Shiloh National Military Park is administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. A superintendent, whose address is Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., is in immediate charge.
The Park and Related Areas
Shiloh National Military Park, containing about 3,730 acres of Federal land, was established by act of Congress in 1894. At the time of its establishment only Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Ga.-Tenn., had been dedicated in memory of the western campaigns of the War Between the States. In subsequent years other national military parks dealing with the Civil War in the West have been established. Those most closely related to Shiloh are Vicksburg National Military Park, Miss., and Stones River and Fort Donelson National Military Parks, Tenn.
Visitor Facilities
An exhibit room and library are located in the administration building, situated near Pittsburg Landing. They may be visited by the public every day from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Here are to be found interesting relics, books, and maps relating to the Battle of Shiloh and the Civil War. Free literature concerning this area may also be secured at park headquarters. Orientation and historical talks are given daily by members of the park staff. Free guide service is usually available. Special service is provided for groups and organizations if arrangements are made in advance with the superintendent.
Administration building.
Shiloh Inspires Writers
For the first two or three decades following the Battle of Shiloh many literary men, following the dictates of popular demand, based their compositions, both prose and poetry, upon events of that bloody battle. Since Shiloh was significant for the bravery of the young untrained men of the North and South alike, writers frequently wrote about the young and otherwise undistinguished soldiers rather than the time-worn theme of the brave and gallant leaders. The drummer boy, often a mere lad who had run away from home to seek adventure in the ranks, became the subject of some of the most popular literature of the day. Many of these productions were based upon incidents which actually happened during the engagement, but those destined to become most famous were drawn largely from the imaginative minds of the authors.
