Cumberland Gap and Hoovers Gap

[richard]

Next week, the better half and I are headed to the Cumberland Gap. From there we will make a short stop at Lincoln Memorial University and take a look at what they have in there ever growing Mollus collection.

Our next stop will be a tour of Hoovers and Liberty Gap near Wartrace. Dr. M. Bradley will be conducting the tour.

The action at these gaps have long been over shadowed by Gettysburg and Vicksburg as they all three ended on the same day.

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by richard

Next week, the better half and I are headed to the Cumberland Gap. From there we will make a short stop at Lincoln Memorial University and take a look at what they have in there ever growing Mollus collection.

Our next stop will be a tour of Hoovers and Liberty Gap near Wartrace. Dr. M. Bradley will be conducting the tour.

The action at these gaps have long been over shadowed by Gettysburg and Vicksburg as they all three ended on the same day.

Here is a description from my great grandfather's CW diary on passing through the Cumberland Gap in 1863.

October 13th.
Reveille at sunrise. Marched at 7:30 AM. It rained off and on all day, soaking us thoroughly and making the roads slippery. The road for 6 or 7 miles was rocky, hilly, and mountainous. Crossing the mountains was weary tramping up and up over the slippery rocks and about taking our breath away at times. Made 13 miles and camped at the foot of Cumberland Gap at 2:30 PM. Cleared up for a little and gave us chance to dry our rubber blankets and make some beds of the tall weeds abounding nearby.

October 14th.
Up at sunrise. A bright clear morning the sun gleaming over the top of Cumberland Mountains gave us a grand view of them and of the Gap from the Kentucky side. Started at 8 AM marching over a rocky winding road so steep that frequent halts had to be made ere we reached the top. From this a splendid view burst upon us. The valleys, hills, and woodlands of Tennessee are stretching out before us. Jagged rocks were on every hand as we passed through the Gap, and one could not help wishing he could take a leisurely view of the scene. A stone has been set up in the gap marking the corner boundary of the three states of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee so that standing near it one can be as it were in three states at once. Descending from the Gap the road zigzags in a picturesque way so that as infantry, artillery and wagon trains wound their way down a stirring and novel scene was presented. Made 13 miles and camped at Tazewell, Tennessee.
http://www.civilwardiary.net/

[larry_cockerham]

I stopped in Tazewell to see a cousin just a couple of years ago, a sleepy little hill town with two-story skyscrapers. (The sky is low to the ground in that area.) The notion that an army with equipment could descend that hazardous slope from the gap is hard to grasp even today.