Deep South - Fall 2011 - Day 6

Nashville was only a one night stop; we had removed a night there from our plan in order to fit in basketball matches on the Saturday before we set off. We knew that this would make seeing much of Nashville a problem particularly when we knew the journey on was over 200 miles.
Our best solution was a bus tour in the morning before moving on, we chose as we have done before Gray Line Buses and this time it turned out to be a tram type bus where I was able to take my photos through an open window rather than through glass. Before we bought our ticket at the riverside terminus we had to find somewhere to park. We located a parking lot which was pay and display but since firstly the ticket machine refused to work and secondly no other vehicles were displaying any tickets we decided to take a chance on leaving the car there without doing either.
The strange thing with the Hop On Hop Off system is that the drivers who commentate as they drive have little or no incentive to check passengers have a ticket as they are paid to drive and their tips add to their income so the more passengers the more chance of a tip.
From the terminus we were directed to the start of the circuit where there were people also buying tickets, since we had ours already we got straight onto the bus, without showing anything to the driver. We set off when the bus was full and soon learned that the bus driver/guide by day was a musician by night. He was very informative and he must have been quite successful as a musician because he seemed to have played in pretty much every venue he mentioned on the tour. As we were enjoying his commentary and also we needed to be on the road again as soon as possible we didn’t take advantage of the HOHO option but had we done so it would have been at the Centenary Park where there was a brilliant time line covering the history of the city.
As a taster of Nashville the bus ride was great; we got a personal buzz when we passed the Red Rooster and our driver told us what a great venue it was but there again he complimented the food and that was a step too far in our opinion.
Returning to the start we left the bus, tipped the driver, and took away our unchecked tickets. The car was fine, not decorated by a parking ticket and we set off for Memphis via the Shiloh Battle Site National park. This was only a short detour from our direct route and well worth it.
Even before entering the visitors centre we happened on a school party being shown how to load and fire a Civil War musket – being American kids I bet half of them already knew more than enough about shooting but it was interesting to us. The young lady dressed in Confederate Grey fired three rounds and even such a small volley of fire made us realise just how the noise and smoke would have made the battles a hell on earth. We were told later at a similar demonstration it was difficult for inexperienced soldiers to know if their gun had fired properly in the heat of battle; a fact illustrated by the recorded finding of muskets with up to ten loads of undischarged gun powder down their barrel. These were weapons that remained intact to be discovered later there must have been more in that state that finally ignited the powder and blew up the gun and gunner.
The battle takes its name from the Shiloh chapel which was pretty central to the action and on the Shiloh National Military Park there is a battle trail of some 30 miles that we drove in the car and followed on the free map which we were given in the visitor centre.
As I decided earlier I will give the bare facts in the format I have used earlier but this time they cannot stand alone!
Dates - April 6 - 7, 1862
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - Albert Sydney Johnston & P. G. T. Beauregard
Forces Engaged - 65,085 Union v 44,968 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 13,047 Union v 10,669 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
This battle was a game of two halves, on the first day the Southern forces swept the Northern armies before them and took lots of ground however the following day the Union pushed the Confederates back to their starting points and beyond.
To quote official sources:
Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth. On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August offensive.
Shiloh is one of the nation's oldest and best preserved battlefield parks. In the late 1890s, returning veterans used more than 150 monuments, 200 cannon, and 650 historic tablets to "suitable mark" the 4,000 acre site.
As we travelled the battlefield trail we encountered similar signs to those at Chickamauga red on white for the Confederate forces and white on blue for the Union, but this time there were rectangular signs for the first day and lozenge shape for the second. In many places the same regiments appeared on both days but in retreat once and moving forward the other – it was a superb illustration of the futility of war.
We moved on to Memphis and arrived safely at the Crowne Plaza Memphis Downtown, a much more up-market hotel than most of the others. It had all the usual advantages of a better class establishment; we had to pay for parking and breakfast!
As with most days when Julia had driven we preferred not to drive for our evening meal but we were able to catch the hotel shuttle to Beale Street; this is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles. It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts periodically bring large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas. Though given an exemption by the state of Tennessee to keep clubs open until 5 a.m., there is now an effort to reduce the hours to a 3 am closing time.
We enjoyed a stroll up and down and settled on a jazz playing bar where the choice was to sit right next to the live band or at the bar – we opted for the bar.
The meal was fine and we washed it down with a couple of beers, the barman was great company and we enjoyed his conversation. As Julia had gone to the restroom he was creating a cocktail which was a major work of art, on the point of finishing it he cracked the glass and had to start over. Commenting on his run of bad luck he leaned over to me and said, “If it rained whores mine would be a lesbian!” When I get my next bad call or get beaten by a lucky netcord I’ll perhaps think of him and smile.
Shortly after midnight but long before 3.00am we called the shuttle and he dropped us and other back at the hotel, we chatted to a Harley Davison couple on the ride back and discovered that there were no cheap rooms available in Memphis but they nor the driver had any idea why it was so busy.