Join staff and volunteers of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park as we commemorate the 160th Anniversary of the Battles for Chattanooga with a series special programs taking place in and around the city on November 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, and 27.
By November 1863, months of besiegement culminated with a series of battles throughout the Chattanooga area. By the time the smoke cleared, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge were strewn with the wreckage of war, and the Confederate Army of Tennessee was in full retreat. It was, as one Confederate later wrote, the “Death Knell of the Confederacy.”
This year, the park will offer a variety of special programs marking the anniversaries of the battles, including historical hikes and tours on Moccasin Bend, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. On November 18-19, inside Point Park, living historians will conduct artillery demonstrations as they portray one of the Confederate artillery batteries located atop Lookout Mountain during the 1863 battle.
As a reminder, an entrance fee is charged at Point Park, atop Lookout Mountain. The fee is $10 per adult, ages 16 and older; children 15 and younger are admitted free of charge. Programs occurring in other areas are free.
A detailed schedule including program dates, times, and descriptions is available online HERE
November 18th: View on nps website
9:30 am - “A Vicious Little Battery:” The Union Artillery on Moccasin Bend during the Siege and Battles for Chattanooga
Location: The tour begins from a parking area along Moccasin Bend Road just north of the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute; look for the “Special Event” signs and the park ranger who will direct you into the parking area
Union artillery, firing from fortifications on the southernmost hills of Stringer’s Ridge on Moccasin Bend, helped keep the Confederates at bay during the Siege of Chattanooga and then assisted in prying the Confederates from Lookout Valley and Lookout Mountain during the Battles for Chattanooga. Many of the earthworks that protected those Union cannon survive. Join Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden for a two-hour walking tour through the earthen complex and learn how “a vicious little battery” could essentially dominate the looming bulk of Lookout Mountain to the south.
11 am – Come See Seven States!
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
The Phrase “come see seven states” has been a pull for tourists to visit Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, long before the first Rock City Barn. This special 1-hour program will follow the story behind tourism to Lookout Mountain from the Whiteside family to current day.
2 pm – Walking Tour of Point Park
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
Chattanooga was known as the “Gateway to the Confederacy” because of four converging railroads and the Tennessee River that flowed just outside the city. Between October and November, US and Confederate troops fought several engagements to determine the city’s fate. This 30–45-minute program will help put the struggle for Chattanooga into perspective.
2:15 pm – Engaging the Attention of the Enemy: Hooker’s Demonstration on Lookout Creek
Location: The tour will begin along Parker Lane off Brown’s Ferry Road just south of Interstate 24, Exit 175, in Lookout Valley/Tiftonia; look for the “Special Event” signs at and on Parker Lane
While John Geary’s “White Star” Division moved to sweep the western slope of Lookout Mountain, Union Major General Joseph Hooker directed other troops to move against the main Confederate positions guarding the road bridges over the creek at the mountain’s northwest base. Join National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden for a two-hour, 2 mile walk through part of the Lookout Mountain Battlefield that later became the perspective and foreground of artist James Walker’s mammoth painting, The Battle of Lookout Mountain.
4 pm – Come See Seven States!
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
The Phrase “come see seven states” has been a pull for tourists to visit Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, long before the first Rock City Barn. This special hour-long program will follow the story behind tourism to Lookout Mountain from the Whiteside family to current day.
Living History - “I Believe I did Some Good Firing” – Artillery During the Battle of Lookout Mountain
Location: Western Overlook – Inside Point Park
Program Times: 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, and 3:30 pm
On November 24, 1863, Captain Max Van Den Corput rolled a section (two cannon) of his Cherokee Artillery to the western edge of Lookout Mountain’s summit. From there, he tried to hinder the Union force assaulting the mountain, but due to the elevation and the dense fog that enshrouded Lookout, he was unable to inflict much damage on the rolling blue wave assailing the heights. This 30-minute program will explore the role artillery played in the “Battle Above the Clouds.”
November 19 View on nps website
11 am – Walking Tour of Point Park
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
Chattanooga was known as the “Gateway to the Confederacy” because of the converging railroads and the Tennessee River that flowed just outside the city. Between October and November, US and Confederate troops fought several engagements to determine the fate of the city. This 30–45-minute program will help put the struggle for Chattanooga into perspective.
2 pm – Walking Tour of Point Park
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
Chattanooga was known as the “Gateway to the Confederacy” because of the converging railroads and the Tennessee River that flowed just outside the city. Between October and November, US and Confederate troops fought several engagements to determine the fate of the city. This 30–45-minute program will help put the struggle for Chattanooga into perspective.
2:30 pm – Keystone State Soldiers Assault Tunnel Hill
Location: Sherman Reservation, Missionary Ridge, 2800 block of Lightfoot Mill Road
On the day before, they had helped provide the initial link between two wings of Ulysses S. Grant’s assaulting army. Now, on November 25, 1863, they are ordered forward no longer merely as a link but now as part of the attacking force. National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden will relate the role of those Pennsylvania soldiers in this two-hour, mile and a half up and down Tunnel Hill walking tour.
4 pm – Walking Tour of Point Park
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
Chattanooga was known as the “Gateway to the Confederacy” because of the converging railroads and the Tennessee River that flowed just outside the city. Between October and November, US and Confederate troops fought several engagements to determine the fate of the city. This 30–45-minute program will help put the struggle for Chattanooga into perspective.
Living History - “I Believe I did Some Good Firing” – Artillery During the Battle of Lookout Mountain
Location: Western Overlook – Inside Point Park
Program Times: 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm
On November 24, 1863, Captain Max Van Den Corput rolled a section (two cannon) of his Cherokee Artillery to the western edge of Lookout Mountain’s summit. From there, he tried to hinder the Union force assaulting the mountain, but due to the elevation and the dense fog that enshrouded Lookout, he was unable to inflict much damage on the rolling blue wave assailing the heights. This 30-minute program will explore the role artillery played in the “Battle Above the Clouds.”