that we put on, and each bus had its own designated color. Now if I remember correctly we were the blue bus.  A lot of this is sketchy in my memory so forgive me if I’m wrong but what transpired after that was some of us went in to see a movie about the Battle of Shiloh there was a lot of recreation from clubs and organizations that recreate the major battles of the Civil War. I’m not sure how the girls felt about it but us boys really enjoyed the film about the battle of Shiloh and it showed us history to enlighten us all why the battle took place.  The north was trying to take over a major intersection of south to north and east to west from a railroad junction that was in Corinth Mississippi to stop the supplies and soldiers of the confederacy from getting to the battlefields of the Civil War.  In other buses Park Rangers boarded and then narrated the trip around the battlefields.  They showed us the Hornets’ Nest where the union soldiers stopped and could not be pushed any further away.

The confederate soldiers named it the Hornets’ Nest because it could not be penetrated and the union soldiers were stinging them like hornets that would be protecting their nest.  We also saw the bloody pond where a lot of soldiers went to try and tend to their wounds but died and bled out in the pond causing it to be named the bloody pond. There were a lot of other battle sites around.  One of the most strategic points was at Pittsburg Landing where union soldiers landed to reinforce and tried to take back the land that they had lost in the early morning hours.  I will make a long story short. Eventually the union soldiers were victorious and pushed back the confederate soldiers.  Grant’s forces only numbered about 30,000 but with fresh reinforcements they inflicted heavy casualties on the 40,000 confederate soldiers that were battle weary and worn out.  By the end of this battle it was known as the bloodiest battle in American history in its time. The casualties numbered more than 23,000.