Shiloh to Tupelo

August 2, 2006



We backtracked about 100 miles into Southwest Tennessee after leaving Memphis to visit Shiloh National Military Park. Located on the west bank of the Tennessee River about 9 miles south of Savannah, Tennessee, Shiloh is the location of another of the most bitter and decisive battles of the Civil War.

It’s a large and beautiful park, with a top notch visitor center and a great bookstore. They do need to update the film, it looks and sounds as if it was filmed in the 1950s and was as humorous as it was informative. What was informative was the Ranger guided program we participated in. Ranger Brittany Kilburn lead a program on “The Forgotten Warriors: Civilians on the Homefront”, which explained the hardships faced by the civilians during the war. It was excellent and as an added bonus, they took photos of us while we listened that will be used on the park service web-site.

Brittany & Kathy

The battle of Shiloh was fought on April 6 & 7, 1862 and was a decisive victory for the Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant. The victory there opened the way for the North to capture the important railway system located 22 miles south in Corinth, Mississippi.

After touring the battlefield, we drove south through Corinth and on to Tupelo, our next stopping point. We arrived too late to go to the Elvis Presley birthplace, which we plan to do today. We were not too late to have dinner at one of his favorite restaurants here in Tupelo, Johnnie’s Drive-In Barbeque. I can’t imagine it has changed all that much since Elvis frequented the place, many parts of the South seem frozen in time and Johnnie’s is just such a place. Our waitress, Crystal pointed out the booth Elvis sat in on most visits. The food and service were great



The Crew at Johnnie's
(l to r; Tiffany Tine, Crystal Rogers, Kenny Sheffield, Eddie Ellis & Webb Lyle)