On Sunday, January 12th at 3 P.M., the Franklin Civil War Round Table will present former Shiloh National Military Park Superintendent, Woody Harrell who will speak on “Shiloh: The Union Left, The First Day.”
Confederate success at Shiloh depended on pushing to the Tennessee River, then turning north to drive General Grant from Pittsburg Landing. In the early morning of April 6, 1862 only three regiments under Colonel David Stuart stood in their way. For over two hours this area north of Lick Creek saw some of the battle’s fiercest fighting.
Harrell served with the National Park Service (NPS) at Moore’s Creek National Military Park, Wright Brothers National Memorial, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the Gateway Arch in St Louis and the NPS National Training Center at the Grand Canyon. In addition to Shiloh, he served as Historian at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and Manassas National Battlefield.
Before retiring in 2012, Harrell oversaw Shiloh’s most ambitious land acquisition program in 80 years and was awarded the Civil War Trust’s National Park Service Preservationist of the Year in both 2002 and 2010. He was also instrumental in designing the award winning Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center. He has been named Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year.”
A North Carolinian, Harrell holds degrees in history and geography from Duke University and the University of North Carolina. He holds the NPS record for running across the Grand Canyon rim and has qualified for the Boston Marathon finishing among the top runners in 1975. In 2013 he completed his goal to visit all 401 of the national parks.