Shiloh Nat. Military Park commemorates anniversary with a Boom!
SHILOH, Tenn. –Here comes the boom. One national military park is celebrating an important event in history.
Rangers, reenactors, and volunteers welcomed visitors to the Shiloh National Military Park to celebrate a special day in history.
“Today is the last day of our commemoration of the 160th anniversary of the bloody Battle of Shiloh and today we’re firing four cannons,” said Chris Mekow, Park Ranger Lead/Historic Supervisor, Shiloh National Military Park.
The event took place in Duncan Field where, on April 6, 1862, the Confederates established a large confederate battery on the fight and fired the first cannon towards the Union soldiers.
“We’re firing four, pretty neat with six-pounder field pieces, which were the most common gun used in this battle by both sides,” Mekow said.
Once the firing was over visitors were able to learn about each soldier’s job and the tools used to fire the cannon.
“We’re here giving demonstrations of the artillery used during the Civil War, especially here in the Battle of Shiloh and these types of cannons were the most common ones used here. So we’re giving demonstrations to the public of how that worked,” said Timothy Arnold, Ranger, Shiloh National Military Park.
Rangers and volunteers say reenactments like this are important, especially to show visitors the process of firing a cannon along with educating them on the history of the Battle of Shiloh.
“Every single time, I’ve been here for these anniversaries for about 38 years now, coming as a kid and it’s just, to me, one of the most beautiful things, just to be able to teach people about what really happened here,” Arnold said.
The next event to be held by Shiloh National Military Park is National Parks Day on April 16.
If you’d like to know more or be a volunteer for the day, you can contact the Shiloh National Military Park at (731) 689-5696.
