"Shoot him! Knock him off his horse!"

Late in the afternoon of April 8, 1862, the final chapter of the Battle of Shiloh was being written.  Charging far ahead of his troopers, Lt. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest found himself surrounded by Federal soldiers and flying bullets. One bullet entered his hip and lodged in his left side.  Remarkably, improbably, Forrest would escape this inescapable situation.

On the far side of the field, another towering figure of the Civil War, was also in danger of reaching an early end.  Watching his lines give way, William T. Sherman later claimed that "had [Forrest] not emptied his pistols as he passed the skirmish line, my career would have ended right there."

Sherman and Forrest, dead or captured in April 1862?  Imagine.

Now we have a chance to save 267 acres of the Fallen Timbers battlefield - the very heart of this historic battlefield.  Help us save this final, savage chapter at Shiloh.