Details for this program can be found at HERE
A detailed schedule of events surrounding the 160th Anniversary including program dates, times, and descriptions IS AVAILABLE ONLINE
9 am – The Battle of Lookout Mountain at Reflection Riding
Location: Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center, 400 Garden Road, Chattanooga, Tennessee
“What! Does the General expect us to fly?” That was the response of some Union soldiers when told early on November 24, 1863, that they would be attacking the Confederates on Lookout Mountain that day. The mountain’s seemingly indomitable height made the idea of such an attack to be almost as impossible as that of human flight. But their commander, Major General Joseph Hooker had taken the measure of his enemy in gray and devised a plan by which to wrest control of the mountain from the Confederates. Today, Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center protects ground where key parts of Hooker’s plan unfolded. Join National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden for a guided 2 ½ mile, 2 ½ hour hike across Reflection Riding to learn about those key parts of the “Battle Above the Clouds,” a time when the peace and solitude of Reflection Riding was disturbed by fighting that became part of one of the most important campaigns of the Civil War. Participants are asked to keep in mind that the hiking pace between historical points will be approximately 2 ½ to 3 miles per hour.
Note: Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center is waiving their normal admission fee for participants to this program.
11 am – The Battle of Lookout Mountain
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
On November 24, 1863, US soldiers assailed Lookout Mountain from the west and drive Confederates around the mountain’s bench, beyond Cravens House, in what became famously known as “The Battle Above the Clouds.” This 30-45 minute program will provide an overview for this battle fought among the foggy and rocky slopes of Lookout Mountain.
FEE: Fees only apply to programs being conducting inside Point Park. Entrance to Point Park, on Lookout Mountain, is $10 per adult, ages 16 and older; children ages 15 and younger are free.
2 pm - Geary’s White Stars Sweep the Cravens Plateau
Location: This program will begin at the Cravens House on the Lookout Mountain Battlefield
For over two miles they had struggled around boulders and through draws and ravines on the wet, forested western slope of Lookout Mountain. Now as they neared the northern point of the mountain, they struck the main Confederate defenses. In this two-hour, two-mile round-trip walking tour, National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden will examine what became the climax of the Battle of Lookout Mountain as the men of John White Geary’s Second Division of the Twelfth Corps swept across Robert Cravens' “Alta Vista” farm, securing the northern tip of Lookout Mountain for the Union cause.
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.