- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
I recently returned from a vacation to Middle Tennessee and northern Mississippi that turned out somewhat unintentionally to have a Forrest theme or sub-theme. Flying to Nashville I joined @mkyzzzrdet who was already there and had himself visited Franklin and Stones River/Murfreesboro, each with their own Forrest associations. Together we headed west and then south; our first stop was Parker's Crossroads State Park, scene of Forrest's memorable order for his men to "Charge 'em both ways!" There we spent several hours in the visitor center and taking the battlefield driving tour, which ended with the stop above at the Union defense position; note the nice display telling about Forrest's life.
Our intended destination however was Shiloh National Military Park where we spent an entire day walking the many trails and much of the "driving" tour. Although I didn't get any photos there directly relating to Forrest, one of the places we walked to and explored thoroughly was the Federal right flank along the Tennessee River and the Indian Mounds where (at least according to Shelby Foote's novel Shiloh) Forrest, then a colonel commanding a cavalry regiment, climbed the Great Mound in order to better see Don Carlos Buell's Federal Army of the Ohio being ferried across the river to reinforce Grant's battered army.
Just south of the park we found the site of Forrest's rearguard action at Fallen Timbers against Sherman's pursuing Federals the day following the Confederate retreat. From there we continued on into Mississippi, staying at a bed-and-breakfast in Corinth and visiting the NPS Corinth Interpretive Center where we met NPS Ranger @TomP and listened to his talk on the October, 1862 battle there.
Of course the centerpiece of any Forrest tour would have to be Brice's Crossroads where another "bucket list" item was crossed off! Here's a link to my thread about the battle: https://www.civilwartalk.com/thread...-crossroads-june-10-1864.146870/#post-1833386
Returning to Tennessee, our final stop was at Fort Donelson, scene of Forrest's memorable escape from the encircled garrison. We got through in the Corinth area early and so had a complete day to return to Nashville to catch our return flights, I suggested finding both Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park and across the Tennessee River Old Johnsonville State Park, both scene of one of Forrest's famous raids against Federal gunboats and supply center. However, when Mike saw how relatively near we were to Donelson and Dover, he preferred that, to which I readily agreed!
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