Exploring the Battle of Chickamauga with Historical Miniature Wargaming

The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and Moccasin Bend has always been a trendsetter among National Parks, authorized on August 19, 1890 by President Benjamin Harrison almost sixteen years before the National Park Service was created. Today it continues to serve the country as a physical laboratory for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, helping modern officers study leadership, logistics, tactics, terrain analysis and decision-making. These “staff rides” provide educational, on-site analysis of the 1863 Civil War battle. U.S. Army Officers learn to apply historical lessons to contemporary military operations and now, so can YOU.

Audiences joined NPS Ranger Luke Dixon for “You Take Command: Wargaming the Battle of Chickamauga in Miniature,” an interactive, 3-hour, miniature wargame focusing on the Confederate attacks on the Union center on September 19, 1863. Historical miniature wargaming allows participants to act as commanders, recreating historic battles on a tabletop with dice, rulesets, and miniature figures with cloth and figures representing terrain elements. Combining strategic gameplay, artistic modeling, and historic facts, events, and people, this unique event will engage and educate participants, bringing this pivotal battle to life.

The Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863) was characterized by intense fighting, thick woods, and a chaotic accidental gap in the Union lines on the second day that led to a widespread retreat. The largest Confederate victory in the Western Theater, it was the second-deadliest battle after Gettysburg with over 34,000 combined casualties. Led by General Braxton Bragg, the Army of Tennessee forced Major General William Rosecrans’ Union Army of the Cumberland to Chattanooga where they were under siege until the arrival of Union reinforcements created a shift in leadership, opening the Gateway to the South.

Hosted at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center, participants took command of portions of the Federal and Confederate armies, making decisions and maneuvering military miniatures across a 3-dimensional tabletop battlefield. As they worked to overcome the challenges faced by commanders during the real battle in September 1863 spectators watched, mesmerized by the drama unfolding before them.

Participants were able to determine the outcome of this phase of the battle, taking on the roles of corps, division, and brigade commanders during the assaults of Benjamin Cheatham’s and A.P. Stewart’s Confederate divisions in and around the Brock, Brotherton, and Poe Fields on September 19, 1863.

Players worked together with easy-to-learn rules, coordinating desperate assaults and spirited defenses to achieve victory. Dice rolls and event cards determined the effects of combat, command and control amid the fog of war. This unique experience gave participants and spectators a view of the Battle of Chickamauga from a fresh perspective. For additional information, please contact ranger Luke Dixon at luke_dixon@nps.gov.