From: daggs@l42bb.jsc.nasa.gov (Clark)
Newsgroups: alt.war.civil.usa
Subject: Re: what to see in Chatanooga
Date: 4 Sep 92 13:13:09 GMT
Organization: Houston Civil War Roundtable

In article <BtxInL.Ey2@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> tbarnes@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
(thomas wrentmore barnes) writes:
>My family vacationed to Chatanooga when I was a kid and I remember being
>really impressed by the Lookout mountain battlefield. I believe that it
>is a state or national park and it was very close (some 15 years ago) to
>the way that it looked in after-battle pictures. The trees are about the
>same size as they were then and the hanging rock is still there.
>   When I was there it was rainy and misty, just the way that it was
>when the US forces stormed it.
>  
>   I have heard that the ridge to the south of Chatanooga, where
>Sherman/Thomas made their successful assult is now a subdivision ;-(,
>but that the lay of the land is such that you can still get a sense of
>what it must have looked like.
>   I have heard from a friend that it had the effect of allowing you to
>see everything below you, but nothing to the side of you. So in 1864 a
>CS infantryman standing on the ridge could have seen the entire US army
>but very few of his compatriots in line formation. My friend contended
>that this might have accounted for the CS collapse during the battle
>since the CS troops couldn't see their flank supporters.
>    The exhibit that shows you the battle in miniature (I forget the
>name, and I do not know if it is still there) is neat if you like
>miniatures and good "model RR" layouts, but probably missable if you
>know the course of the battles and don't care about little lead men.
>
>    The Chickamaugua Nat'l Battlefield is just south of Chatanooga and
>might be worth investigating. I've never been there myself.
>
>    I know of at least 2 books which have pictures and maps of civil war
>battlefields that have been designated "National Historic Sites" or
>State Parks. 
> 
>    Other things to look for are Big Shanty (which has changed its name
>to ????) where the railroad chase took place, Kennesaw mountain and the
>other gaps in the area. 
>
>    The whole area that Sherman and Johnson fought and maneuvered over
>is only about 100 miles long and do-able by car since it roughly
>paralells the roads from Chatanooga to Atlanta (suprise!). I'll bet that
>if you got some good maps, a few good books and wrote to the Tennessee
>and Georgia state tourist commissions you'd get a lot of info. If you
>don't know where to start ask your local librarian for help.
>
>Finally, I think that a lot of the sites of Hood's attacks around
>Atlanta have been built over. (In fact I know that Peach Tree Creek is
>now a subdivision :-( or very close to it.)
>
	One of the speakers at our roundtable last season was the park 
historian at Chattanooga for several years and described most of what
you describe about the state of the battlefield. He had a slide 
presentation which could have easily doubled as a sales pitch for
the subdivision except that he feels the same way about it as you 
or I. As to the mass rout of the Confederate center, our speaker
emphasized two things: Bragg had stupidly placed his lines in a
seeming effort to avoid using the military crest and Bragg went
on the defensive long before Grant effectively tripled the size of
the Union force. This had a horrendous effect on the AoT's morale.

Clark J. Daggs
1864 El Mar Ln.
Seabrook, Texas 77586
Newsgroups: alt.war.civil.usa