Welcome to Shiloh! Today, we’ll learn all about the Civil War battle that once razed these fields and about the landmarks that testify to its ferocity. Your starting point is the Shiloh Visitor Center, at 1055 Pittsburg Landing Road. If you’re not there already, you should head there now.

Note: This 12-mile-long tour covers the essentials of the Shiloh National Military Park in 2-3 hours.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The monument to our right is the Iowa State Monument. Feel free to walk up to it for a closer look! The soaring bird atop this granite tower is an eagle caught in mid-flight, representing the freedom of the soul. That bronze figure in the flowing robe depicts Fame. The 12-foot statue holds a quill pen to the monument, carving an elegy on the battlefield for posterity. Though many men who journeyed to Shiloh never returned, Fame will remember their sacrifice.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

These cannons mark the site of Grant’s Last Line. Picture this: Dusk is about to fall on a warm April day. Men drag iron siege guns that are so heavy, they usually require oxen to move. 20,000 troops mustered from all different brigades gather right here. This is General Ulysses S. Grant’s Last Line, the desperate last-ditch attempt to hold back the relentless surge of the Confederate side.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Up ahead, there’s an awkward intersection. Ignore the intersection road and simply continue straight along Confederate Road. You’ll know it’s the correct path when the monument of the soldier passes on your left. The soldier commemorates the 353 troops from Michigan who were killed, wounded, or missing during the battle of Shiloh.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Pull into the turnout just ahead, across from the big monument. This is the Daughters of the Confederacy Monument. In the center of that monument, below the central statues, you’ll see a bronze plaque depicting a man’s face. That’s General Albert Sidney Johnston, who led the Confederate forces here in Shiloh.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Coming up is the Shiloh Church and Cemetery. Turn into the parking lot on our left and park. Today, we’ll see two structures here: A modern church, and an authentic replica of the original. The new one is a large 1950s building with green shingles, brick and stone siding, and a tall white steeple. The replica is a one-room log cabin. It’s around this cabin where General Sherman and his men have made camp.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Here, Prentiss orders his men to stand fast against the rebels fast emerging from the woods. But the rebels just keep coming! There’s no way this small Union contingent can hold back such an overwhelming attack! But they can slow them down, and right now that’s the most important thing in the world. Prentiss’s men hold the line and engage the charging Confederates.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

In a moment, we’ll pass a couple of cannons on our left. These pay tribute to Union Captain Emil Munch. After the Union falls back from their camp, many regroup in an area known as the Hornet’s Nest. It’s about a mile ahead of us, and we’ll see it very soon. Munch’s artillery battery positions themselves here to defend that Hornet’s Nest. But what makes the nest so important?

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

While the Hornet’s Nest holds fast against seemingly endless Confederate assaults, not every part of the Union line fairs quite so well, General Sherman has been pushed all the way from the church back to this field. It seems he’ll be pushed back farther still. But then he’s joined by General John McClernand, who has other ideas.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Coming up on our left, we’ll soon see the Tennessee Memorial. It’s the one with three bronze men. One stands with a rifle, one has fallen, and the other picks up the flag that his comrade has dropped. The monument represents the loyalty of the survivors to their dead predecessors.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

This monument on our left is the Mortuary Monument for Union General Julius Raith. The monument features four pyramids of cannonballs, clustered around a jet-black Parrott Rifle, a pillar of strength. Raith had been a veteran of the Mexican-American War. When the Civil War began, he formed a regiment of German-Americans. He led his regiment in Shiloh, along with three others from Illinois.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Pull over by the monument just ahead and park. This is the Texas State Monument, honoring the regiments from Texas who fought at Shiloh. Among those honored here is Johnston himself. A Texan by birth, Johnston became the highest-ranking soldier to lose his life in Civil War combat. Before the Civil War, he had fought widely and earned plenty of renown. Johnston fought in the Black Hawk War, the Texas Revolution, the Mexican-American War, and numerous smaller conflicts. But when his home state of Texas seceded, he didn’t hesitate to join the Confederacy. His remains now reside in the State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Shiloh Indian Mounds are coming up on our left. Here we can see the remains of an 800-year-old settlement which far predates the Civil War. If you’d like to learn more about these, turn into the parking lot ahead. Otherwise, continue straight.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Shiloh National Cemetery is on our left. After the battle, the Union buries Federal and rebel soldiers in mass graves. After the war, 3,584 bodies are moved to this cemetery. Two thirds remain unidentified.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Pull over and park. We’ve arrived at Pittsburg Landing, where General Buell’s men arrived to save the day for the Union. That brings us to the end of our tour. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning the inside story about the Battle of Shiloh.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free