Civil War in Chattanooga and Chickamauga

As we have traveled across Tennessee, we have passed a few opportunities to study the Civil War as it was fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, & Alabama. But here in Chattanooga one cannot take in Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, Incline Railway, train museums, etc and not learn something about the Civil War battles and the people who led them.  The streets in Chattanooga are named after the many commanders of the Civil War.  North/South streets are named after the Union leaders and the East/West streets are named after the Confederate leaders. There is even a marker in our campground for one of the brigades.  We were told we were sleeping on Civil War soil.

Chattanooga was considered the “gateway” to the Confederacy due to four major railways converging here. President Lincoln felt it was as important for the Union to take over Chattanooga as it was Richmond, the capital of the South, thereby cutting off supply lines to the Confederacy.  The Confederates held Chattanooga until September 1863 when the Union Army pushed into the Valley. By Sept. 20th the Confederates had pushed back the Union assault and the Union held city lay under siege by the Confederates.  Then in November General Grant and reinforcements arrived to help open a supply line into the city.  Nov. 23, 24, & 25 saw continuous fights with both sides winning some and losing some, until the Union Army takes over Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga Creek and forces the Confederate troops to retreat into Georgia. Chattanooga is firmly in Union hands, setting the stage for General Sherman’s march into Atlanta in 1864.

Several hundred thousand men died in November 1863.  Thirty years after the war, in an effort to mend the divided south, Northerners proposed to establish this as a National Military Park to commemorate the fallen soldiers from both sides of the conflict.  1600 monuments, markers, cannons and story boards were erected where the battles had occurred. We drove along a very sobering and educational tour of the battlefield. 

We also enjoyed the Incline Railway up to the top of Lookout Mountain.  It is considered the steepest railway in the world at 72.7% grade. At the top is Point Park where we learned the most about the battles and could see not only the Chickamauga battle fields but the city itself. The park was built by the US Corps of Engineers thus they erected their symbolic gate at the entrance of the park.