Taking Orchard Knob
Fought on November 23, 1863, the Battle of Orchard Knob, a 100-foot-high knoll, was the first of three engagements of Major General Ulysses S. Grant’s breakout from Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s siege of Chattanooga. Initially, the 634 Confederates of the 24th and 28th Alabama Infantry Regiments positioned on Orchard Knob thought the Union line of battle was for a parade for General Grant. Little did they know that this line, of 14,000 Union soldiers, was an exploratory push outward to see what General Bragg’s intentions were. Come learn how this little, but important first Battle of Chattanooga helped secure the town for the Union army for the remainder of the war. This 1-hour program will explore the fighting that took place on this important rise between Union occupied Chattanooga and Confederate occupied Missionary Ridge.
View more details about this program HERE
160th Anniversary of the Battle of Chattanooga
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 AT THIS LINK