Shiloh National Military Park

This is the site of one of the most epic struggle in the Western Theater of the Civil War. Nearly 110,000 American troops clashed in a bloody contest that resulted in 23,746 casualties; more casualties than in all of America’s previous wars combined. Located within the boundaries of Shiloh Battlefield is also a United States National Cemetery, which contains around 4,000 soldiers and their family members.

Congress established Shiloh National Military Park on December 27, 1894, to commemorate the April 6-7, 1862, battle that raged around Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing along the Tennessee River. Producing more than 23,000 casualties, the battle was the largest engagement in the Mississippi Valley campaign during the Civil War.

We visited the Shiloh National Military Park in Southern Tennessee in early May 2025 while staying at the Thousand Trails Natchez Trace RV Park in Hohenwald, Tennessee, about a 75-minute drive away. We started our visit at the Visitor Center which told the story of the battle through a variety of media including audio readings of survivor’s memoirs, maps and informational displays, and a video. The battle is named for the Shiloh Meeting House church around which the battle unfolded. A recreation of the Shiloh Meeting House sits on the original church site within the park.

We took the 12.7 mile auto tour route from the Visitor Center, which featured 22 tour stops at such famous places as the Peach Orchard, the Hornet’s Nest, and the Albert Sidney Johnston death site. Informational plaques were posted at each of the stops. An audio tour was also available on the NPS website.

The battle lasted for two days, April 6th and 7th, 1862. During the first day of fighting, Confederate forces made considerable gains, pushing the Union forces back towards Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The Confederate forces planned to complete a defeat of the Union forces the following day, however Union forces were reinforced early the next morning and conducted an unexpected counter attack, which reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day. The exhausted Confederate army withdrew further south, and a modest Union pursuit started and ended on the second day with a Union victory.

It was interesting to see the spot where the battle started early on the morning of April 6th when a Union scouting party came across Confederate troops at Fraley Field. Along the tour, and within the battlefield in general there are many monuments and monuments, memorials, and troop position markers. Many of the park’s 156 commemorative monuments, 600 troop position markers, and more than 220 cannon were visible from park roads during the auto tour. Some of them could only be reached by hiking into the surrounding woods and fields. We found the section of cannons at “Ruggles Battery” particularly interesting. During the battle more than 50 Confederate cannons formed a 1/2-mile long frontage that was the largest concentration of field guns deployed on a North American battlefield at that time. The auto tour ended at the Shiloh National Cemetery which contains around 4,000 soldiers and their family members. A plaque with the text of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address at the entrance of the cemetery served as a reminder of the background and significance of the Civil War.

The Shiloh National Military Park was a historically interesting and though-provoking place to visit. We learned a lot and enjoyed touring the now-serene green meadows and woods that mark the site of one of the most significant battles of the Civil War.

Photos from our visit are posted below.