Monday night we stayed at a Navy base near Memphis. (I know! NAVY! In Tennessee! Who woulda thought?!?) After hitting the commissary Tuesday morning to restock our shelves with groceries, we headed out for a short drive to Jackson, Tennessee.
Once we parked for the night, we did a walking tour of a nearby Civil War battlefield called The Battle of Parker's Crossroads.
As is typical in the South, there is a Civil War battlefield around nearly every corner. Nevertheless, we found it quite interesting.
General Forrest was the commanding officer for the Confederacy. (The boys thought it was cool that Forrest Gump was named after a REAL Civil War hero, not just a fictional one invented for the story!) He was winning for most of the battle on December 31,1862, completely surrounding the forces of Colonel Dunham, the Union officer. However, Union forces under Colonel Fuller arrived with reinforcements, causing the Union to ultimately win the battle.
The historical trail was long, so we walked only the first stop and the last stop, but we saw lots of Tennessee rolling fields and hills, as well as a log cabin and the burial site of 30 Union soldiers. (Their remains were re-interred at a national cemetery in later years.)
This was a nice example of local history.
