Grant's Last Line at Shiloh with Bjorn Skaptason

This hike is put on by The Shiloh Discussion Group every November. Come join us! Here's the link to the site.
  / shilo.  .

Late Afternoon:
The Last Line: Obligations of Brotherhood.
Time: 2:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Parking: Shiloh Visitor Center.
Distance: Approximately 4 miles.
Terrain: Difficult, with multiple crossings of deep ravines and streams.
On the afternoon of April 6, General Grant’s Army of the Tennessee reached the limit of their retreat, and the limit of their endurance. The limit of retreat was marked by the ridge connecting Pittsburg Landing with the crossing of Owl Creek. The limit of endurance was marked by the bloodstained footprints left by the survivors of the day’s fighting.
In 1873, veterans of U. S. Grant’s Army of the Tennessee met in Des Moines, Iowa to commemorate their service. There they received a poignant request from a man in New Hampshire: Could the veterans help him locate the body of his brother, killed on the afternoon of April 6. Lieutenant John Thompson was killed during the defense of Grant’s last line, and buried on the field. His remains were later relocated to the Shiloh National Cemetery.
This program will tell the story of the defense of Grant’s last line from the point of General Lew Wallace’s long-anticipated arrival on the field to the bluff overlooking Pittsburg Landing. The program will also take visitors to the location of Lieutenant Thompson’s death and initial burial, and will then follow the journey of his remains to their final resting place with 3,800 other soldiers in the Shiloh National Cemetery.
Participants will learn about the attack and defense of Grant’s last line, about the burial of the dead, and about the long memory of veterans, families, and communities, as they spent the following decades coming to terms with the slaughter of Shiloh.
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