Where are Cheryl and Dennis?: Tishomingo MS

11/08/2019 – 11/10/2019

Friday – 11/08/2019 – After leaving Fletcher's Rest we took back roads toward the Natchez Trace Parkway to avoid going through Nashville. It was a little tricky finding access to the parkway as there are limited access points. We ended up entering the parkway at the Double Arch bridge around mile marker 339. Dennis was pleased as he did not have to drive our rig over this very tall bridge and I was delighted to see it from below.

What an awesome road! The entire 444 miles is a National Parkway and is the quintessential slow road as the top speed is 55 miles per hour, has limited access and does not allow truck traffic. There are many pull offs to check out various highlights along the road. Although we chose not to stop at them many were large enough for our rig. We did stop at the Meriwether Lewis site to check out the campground. There are three National park campgrounds on the parkway but none with hook ups. Freezing temperatures were forecast for that night so we moved on to Tishomingo State Park which had electric. We paid for two days so we could visit some of the local attractions.

The weather was great today sunny with highs in the 60's. Looks like we are getting out of the arctic chill.

Saturday – 11/09/2019 – Woke to a chilly (30 degrees) but sunny day. Later it warmed up to around 65. Yes! We took a half hour drive to Shiloh National Military Park, a Civil War Battlefield. The battle of Shiloh was fought over 2 days on April 6 & 7 1862. After capturing Forts Henry and Donelson the Union forces had their sights set on Corinth Mississippi, a major railroad crossing. General Grant moved 40,000 troops up the Tennessee river to Pittsburgh Landing, 22 miles north of Corinth. Meanwhile 44,000 Confederate troops stationed in Corinth took the initiative to advance on Pittsburgh Landing in hopes of catching the Union army off guard.

At the end of day one the Confederacy declared victory. However, the next day when they entered the battlefield to retrieve the dead and wounded they were surprised by the Union Army who had gotten reinforcements overnight. For six hours, the Confederates fiercely resisted until they could hold out no longer. In order to save the remains of their army they were ordered to retreat to Corinth. This was one of the first major battles of the war and with 23,746 casualties shocked both the North and the South.

We watched a 45 minute video at the visitor center then took the auto tour through the park. This was a very dynamic and chaotic battle so even with all the keyed plaques it was hard to follow how the battle unfolded in the park. From Shiloh we proceeded 22 miles south to Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center.

The story continues as a month later the Union Army advances on Corinth with 100,000 men and entrenched within cannon range of the confederate fortifications. Knowing they were outnumbered the Confederate army retreated and left Corinth in the hands of the Union army thereby losing this major railroad crossroad. The war was not done with Corinth yet as in early October the Confederacy decided to try to recapture Corinth but after 3 days of heavy fighting were decisively repulsed. This battle produced 4838 Confederate and 3100 Union casualties.

Watched another 20 minutes video at this museum and looked at the displays then headed back to the campground.

Sunday – 11/10/2019 – Another beautiful day with a high of around 70. We drove down to Tupalo on the Trace and stopped at a few of the sites along the route. After stopping at Walmart in Tupalo we went to check out Elvis Presley's birthplace and boyhood home. We walked around the site and saw his family home and the church they attended. There is a large gift shop with all the Elvis paraphernalia you could image.

Where we are parked: Tishomingo State Park – Tishomingo Ms – Site 47 - $16 per night with senior discount.