Fraley Field, Shiloh National Military Park

Markers:

The Battle Begins                                                                                        25th Missouri Infantry

Union Reconnaissance Patrol.  Here at 4:55 a.m. on April 6 [1862], the first shots of the battle were fired when Confederate pickets engaged a Union patrol from Prentiss’s division.  Fraley Field, where the Federals struck the Confederate line of battle is a short walk along the trail west of the tour stop.

– 2009 Shiloh National Military Park Brochure, Tour Stop 8.

Fraley Field.  The short trail west of this stop leads to Fraley Field where fighting commenced.  The battle began here at 4:55 am, April 6, when Confederate pickets engaged a patrol from Col. Everett Peabody’s brigade.

– 2010 Shiloh National Military Park Brochure, Tour Stop 7.