Because the battlefield was (is) so big, they have it set up so that you can drive around to 20 key points where important parts of the battle took place. But, due to road construction, you had to walk to three of the sites if you wanted to see them. Of course, two of the three were sites that we really wanted to see. It turned out to be the best part of the trip - it was a gorgeous day and we were able to get some great snaps.
Mike was really anxious to see this pond, because it looked from the handouts they gave us at the Ranger station that it would be a great picture. It was - but the pond is called "Bloody Pond," because so many soldiers crawled here for water and died that the water turned red.
Mike made a good point. We were discussing whether we'd liked Little Bighorn (in Montana) or Shiloh better. I noted that Shiloh didn't have the same spooky feeling, because at Little Bighorn, they have markers where they found the bodies of the soldiers, where are Shiloh simply has the cemeteries. Mike countered with the observation that at Little Bighorn you were restricted to a couple of paths that they had designated, but at Shiloh, you were tromping through the woods and going anywhere you wanted - walking the same paths as those who'd fought there 148 years ago. Verdict? - Both are worth seeing. If you go to Shiloh, set aside the whole day, because you can easily spend it there.
