DAY #5-MAY 22, 2023 - CORNITH, MS – COOKEVILLE, TN
268 MILES/1,202 TOTAL MILES
I spent the night at the Hampton Inn here in Corinth,
Mississippi. I had a very good night and even though this hotel is located
adjacent to U. S. Route 45, there was little traffic noise. The downside of
this hotel is the breakfast wasn’t very good so before checking out of the
Hotel I headed back over to the Cracker Barrel for Breakfast.
The big thing for today is going to be the driving tour of the Shiloh National Military Park. I don’t know how long I will be spending at Shiloh so haven’t made any accommodation for tonight. I am looking at either heading toward Columbia, Tennessee or going back and spending the night in Chattanooga.
Once I leave Corinth, and cross the state line into Tennessee, I am going to be entering McNairy County which is where Sheriff Buford Pusser took on the Dixie Mafia. Sheriff Pusser was the subject of the Movie Walking Tall.
On the way to Shiloh, I will be passing the spot where Sheriff Pusser died in a car crash and plan to make a quick stop there. Also, I plan on visiting the Pusser Family Grave sites at Adamsville Cemetery before driving over to Sheriff Pussers Home in Adamsville. The home is now preserved as a museum.
After breakfast, I used the digital check out on my phone and left the Hampton Inn and Headed north on U. S. Route 45. Today a new 4-lane highway has replaced the old two-lane road where many of the sites related to the Dixie Mafia once stood, including the Shamrock Motel that was run by Louise Hathcock.
It was at the Shamrock Motel that Sheriff Pusser shot and Killed Hathcock after she pulled a gun on him in the back room of the Motel Office. The Shamrock Motel has long since been demolished. There is nothing left but an overgrown lot.
After the killing of Hathcock, the members of the Dixie Mafia sought revenge and eventually lured Sheriff Pusser to a rural location on a Country Road off Route 45. When Sheriff Pusser left home in the early morning hours his wife Pauline accompanied him. As the Sheriff and his wife drove down the rural road, they were ambushed by a group of men in another car. Multiple shots were fired into Sheriff Pussers car injuring him and killing his wife.
Sheriff Pusser was traveling at a very high rate of speed
when lost control of the car and struck the embankment. He was ejected from the
vehicle which caught fire. Sheriff Pusser’s daughter, Dwana who was 16-years
old at the time of the crash was traveling in a separate vehicle happened upon
the crash just minute after it occurred.
A few Days Later Sheriff Pusser was laid to rest beside his wife in the Adamsville Cemetery which is about 4-miles from the crash site.
After leaving the cemetery I drove through Adamsville on my way to what was the home of Sheriff Pusser and his wife. In the years following the sheriff’s death, the home was preserved as it was when Sheriff Pusser lived here. For many years Dwana Pusser promoted and operated the home as a museum.
Today the home is still operated as a museum and all of the furniture in the house is original and belonged to the Pussers. The home is Closed on Monday and Tuesday so with me being in town on a Monday I was not able to tour the home.
It should be noted that for many years the Corvette that Sheriff was driving when he died was on display at a museum in Pigeon Forge Tennessee. Tha Museum closed a few years back and the wrecked Corvette was returned to Adamsville. The wreckage is now being housed and is on display in the garage at Sheriff Pusser’s home and museum.
After stopping and taking a few photos of the exterior of the house and grounds, I wrapped up my visit to the Sites relating to Sheriff Pusser and continued my journey east toward Savannah.
It was just a short Drive into Savannah and headed south toward my next stop of the morning, The Shiloh National Military Park. Just before getting into Savannah, I turned south on Tennessee Route 22. A little over 6-miles later I arrived at the Battlefield Visitor’s Center.
Upon arrival, I found out that the Visitors Center and museum is closed for an extended period for renovations. I was able to pick up a driving tour map from one of the rangers, who was very nice and helpful. I can’t say the same for the employee in the bookstore/gift shop. It should be noted that employees of the bookstore are NOT employees of the National Park Service but rather employees of a private company licensed to do business with the National Park Service.
The employee of the bookstore was not friendly at all and was surly and not welcoming. He was in no way interested in having any type of conversation with me or any of the other visitors. All the Park Rangers were extremely helpful and very friendly.
I spent the next three hours or so using the driving tour map to tour the Battlefield. There are about 20-stops on the driving tour including the Shiloh Church and Cemetery, Bloody Pond, The Confederate Burial Trenches, and Pittsburgh Landing on the Tennessee River.
The Shiloh Church that we see today is a new church and was not here during the battle. There is a reconstructed replica of the small log church that was here during the battle and from which the battlefield takes it’s name.
There is a cemetery adjacent to the church where we find the grave of Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton. Governor Blantons and his administration was so scandal plagued that Governor Elect Lamar Alexander was actually sworn in three days early to prevent Blanton from using his power as governor to pardon people who were convicted of violent crimes that were connected to family and friends.
While I was walking around the Shiloh church, I noticed the area was covered with ant hills. No matter how hard I tried to steer clear of them the little devils end up getting to me and bit me several times on my ankles. Because of these little pest, I cut my visit to the Church and Cemetery short and continued my tour.
Like most Civil War Battlefields, the landscape is dotted by monuments and memorials. Many of these monuments mark the position of various troops. While others are state memorial that have been place here by states on both sides in memory of those who fought and died here.
There are several mortuary monuments that depict an inverted cannon barrel surrounded by stacked cannon balls. These mortuary monuments mark the location where a high-ranking officer died. There are 5 of these mortuary monuments on the Shiloh Battlefield
That afternoon, Johnston ordered his reserves to go into action and advance on the right flank to drive a wedge between the Federal troops and their base of supplies at Pittsburg Landing. He also hoped to make it impossible for reinforcements to come to Grant's assistance from across the river. While personally directing his reserves, he was struck behind the right knee by a Minnie ball, which cut the large artery.
At the time General Johnston was struck, he was sitting on his horse named "Fireeater." He was taken to the ravine about 100 yards south of this monument by his staff members. There he died from loss of blood a few minutes later, ironically with an unused tourniquet in his pocket. Johnston was the highest-ranking officer killed in combat during the Civil War and remains the highest ranking American military officer ever to be killed in action. After his death, command of the Confederate army passed to General P.G.T. Beauregard.
The Johnston Mortuary Monument is one of five on
the Shiloh battlefield that were erected in 1902 by the United States
government to pay tribute to and mark the spot where high ranking
officers were killed in the Battle of Shiloh. At each corner of the concrete
base is a pyramid of 8" shells and in the center is a cannon barrel mounted
vertically bearing a bronze plaque with the inscription detailing the name and
rank of the person who died here.
One of the more legendary stops on the Battlefield is Bloody Pond, which is located near the Peach Orchard. The area around the Pond was the scene of some very heavy fighting on both days of the Battle. Legend has it that soldiers from both sides used the pond to wash and clean the wounds of the injured. So many soldiers used the pond for this that legend has it that it turns blood red. Hence the name Bloody Pond. Some of the rangers say that while it is a good story, they doubt that the water actually turned red.
When you are doing the driving tour, keep in mind that you
will be driving in basically a figure 8. So, pay attention to the Tour signs of
you will end up touring the same things twice.
From Bloody Pond I followed the tour route and eventually ended up at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. Now another thing that you should keep in mind when touring any Civil War Battlefield, you should pay attention to the names because each side used a different method to name battle sites.
Union forces frequently named battles for bodies of water or other natural features that were prominent on or near the battlefield, So, Union Force referred to this as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing. Confederates on the other hand most often used the name of the nearest town or artificial landmark. The landmark associated with this battle was the Shiloh Church, so the battle was named Shiloh.
In the years before the Civil War many families settled on the west side of the river and supplies would arrive by boat and be unloaded at the Landing. During the Civil War the Landing was used as a supply site for mostly the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
After finishing up at Pittsburg Landing, I was going to ride back up to the top of the hill and visit the National Cemetery. However, there was some type of private ceremony going on and the rangers ask that we wait until it ended.
The ranger said that the wait would be about 45 minutes. I chose not to wait and decided to end my visit and start my trek back east. Before leaving the parking lot at the visitor’s center, I need to decide as to which way I am going to head. Did I want to do the 100-miles to Columbia, Tennessee or the 200 miles to Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Basically, it was a no brainer, so I hit the road and headed toward Columbia. It was about 12:30 p.m. when I pulled out of the Visitor’s Center Parking Lot and made my way through Savannah and started the trek toward Columbia.
The drive to Columbia was uneventful and I got to town a few minutes before 3 p.m. Now, Columbia is the site of the only remaining home of President James K. Polk. While here I want to Visit and tour the home. But upon arrival I found that it was closed so I struck out again.
Columbia was also the home of NASCAR Driver Clifton “Coo Coo” Marlin. So, I did a quick Find-A-Grave Search and found that he was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery which is only a couple of miles away.
The GPS Coordinates were accurate and soon after arriving I quickly found his gave. It took me about 30-minutes record enough footage that I will use for a 6–8-minute YouTube Video.
I decided to try for Cookeville and did a quick Hotel search and found that both the Hampton and Holiday Inns had really high rates. The Choice Hotel on the other hand had lower rates and decided to use some of my more than 200,000 point for a free night. I booked a room at the Comfort Suites for 12, 000 points. This should have been a red flag, but I chose to ignore it. More about that later.
Leaving Columbia, I made my way back to Interstate 65 and headed north toward Interstate 840 which will dump me out onto Interstate 40 several miles east of Nashville.
Once back on the Interstate the traffic was relatively light
and the drive was uneventful. I stopped at a new Love’s Travel Center on
Interstate 840 for coffee. A few minutes after leaving Love’s and continuing north
on Interstate 840, I arrived at Interstate 40 and headed east.
An hour or so later, I pulled into the Comfort Suites on Interstate Drive in Cookeville, Tennessee. There is a Comfort Suites and a separate Comfort Inn & Suites sharing the same parking lot. I initially went to the wrong one but was quickly directed to the Comfort Suites Next door.
The Correct hotel was old and worn. The lobby was small and really showed its age. The front desk clerk was a foreigner (looked like from the middle east) and could barely speak English. I had great difficulty understanding him.
But I got checked in and made my way to my room. As I exited the elevator, I noticed a trash can with some dirty towel in it sitting in the hallway. Not Good. I continued to my room and found it to be worn and dated also, there were stains on the carpet, and it appeared that the bed had been poorly made. I suspected that Housekeeping has not changed the bed from the previous guest. They had just remade it.
I returned to the front desk and expressed my concerns to the clerk who was having as much difficulty understanding me as I was him. Long story short, I was wasting my time with him and on the way to supper, I called the Choice Customer Service Line and Identified myself as a Choice Privileges Diamond Member.
I talked at length to the customer service representative who
basically informed me that this was a franchise hotel and that the only thing
they could do was call the hotel on my behalf to resolve my concerns.
While I was at supper, she called me back and informed me that the Hotel had agreed to change rooms. I told her that I wasn’t interested in staying at this hotel and requested that my 12,000 points be refunded. She again told me that she could not refund the point that I would have to mediate that myself with the franchisee.
I further stated to her that their advertising campaign where “if anything is wrong let’s us know and we will make it right,” is basically untrue. She advised that because the hotel where I was staying was owned by a individual franchisee, corporate intervention was limited.
Again, long story short, I ended up leaving the Comfort Suites and moving to the Hampton Inn paying almost $180. But the customer service was great and the room clean. I lost my 12,000 Choice Privileges points but a few days after I returned home, I received a voucher from Choice Hotel for a free night.
One thing that I confirmed with this incident was that Choice Corporate has very little influence over their franchisees. While the Corporate Customer Service representative that I spoke with was polite and professional, her hands were tied in her dealings with the franchisee. This is one of the main reasons that I am migrating away from using Choice Brands as my primary brand.
As I said before, over that Past few years the Customer
Service and cleanliness of Choice Brand of Hotels was steadily deteriorating. I
submitted a factual and blistering review of this Comfort Suites to Trip
Advisor, Google, Yelp and the Choice Review Site.
I think it is safe to say from here on out I will hasten my departure from the Choice Brand in favor of the Holiday Inn and Hilton Brands.
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