Chickamauga/Chattanooga

In the last three weeks we have seen the major battlefields of the Civil War.  Some battles are easier to understand because the armies entrench or they fight from more or less stable lines.  Vicksburg and Gettysburg would be two examples.  Chickamauga was a battle that is harder to get a feel for because it surged back and forth without many stable landmarks.

I titled this post Chickamauga/Chattanooga because they were really the same battle but two months apart, in September and November, 1863.  Chickamauga was a decisive Confederate victory but did not force the Union to cede control of the river and rail center of Chattanooga.  However, Union General Rosecrans made such a mess of things that he was relieved and General Grant put in charge of the army outside of Chattanooga.  He re-established supply lines, got his men fed and rested and began planning for the final battle.

The Confedrates held Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain and those two were Grant's objective.  Union forces took both areas and so took Tennessee and the western Confederacy out of the war. More importantly, General Sherman now had a base to supply his drive to Atlanta and eventually, to Savannah.

A great view point on Lookout Mountain but a poor artillery position - fire the cannon and it would roll off the rocks and toward the camera.

Chattanooga from Lookout Mt.

A very nice KOA campground all decorated for Halloween.  The top picture must be the ghost of a rebel soldier looking for some M&Ms.