We did a side trip off the Natchez Trace Parkway today to Corinth and Shiloh to visit some battlefields. It was very interesting. Each time we go to a battlefield we get a much better appreciation for the battle and the importance of the battle to the overall outcome of the war (remember, the good guys lost.) At Shiloh we purchased a self guided tour CD which was great. Without some kind of expanded interpretive resources, you don't get much out of these sites. I think the thing to remember in this one is that Grant came very close to having his push up the Tennessee River blocked. General Buell arrived in the nick of time to salvage the situation for the Union forces. The battle at Corinth (about six months later) allowed the Union to maintain control of the key railroad crossing in that town and assure adequate logistical support for the eventual siege of Vicksburg in the following year. Anyway, when we were driving around the Shiloh battlefield we saw all these cars parked on the side so we stopped to see what was going on. There was a Bald Eagle nest in the tree and the two chicks were there eating some fish that the adults had brought in earlier in the day. It was fun to watch them.