This vast park is located just north of the Mississippi border near the town of Crump, TN, and is best seen by car. Sights include the Shiloh National Cemetery, and an overlook of the Tennessee River where Union reinforcement troops arrived by ship. The visitor center offers maps and shows a video about the battle. An audio guide to the 13-mile driving tour is available for purchase on CD or as a free downloadable app.
Ulysses S Grant, then a major general, led the Army of Tennessee in the bloody two-day battle, which took place among these lovely fields and forests. After a vicious Confederate assault on the first day that took Grant by surprise, his creative maneuver on the second day held Pittsburgh Landing, and turned the Confederates back. During the fight, more than 3500 soldiers died and nearly 24,000 were wounded. A relative unknown at the beginning of the war, Grant went on to lead the Union to victory and eventually became the 18th president of the United States.