Among the things to do at Shiloh is taking long hikes with goals on each hike to find certain things. Sort of like being a big scavenger hunt, which is a good way to keep the boys from thinking about hiking all those miles.
9 boys and 7 adults wound up going. Most of the boys are our group that just crossed over in to boyscouts. I know they were up to the task because we worked with them a lot and took several hikes in the last few months building up to it.
The drive up there was routine and not too interesting. We made it up there around noon time, just in time for lunch. After lunch we set up camp with didn't take a lot of time at all. After set up we went to the Shiloh Visitor Center and checked it out, and watched a movie which was a documentary on the battle at Shiloh. Very informative, very real.
Now, I must say at this point, I'm not a big Civil War buff like so many others. Main reason is being that I'm from Arizona and grew up mostly here in Alabama, I was jaded with my own prejudice against the Southern Civil War. It mattered not to me so I didn't study hard about it in school.
This trip was a big eye opener for me in more ways than one.
After the movie and walking around at Visitor Center for a bit, we returned to camp and started preparations for dinner. I made my 'world famous' chili, which turned out to be a success amongst the parents. The boys made tacos, and from what I understand it was quite good too. (The reasoning for the two different meals is that the boys are supposed to take care of themselves, and the parents are on our own. Worked for us!) After dinner we sat around the campfire taking and sharing stories and enjoying merriment had by all until bed time.
Saturday morning. Time to wake up, have breakfast and get ready for the big hike! The parents made their breakfast, the scouts had their breakfast, then we started prepping our packs and making ready to go.
We finally got on the march to Shiloh! 14 miles of hiking, finding answers to the questions in the packet, and seeing monuments and informative markers. We found the starting point, in which I found the geocache at the starting point, and the hike was on. We hiked maybe a half mile and was to the first marker, I believe it was a point of the beginning of the battle with the lead commander being named Hardee. Don't expect me to remember all the names, you got lucky this time!
So we got to the battle ground, a very wide and long open field, and the parents looked across the field as Adam and Frank led to the boys to the other side to get answers for the hunt.
As I watched the boys marching across the field, I took a picture and wrote a few words on a document on my phone:
I never was much for learning about the Civil War, being
from Arizona and growing up here in the South. But standing here on the
battlefields here at Shiloh Tennessee, looking across the field and imagining
the gun shots and cannon blasts coming across the field where I'm standing...it
outs a whole new perspective on things.
This was the first of many stops we encountered and had the chance to stop and gaze, to imagine what it would have been like to be in the war, to see the war. To see all these people fighting, the smoke filling the scene from the musket shots. It was like looking at the movie in real life, and it really went through to the soul.
We hiked for about 4 hours, completing a little over 7 miles just getting to the Visitor Center around 12 for lunch. We passed through the graveyard where we learned that of all the thousands of people buried there, only 2 were Confederate soldiers, and the only reason they were buried there is they were prisoners of war. We passed the spot where General Johnston, a major driving force in what success the Confederates had, died due to a gunshot wound to just behind his knee which went through an artery and he bled to death.
After lunch, we resumed the hike and came across many other monuments, some really beautiful and very large.
Then the rain set in. We hiked on. We would finish this hike. We hiked in the rain, and we found the answers to questions. It was getting a bit longer since we were now slugging through the rain but we continued. At one point, it started to thunder and lightning. BSA policies says we cannot be out in thunderstorms, so our fearless leader Adam started forming a plan. I helped him along with keeping a watch on the weather on my phone weather apps, and he contacted Mechell to come round up a couple parents to go back to camp and get vehicles so we could shuttle kids back to safety. We marched on to an easier point to meet up with the ride. By the time we met up with Mechell and the van, the thunder had stopped. We had a few weary scouts, but after a quick talk, I'm proud to say that all of our scouts and even all of our adults decided we would continue and finish this hike. With only a couple miles to go and the hopes of completing our quest in less than an hour we were determined. So we hiked on.
Our next big stopping point was at Shiloh Church. It's still a very old structure, and we decided to step in and look at it for a moment, and with hopes of getting out of the rain for a few moments. I love looking at old structures like this and how well they were put together with such primitive abilities around 200 years ago. Surprisingly, with all the gaps, open windows, holes in the floor, the inside of this church was dry and considerably warmer than outside. We piled in and everyone sat on the benches like we were getting ready for Sunday Sermon. One of the parents read from the book of Psalms out of the bible sitting on the pulpit. I don't remember the chapters, but it really seemed to fit with the day, the location, and the meaning of what we were doing. Afterwards, someone said something about singing a song. One of our boys from the back of the church started "Amazing Grace", and we all picked it up and started singing. It was something truly magical to me. An experience I hope to remember to my dying days. All those boys, all those adults, through different walks of life, different beliefs, came together and made such a joyous noise unto the Lord without being forced to do so, and it was joyous.
After the song stopped, several parents talked for a few minutes, driving home the points of our trip, just giving a few words of wisdom for us all to ponder as we walked and finished our trip. It was very touching all the way around.
We noticed, as we finished and walked out of the church, the rain and completely stopped. Whether it God smiling upon us for our little bit of worship, or just the storm passing over, that's for you to decide in your mind. Likewise, I know what I believe.
So, we finished the trip, just over a mile to go after the church stop, and we did pretty decent time. I know we were all pretty worn out after the hike which came out to be just a hair over 14 miles, and we did it in roughly 8 and a half hours, including the hour for lunch. Again, I'm very proud of our boys and what they accomplished. May it never be said they backed down from this challenge.
That night after a little rest, we settled in for dinner and more merriment. Shortly after the rain set in and it rained all night till around 3 or so in the morning. Amazingly, we woke at 6 am on Sunday morning in good spirits and broke down camp while trying our best to avoid puddles. Funny how that never seems to work out. So, soggy and stiff, but happy, we packed up and headed for home.
This was a great trip, and one I'm glad to have made. I definitely suggest checking out Shiloh if you ever get the chance.
So, from Hammer to you,
Thank you drive through.
