6/14/15 - Corinth Unit - Shiloh National Battlefield, MS

We got up early and drove to the Corinth Unit of the Shiloh National Battlefield in Corinth, Mississippi.  Corinth was in a vital location at the junction of two railroad lines that supplied Confederate troops. What was left of the Confederate troops after the battle of Shiloh retreated to Corinth.  The Union troops laid siege to the town and the Confederates retreated after another bloody battle.  Most of the buildings in town were used as makeshift hospitals. At the Visitors Center we watched a short movie and went through the exhibits.  A lot of the slaves who escaped during the battles congregated here with the Union troops and were put in a camp called Contraband.  Contraband was a term commonly used in the military during the war for escaped slaves. They were paid for the work they did and they also had a small thriving community.  Teachers taught children and adults to read.  Escaped slaves also enlisted in the Union army to form the United States Colored Troops.  There is a driving tour and we drove by the contraband site and some historic houses.

We hooked up and dumped just before noon and drove all the way to Bandy Creek Campground in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in northern Tennessee.  On the way we drove part of the Natchez Trace that we had never been on and stopped at the site of Meriwether Lewis’ death and his grave.  He was either murdered or committed suicide here at the age of 35 while staying at a boarding house on his way to Washington D.C.  No one really knows.