Shiloh: Hornet's Nest

Shiloh national cemetery

Headquarter monuments and state monuments

Shiloh cannons

So many cannons! The park has tried to put cannons many of the locations cannons were stationed. This was very interesting for all of us for a short period of time. John's interest (as many other times) was much longer than the rest of ours.

Amelia

Amelia came in early this morning. She crawled in early and was disappointed to find Gemma was already in her desired location snoozing away. Luckily, I have both a right and a left side. Unluckily, we have what seems to be a shrinking queen sized bed as the size of the children increase.

Amelia: mom! Mom! I just need to tell you about my dream.
Mom: (sleepy): sure. But whisper because Gemma is still sleeping.
Amelia: (loud whisper): last night I had a dream that someone I know had a tissue box that could send you anywhere. You just put your foot inside the box and you could go anywhere!
Mom: that would be awesome! You wouldn't need to catch the school bus and we wouldn't need to worry about being late!
Amelia: or I could go and visit grandma and grandpa anytime! I'd just go and come back! Or to California to visit Aunt Jenny! Or North Dakota!
Mom: it would be great, wouldn't it? We could go where ever we want for just a quick visit.
Amelia: Yeah. (Big sigh) it would be great.

Sent from my iPhone

The signs of Shiloh

The signs at Shiloh were everywhere. It is a large memorial park and there are hundreds and hundreds of signs. Since they are so smart, the signs are all organized. The big square signs have detailed information about the group/person in that area during the battle.

The triangular signs indicate a location of a group of soldiers on the first day of the battle. The yellow color meant it was a group from the army of the Ohio. If it was blue, it was from the army of the Tennessee and the red signs were the army of the Mississippi. (hopefully if I am getting this wrong, John will come back and edit!).


At first, we felt like we had to read all the signs. They were so interesting, but very quickly we realized we were going to miss out on the parks of the site we wanted to see if we read every single sign.

Another strategy John and I use that helps with traveling with kids is to try and have a game plan. John and I talked about what both of us what we absolutely wanted to see. John wanted to see the Sunken Road most of all and the headquarters of the different leaders as well as take some time to look at the different types of cannons on display throughout the park. He wanted to see more than that, but those were his bare minimum essential sites. I wanted to see the peach orchard, the Minnesota memorial within the park, and I wanted to take the short loop trial with Native American artifacts.

These locations would have to be our priority. We could stop and look at other things, but we couldn't spend much time there without giving up one of our other desires. We had arrived later than expected due to our unexpected stop in Mississippi (see Corinth) and we still were hoping to leave by 4ish in order to eat dinner close to our hotel. The clock was ticking.

Anyhow, after the first several signs, I gave up on the further afield signs as I could easily tell from a distance by the shape and color what the information was going to be about. John stuck with it for quite a bit longer, but in the end even he had to give up on taking in each and every sign.

Our original destination

We got to the original intended destination of the Shiloh battlefield at lunch time. I utilized the ride between sites to read up and review the history of the battle with John. To be clear, for him it was a quick review. For me, it was more than that. And I'm pretty sure I already have forgotten most of it.

We ate our picnic lunch in the car and then the kids ran around for a little while. Stopping off in Mississippi was a happy accident. We enjoyed the stop very much, but now we were 2 hours behind our (flexible) schedule for the day. When we were ready, we all went into the visitor center and I talked to perhaps the most helpful person ever. Not sarcastic. Truly helpful.

The park ranger saw me looking at the maps/brochures and asked if I needed help. I decided that being frank was going to get me the best results.

Why yes, I did need help.

I am here at this awesome historical site and I have 3 hours. I also have 3 kids aged 3, 6, &8. I live far away and might not be back for years. What are the best/coolest/most exciting parts I can't miss? He grabbed me a map and started talking. It was a tall order, but he was ready.

1. Driving tour. Well labeled and numbered. (Our personal tip: have everyone go to the bathroom BEFORE you start the self guided driving tour. Even the people who say they don't have to go. There is not a single place to go to the bathroom on the entire loop drive. You could find yourself flying through the loop and skipping monuments to get to bathrooms. Twice.)

2. a loop hike at the end of the driving tour has some artifacts and some interesting Native American features.

We took a quick look around the visitor center before hitting the road. The kids were about 13% more interested in the Civil war artifacts than I anticipated, which is always a good surprise.