Civil War Sites

I'm going to my last two Civil War sites - at least for a long time. How sad. I'm not as into it as some people are. There are a bunch of magazines just devoted to the Civil War. Some people do the whole dressing up thing and recreating battles. I'm not that into it. At least not yet. It was the best war there is to be into, though. It all happened in the U.S. The sides were evenly matched, although in different ways. There was enough technology to make things interesting, but not too much. Its tough to visit the Battle of Britain and Midway which were essentially an air battles. Also, if the technology is too good it make the battle kind of one-sided (e.g., Hiroshima). So, if you're shopping around for a war to get into, consider the Civil War.

Fort Donelson and Shiloh both happened in Tennessee. Virginia had the most Civil War battles, and Tennessee is second. I could have spent longer there, but I did the driving tour and that was good. Grant had a habit of having getting beat real bad on Day 1 and then coming back and winning Day 2. Both these battles were like that. I never know all the details like some do "This is where the Indiana 21st met the flank of the Mississippi 3rd regiment", but I know how all the battles basically went and its fun to see what the terrain actually looked like.

Ft. Donelson has where Northern boats sailed up the Tennessee to attack the fort. I've seen pictures of that a lot, but it was much cooler in person. Shiloh visitor center is kind of like Gettysburg -  a bit too touristy and too crowded. They're the Disneyland and Disneyworld of the Civil War. There was a 45 minute video of the battle. That's too long, but I slept through Day 2 of the battle, so it came out about right. They had the drum that was used by a 14 year old drummer named John. I can remember a Disney show about Johnny Shiloh, so that was fun. I still remember the song. Technically I remember the tune and the first 4 words, "Johnny Shiloh, Johnny Shiloh, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la."

I've seen some, but not all, of the Virginia battles. I think some day I'll get one of those extended stay motels for a week and spend the time visiting them. I know what your thinking. I'm excited, too.