Shiloh Military Park hosts cannon firing demonstrations

SHILOH, Tenn. — Memorial Day weekend is full of fun activities at Shiloh National Military park. Visitors watched as the Shiloh cannon crew reenacted the duties of civil war ‘cannoneers’.

Organizers said they want to show people what soldiers would have done during a battle. There will be live cannon demonstrations happening all weekend long. One fun fact is there are 226 cannons in the park, and park rangers say all but 2 are actually from the Civil War.

“Out in the field we have what we call a 6 pound smooth bore bronze cannon, which they actually used during the battle here. The one we have here now is a reproduction,” demonstrator Jerry Jett said. “People never really see actually what goes on particularly when you’re firing a canon because you don’t see one lying around so we’re just demonstrating what the soldiers would’ve had to go through to fire a cannon back then.”

If you missed out on Saturday, there will be more canon firing Sunday, May 28th starting at 11 a.m.