Touring Conditions
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Shiloh - "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war."
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Outdoors – Prepare accordingly. A jacket is recommended for cooler months, April through mid-May. Light loose clothing for warmer months, June through September, as it can get hot in the summer time. Key to dressing for Shiloh is being versatile. Footwear is tennis shoes or hiking boots. Most of the terrain sheds water well. One low place is between Fraley and Wood Field which tends to hold water after a rain. If too wet, the tour will simply avoid the path through Wood Field and began the tour in Fraley Field.
Light to moderate rainfall will not stop the tour. Heavy rainfall will in which case the tour will retire to the visitors’ center where there are ample facilities, a new and very well done movie about the battle as well as an impressive museum. Should the inclement weather persist; the walking tour of the western flank will be substituted for an improvised driving tour with stops along the way as weather permits.
Restrooms – At visitors’ center, picnic pavilion, and two new facilities within the park at Fraley’s Field and the Bloody Pond.
Difficulty Level – Light to Moderate
Tour Route Overview – Shiloh National Military Park is a remote location. The tour route begins in Wood’s Field at the site occupied by troops of Major General William S. Hardee’s Army Corps. Initially there is walking over mostly level farm field to reach the site of the 3rd Mississippi Battalion. The terrain traversed is like that of pasture or hay field. It was a cotton field at the time of the war but no such cultivation is done these later years. Proceeding from Wood’s Field onto our next stop in Fraley’s Field where we will join a wooded improved path leading to a paved park surface, Reconnoitering Road. From this point on, with only small deviation, we stay on the paved surfaces. Throughout the tour there will be some walking on a gradual uphill grade at times. The walking tour is less than two miles total and would be described as “light” to possibly “moderate” depending on the physical capabilities of the individual. The area is wooded with occasional grassy fields so, although ticks and other insect bites have never been a problem, you are advised to use your own judgement as to the use of insect repellants. Shiloh National Military Park is rural and does have wild animals within its boundary including snakes although none have ever been encountered during our tours nor is it likely as generally speaking wild animals and reptiles have no desire to associate with humans any more than humans care to associate with some of them such as snakes.
Corinth - a Council of War and the burden of command.
Indoors/Outdoors – Prepare accordingly. A jacket is recommended for cooler months, April through mid-May. Light loose clothing for warmer months, June through September, as it can get hot in the summer time. Key to dressing for Corinth and the North Mississippi area is being versatile. Footwear is tennis shoes or hiking boots. The tour route will be on sidewalks and will cover just over ½ mile in length.
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Light to moderate rainfall will not stop the tour. Heavy rainfall will in which case the tour will retire to the Corinth Interpretive Center Regional Civil War Museum where there are ample facilities, a movie about Corinth during the war, a museum. Should the inclement weather persist; the walking tour of the western flank will be substituted for a driving tour of the entire battlefield.
Restrooms – At NPS visitors’ center, and Franklin Courtyard.
Difficulty Level – Light
Tour Route Overview – The evening will begin at the Franklin Courtyard venue in downtown Corinth with a presentation ‘All Eyes on Corinth – The 1862 campaign for the crossroads of the Confederacy.’ In which the background to Shiloh will be explained and why Corinth was so vitally important to both the Southern defenders as well as the Northern invaders. This will be followed by dinner during which we will be entertained by period music. The candlelight lantern tour will be from the Franklin Courtyard through the streets of downtown Corinth to the site of Rose Cottage, Albert Sidney Johnston’s headquarters, a distance of eight city blocks. The city blocks were laid out in a grid pattern in 1853 and are small in size. The sidewalks and streets are flat so the journey is one of relative ease. From the Rose Cottage site, the tour continues on to the home of Hamilton Mask, known today as the Verandah-Curlee house, the headquarters of General Braxton Bragg. This is also the site of the final presentation of the evening program. From here the group will board the bus back to the overnight accommodations. The next morning after breakfast the tour will take the 22 mile road trip to Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh, Tennessee where we will begin the battlefield walking tour, Shiloh - "Cry 'Havoc!' at 9:45 A.M. For details about the Shiloh walking tour, please see the ‘Tour Conditions’ listed above for that tour.
Fort Donelson – a gallant fight and an ill-fated fort
Outdoors – Prepare accordingly. A jacket is recommended for cooler months, April through mid-May. Light loose clothing for warmer months, June through September, as it can get hot in the summer time. Key to dressing for the northern Tennessee-southern Kentucky area is being versatile. Footwear is tennis shoes or hiking boots. The tour route will be largely on paved surfaces.
Restrooms – At NPS visitors’ center, and picnic area.
Difficulty Level – Light to Moderate
Tour Route Overview – The Fort Donelson tour involves several stops on the auto tour where we will off-board the transport and gather for a separate interpretive program at each site. The first stop will be inside the main fort for a presentation detailing fortress warfare during the war. Then we will take a short walk down to the river batteries where we’ll discover the naval side of civil war combat as we dive into the naval battle of February 12. Afterward we’ll take a short walk up the hill to the picnic area overlooking the Cumberland River. Once lunch is finished, we’ll board the transport and journey outside the camp to the site of the February 15th Confederate assault on the Union lines during the breakout attempt. Lastly we will be transported to the Dover Hotel where the fort and 16,000 Southern Men from Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Virginia were surrendered along with the fort in a crippling blow to the Southern war effort early in the war.