Shiloh and Unexpected Company

We are camped at Pickwick Landing, a State Park next to the Tennessee River. As soon as we arrived we met up with some folks from Missouri. They were a real laugh. Three couples, Orlo and Karen, Otis and Dot and Dennis and ?, oops I have forgotten the name, please forgive me when you read this. Orlo and Otis were retired teachers - enough said. When we rolled into the campround, which had 4 sites out of 48 occupied, we looked round and saw these people. I rolled the window down to say 'hi'. Orlo greeted us and asked if we would mind not using site 18 (next to them) as they had some friends who were yet to arrive, so of course I said I was very disappointed as all day I had been looking forward to staying on site 18 and it was very depressing that with an almost completely empty park that we couldn't pull in next to them. He responded by asking us if we would like to come down for a glass of wine at 5.00, so we did. We had a great time. These six people, and us, all talked at the same time, breaking into each others conversations. It was bedlam, liberally lubricated by several bottles of wine. WE LOVED IT. Wine time stretched into going to the local lodge for 'Crazy Chicken' night, all you could eat chicken for $7.99. We had a great evening, talking about everything from education, to politics, history, differences between Brits and Americans. Mostly humerous rather than serious (well I hope they were not being serious either). It was another example of the wonderful people that we have met on our travels - we have been very blessed.

Yesterday, we visited Shiloh. This is the place where one of the bloodiest of the Civil War battles took place. The park looked very similar to a number of other battlefields that we have visited. We watchd an interesting, but really old film of the battle. It is probably the only civil war documentary that pre-dates the civil war! Unfair, however it was made in 1956, and looks it.
On the one hand, I am not sure why we visit these sites as they usually promotes the same feelings about the pointlessness of war. That it is not glorious, as they would have us believe. That the events on the ground were the sharp end of machinations by politicians and industrial giants, which had very little to do with those great ideals that history has used to dim the carnage with.
On the other hand, my curiosity wants to know more about what happened and what drove these men. There are real stories of courage and honour on both sides that should be respected, remembered and passed on to the next generations.
I think that the thing that is different about the Civil War was that it was the first war that was extensively recorded. Not just newspapers, but journals, logs and letters. The opinion of the common man became available to all. Also the views of both sides are of equal validity.
Today Sally has not been so well and has stayed pretty much in bed, so I have been out and about shopping, getting the oil changed in the van and doing a stint at the launderette. Tomorrow we move on to the Natchez Trace Parkway proper!