We both grew up naive about Civil Rights issues, knowing their seriousness but not appreciating how deep the attitudes of so many people were on the issues.  We started out on our precious venture leaving the Northwest and immediately started finding references to the Underground Railroad in Indiana with Levi Coffin and in Cincinnati with the Freedom Museum.  In Detroit we visited the Motown Museum and Ford Museum to learn about the struggles of blacks in a white world.  The themes were repeated everywhere we went, and as we moved south the history of slavery came to the forefront along with the Civil War.  Our education on Civil Rights was further expanded when we hit the deep south visiting museums and memorials in Atlanta, Birmingham and Tuskeegee.  When we arrived in Memphis we had learned that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel and wanted to visit the site.

The National Civil Rights Museum is connected to the motel and brought into amazing clarity the history of civil rights issues for blacks from first African slaves shipped to colonial America to the death of Martin Luther King Jr.  All the previous information we had learned about Civil Rights was laid out in an organized timeline of events displayed in charts, displays, videos that filled in all the gaps we had in our knowledge of the history of Civil Rights for Blacks in America.

Really a memorable experience to see the history of Black Civil Rights from first being slaves in our country to the present day situation, we were both moved.  Our travels around this nation have shown us the strength of the people of our great country.  They have also peeled back the veneer and shown us our weakness.  We believe all in our wonderful country must work hard to guarantee equality to all those whose Civil Rights are threatened!

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When you explore Tennessee with all the excitement for music at Nashville and Memphis, it is easy to miss a major Civil War Battlefield tucked in the rolling hills east of Memphis.    We decided to drive through the Shiloh NMP in our RV, the first time we had tried this, rather than finding a campground nearby and using our jeep.

The rig is decidedly not agile, but navigated all the roads well and only rarely rubbed on the tree branches hanging down 🙂

So getting back to the battlefield in April of 1862 (same time of year as we were visiting), the Union Army under Ulysses S. Grant traveled up the Tennessee River to a landing just north of Corinth, Mississippi, a key railroad junction.  Grant’s Army of 40,000 was camped near the small log church called the Shiloh Meeting House.  The trees were vibrant green in spring time beauty when General Johnston the Confederate Commander marched 44,000 troops  into the Union Army, seizing the initiative.

The Confederates hammered the Union lines all day, slowly backing the Union Army towards the river landing site.  When a particularly stubborn group of Union Soldiers in the “Hornet’s Nest” wouldn’t retreat, the Confederates massed their cannons to shred the Union defenders in the woods.

By nightfall General Grant and his worn army were defending the river landing site, pushed far back from their original positions.  Fortunately for the Yankees, General Buell landed several thousand fresh troops that night and the next day was a completely mirror image.  The Confederates were pushed back and back, finally retreating to Corinth.  In the following month the Union troops finally attacked Corinth and the result was a crippling blow to the Confederates communications and supplies on the western side of their new nation.  Because of this victory, General Grant was able to attack Vicksburg, another battlefield we visit later this trip 🙂

23,746 casualties from the two days of fighting at Shiloh seems insane, and it was, but it was also a clear sign of what the cost to both sides would be if this Civil War ever reached an end.   Now you drive the roads, read the markers of the troop positions, read the descriptions of the sequence of events at each sign in the quiet of a spring day with everything so pretty in the spring colors.   Can you hear the bugles?  Can you hear the roar of cannons or the splintering of trees as bullets send splinters all around you?  Can you hear the sobs of men dying after the battle has moved past them?   Both sides fought valiantly for their principles but the cost to America was tragic.

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Our first night in Nashville, TN was to see this lovely lady, Loretta Lynn.  A living legend for country music.  It was also her 85th birthday and they were celebrating it with family, lots of music and fun.   We had an added bonus because her sister, Crystal Gale who is a chart topping country artist was also in attendance and is behind her in the above photo.  I considered seeing her “a once in a lifetime chance” and it will always be most memorable.

Once again John and I visited  a Civil War cemetery.   History and graveyards are extremely fun and interesting for us and probably one of our favorite places to visit.   The below picture was of a graveyard directly across the street from the above pictured one.  I would say another thing John and I enjoy is a tree that has character and this one certainly had it.  The tree has been around long enough to push up gravestones have been around a couple hundred years.

Although we have no pictures of Franklin, TN where these cemeteries are we were enchanted by it.  It was small, clean and quaint. Friendly also as we found out when we talked at length to a gentleman who had just moved there from the Silicone Valley with his family.

John and I also blew Nashville up walking up and down the main avenue while listening to music coming out of every tavern, bar and pub there was.   I would have to say I had too much fun but that is a story for another time 🙂

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