Shiloh National Military Park to celebrate 122nd birthday

HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — Shiloh National Military Park on Tuesday will commemorate its 122 anniversary as a Federal Military Park.

Shiloh National Military Park’s first Commissioner Cornelius Cadle, left, and historian D.W. Reed, right, both veterans of the Battle of Shiloh. Photo credit: Collection of Shiloh National Military Park

The event will begin at 2 p.m. in the Shiloh Battlefield visitor center auditorium where visitors are invited to attend a presentation on the past and present of Shiloh Battlefield, according to a release from the National Park Service. The event is free and open to the public.

After the program, at 2:30 p.m., the Hardin County Visitors and Convention Bureau will present a cake to the park for visitors.

Shiloh National Military Park was established on Dec. 27, 1894. For years after the battle, only the Shiloh National Cemetery stood as a reminder of the two-day engagement, according to the release.

Veterans of the Battle of Shiloh, both North and South, reunited to establish a lasting memorial to their role in history, the release states.

The Shiloh National Military Park visitor center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The park’s bookstore is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the winter season.

For more information, contact the park visitor center at 731-689-5696, visit the park website at www.nps.gov/shil, or find the park on Facebook.