Two days at Shiloh cost more than every previous American war put together

Shiloh preserves the sites of the most epic struggle in the Western Theater of
the Civil War. Nearly 110,000 American troops met here, and the result was
23,746 casualties — more than in all of America's previous wars combined.

That comparison is the fact to hold on to. The Revolution, the War of 1812,
the Mexican–American War and every other American conflict before 1862 had
together cost fewer casualties than these two days did. It is the moment the
country's idea of what this war would be stopped being plausible.

Two battlefields, two states

The park covers both Shiloh and Corinth — Tennessee and Mississippi — and
visiting one without the other leaves the story incomplete. Corinth was the
railway junction that made Shiloh worth fighting for; Shiloh is where the
fighting happened.

Getting there

The park is 110 miles from Memphis airport and 150 from Nashville.

From the west (Memphis): Highway 72 East to Corinth, Mississippi. From
the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, Highway 22 North to the Shiloh
battlefield.

From the north-east (Nashville): I-40 West to the Parker's Crossroads
exit, then Highway 22 South to Shiloh, continuing on Highway 22 South to the
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center.

Either route runs through both sites in sequence, which is the order to see
them in.

The weather

*Location: National Military Park, Tennessee and Mississippi. Source: U.S.
National Park Service.*