Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Fallen Timbers

The final brand new spot for us to visit at Shiloh was Fallen Timbers.  After two days of comabt William T. Sherman followed the retreating Confederates with a small brigade.  Mostly this was done to make sure they were not preparing to begin a third day of battle than with thier own plans of bringing on a third day.  Nathan Bedford Forrest led a cavalry charge with only a few hundred men and it stopped the Union pursuit.  Really both sides were content to have the battle over, the Union was in the best shape to pursue as Buell's Army of the Ohio had seen the least combat but Shiloh was unlike anything anyone had ever expereinced so all involved were fine to just have the battle over with.

I had been in this area before back when there was zero signage so its impossible a decade later to know if I was in this spot or something a quarter mile away.  There is now a Civil War Trails marker.  The area was called Fallen Timbers because the trees here had all been cut and were still laying on the ground.  It would appear that the trees are all grown up again so it is difficult to see much of the lay of the ground.  But its a nice spot to wrap up the story of Shiloh so I'm sure it will be a spot I visit again on future visits.



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