Natchez Trace Parkway - Tennessee
Shiloh National Military Park, TN

Bloody Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, was the first major battle in the Western Theater of the Civil War. Fought largely by inexperienced troops, the surprise Confederate attack quickly evolved into a soldier's battle, a massive struggle of 110,000 men resulting in 23,746 casualties.

A strategic victory for the North, Shiloh was a tactical draw. The Confederates drove the Union back against the river the first day, but the Federals, aided by reinforcements, regained the field on the second day, and the Rebels retreated.

Before Shiloh, Gen. Grant thought one final clash would finish off the Confederacy. Afterwards, he "gave up all idea of saving the Union except by complete conquest." Shiloh National Military Park preserves the site of the largest battle of the 1862 campaign for possession of the major railroads of the western Confederacy and military control of the lower Mississippi River Valley.