The “Sunken Road” at Shiloh seen some of the most fierce fighting of the battle. This sunken road provided somewhat of a shelter, and defensive barrier, for the Union men who were trying to stop the Confederate advance that was happening after their surprise attack on that Sunday morning.

There is some debate as to if this road was in fact sunken. You can find many different accounts that tell both sides of the tale. While I don’t know for sure, since I wasn’t there, I do believe that even the slight depression in the road that is visible to the eye definitely helped the Union soldiers on that fateful day.

The road actually stretches from the Corinth-Pittsburgh Landing road, on the west side, to the Hamburg-Savannah Rd on the east. It snakes along a line behind the “Peach Orchard” that also provided some fierce fighting that first day, and this entire line became what is known as the “Hornet’s Nest”.

To be honest, the Sunken Road was my favorite part of the whole battlefield. It was where the 12th Michigan helped hold the Union line, along with the rest of General Prentiss’ men. They helped to hold off 11 different attacks that the Confederates made, and allowed for Grant to put together his last line of defense, that helped to defeat the Confederates the next day. This area of the battlefield is where the “meat” of the fighting took place, and to know that a unit from Niles, Michigan was actively involved and fighting from this location is amazing. I even got to stand right in the very spot where the 12th Michigan fought valiantly before finally being capture at 5:30pm the first day.

In the picture on the left you can see exactly where on the battlefield the 12th Michigan was located. You can also see, in the other pictures in this post, how the road actually looked where this particular unit fought. There is another picture in this post where I’m standing on a bridge. That bridge is just east of where the 12th Michigan fought and I have never experienced anything quite like I did standing there. The wind was very calm and as we came to this location it picked up quite a bit and had a certain feeling to it. It is hard for me to explain, but it was almost like the wind had a voice and was speaking to us. I can only attribute it to the number of men who perished in this location. I can still feel that wind when I look at these pictures. It is something I will never forget.

There are a few different “Sunken Roads” on Civil War battlefields, but none will ever come close to equalling that of the Sunken Road at Shiloh. A truly humbling and somber experience, yet one that everyone should be able to feel for themselves.

In future posts I will cover some the of 12th and 15th Michigan’s roles in the Shiloh battle in more detail. Stay tuned for those.

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