Florida Spring Training 2018 - Day 60

We toured the Civil War battlefield of Chickamauga, TN today.  The battlefield is part of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Battlefield just south of the city of Chattanooga.  The park is managed by the National Park Service and was the first such park set up in the United States. It was authorized by Congress in 1890, dedicated in 1895 and has served since then as a model for most national military and historical parks.

We started our tour at the visitor's center and watched a 28 minute film about the battles in the area.  It was well done and very informative.  We then toured the visitor's center and got information to do a driving tour of the Chickamauga battleground.

The battle was fought in September 1863 between the Union Army of the Cumberland, under General William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army under General Braxton Bragg's Army of the Tennessee.  The key objective was control of Chattanooga, TN, a small city on the banks of the Tennessee River that cut through the Appalachian Mountains.  The city also was the convergence point for four major railroads.  If the Union could capture Chattanooga, it could cripple Confederate supply lines and provide a major departure point for invasion of the south towards Atlanta.

The Union forces originally occupied the city after Bragg was outmaneuvered by Rosecrans, forcing the Confederates to evacuate the city and the surrounding heights.  Rosecrans continued south but was surprised by Bragg's army that had regrouped.  The two armies then met south of town at Chickamauga. Between September 18-20, 1863, the two armies battered each other.  The South gained the advantage when a Union miscommunication on troop positioning left a huge gap in the Union lines. The Confederate troops stormed through the gap, causing panic and confusion forcing the Union forces to retreat back into Chattanooga.  The Confederates than occupied the surrounding heights and decided to put the city under siege until they surrendered. The battle for Chickamauga came at a terrible cost.  Union forces engaged over 58,000 troops and had 16,000 casualties with over 1,600 killed and 4800 captured or missing.  The Confederates engaged about 66,000 troops with 2,700 killed and 2,000 captured or missing.  The total wounded on both sides was over  26,000, many with horrible wounds that only had minimal, if any, primitive medical care.

The siege continued into November when the Union forces, now under U.S. Grant, were reinforced.  They attacked out from the city, driving the Confederates off Lookout Ridge and. after a decisive battle, captured Missionary Ridge.  The Confederates were then forced to retreat, opening up the route south for the Union Army.  This also transformed Chattanooga into a supply and communications base for General Sherman's upcoming invasion of the south.

After leaving the visitor's center, we did the driving tour of the battleground.  The grounds are well maintained with numerous monuments to the various units that fought there, both north and south.  It was a great tour with detailed descriptions of the various engagements and who was involved, and a fitting tribute to everyone who fought there.  We have visited a lot of Civil War battlefields, and Chickamauga is one of the best.

We are planning to take the Incline Railway up to the top of Lookout Mountain tomorrow and "look around" a little.  Missionary Ridge is fully developed and nothing there has been preserved except for a few roadside monuments.

Pictures- Day 60