Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [48]
One of Hodge’s favorite spots is Shiloh National Military Park in Hardin County, Tennessee. In one of the first of the ensuing mega-battles of the Civil War, over 109,000 Union and Confederate troops met near the Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River on April 6, 1862, resulting in a casualty rate of about 25%. The battlegrounds are some of the best preserved in the United States, partly because the area was designated a national landmark back in 1894. “Shiloh was one of the first preserved national military parks,” says Hodge. “It’s probably about 85% pristine. All these people of pedigree – senators, politicians – felt a strong desire to memorialize and interpret these places.” After picking up a map at the visitors center, take a tour of the cemetery (eternal home to 4000 soldiers who died at the battle), Indian Mound and the site of the Methodist church that gave the battle its name.
“If you go to Shiloh,” Hodge says, “you’ve got to go to Hagy’s. They serve old-school Dr Pepper in bottles and have these pictures on the wall of old-time farmers plowing with mules, plus they serve all-you-can-eat catfish.” Officially known as the Catfish Hotel, the original 1825 shack on the park grounds burned down in 1975, but the third generation of the Hagy family rebuilt the institution. It is one of the oldest continually operating restaurants in the country. After eating a plate full of breaded frogs legs, fried oysters and hush puppies, or smoked baby back ribs, relax in a catfish-shaped Adirondack chair overlooking the Tennessee River.
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“We can’t change history, nor should we be ashamed of it, but we should learn from it and not repeat its errors. My reenactor friends yearn to know American history as told by all of its participants. The African-American perspective is still unique, but there are some of us in ‘the hobby,’ as reenactors call it. It’s a joy to be with like-minded people who are just as passionate about history as I am.”
Daniel J Johnson, aka Thomas Morris Chester, the only African-American war correspondent hired by a major daily newspaper during the war
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Take Hwy 22 north for about 40 miles until you hit I-40, which will take you toward Nashville. Detour south to Franklin, where the Battle of Franklin was fought and where, these days, a new battle for preservation is being waged. The historic downtown has many preserved buildings, but suburban sprawl has put the site of the Battle of Franklin on the Civil War Preservation Trust’s most endangered sites list for several years in a row. First, head to the Carter House, which holds the dubious record of sustaining more bullets (over 1000) than just about any other building during the Civil War. The Carter family went to sleep on November 29, 1864, only to be woken in the middle of the night by a brigadier army general, who turned the house into a Union command center for the battle that was about to occur. What was to become known as the “five bloodiest hours in the Civil War” killed or wounded over 8500 mostly Confederate soldiers on and around the Carter farm. While 23 Carter family members and neighbors hid in the basement, Union and Confederate troops clashed, sometimes hand to hand, on their front porch. One of the arriving Confederate soldiers was Tod Carter, who was thrilled to see his home for the first time in three years. However, he later died inside after being mortally wounded (some say he never left