Chickamauga

Just south of Chattanooga right across the Georgia border lies the acreage of the Chickamauga Civil War Battlefield. Serenely quiet, the scene of the second bloodiest day of the war with some 34,000 casualties in 2 days, was a stop I really wanted to make.  As was the protocol in memorializing the sacrifice, states who sent their sons to battle contributed monuments in the late 1800's.  These are scattered throughout the grounds and many, in fact depict the front lines of the various individual battles.  Interestingly the first two monuments are from Florida and Illinois.  

        

The Florida monument was a fitting structure, but, as one might expect...

...the Illinois stone was uninspiring.

    

Many states contributed monuments.

This would have been a typical scene for many of the battles: wooded forest area with no undergrowth.  Farmers let their livestock feed on the ground and they kept the weeds down.   

This was the front line on the second day. 

More generals and officers died at Chickamauga than any other single battle of the war.  This spot memorializes the spot where General Huls died at noon on the second day. 

This area was the scene of a surprise Confederate advance.  The small stone in the distance was a Union artillery company that was overrun.

Union headquarters was stationed here and they could oversee the ground below. 

Other pictures from a Chickamauga Battleground website:

Painting of the Chickamauga Battle.

This reproduction of the Brotherton Cabin is where the Confederates stormed across the field toward Union soldiers.  It later served as a hospital area.

Pictures of the Brotherton Cabin and the subsequent medical facilities after the battle.

"Chickamauga was by far the bloodiest battle west of the Appalachian Mountains. Of the 124,000 men engaged, 30% were listed as casualties,. The number killed, wounded, or reported missing in actions exceeded 37,000. The scope of the tragedy is difficult to comprehend.


Confederate dead were buried in mass graves on the battlefield, but were later moved. Many of the Union dead lay on the ground for three months until Union troops recaptured the area and remove the bodies to what would later become a National Cemetery in Chattanooga."

The ultimate winner of the two day affair was the Confederate Army over the Union Army of the Cumberland.  There were horrific stories of men with half of their jaws hanging off their faces with tongues lolling, of soldiers with both eyes shot out and dangling, of men with entrails hanging from them, and so on.  The victory was a hollow one, however, as the Union soldiers moved back to Chattanooga, which was the original objective.  More soldiers were lost in the 2 days of Chickamauga than the total of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 combined.

Now, down a few more miles to visit Andersonville Prison.