CWT Chickamauga 2018 Tour - the official thread

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Had planned to do this a coupla weeks ago but didn't have enough information to launch. Myself,members @lelliott19 @Drew and @War Horse have been kicking this around. Here's what we have for starters.

Tour dates: Friday,October 26,2018 - Sunday,October 28,2018.

Accomodations: Block of 20 rooms(14 Double Queen,6 Standard King) at the Hampton Inn Ringgold - Ft. Oglethorpe,GA for 3 nights,Thurs. night 10/25 - Saturday night 10/27/2018. Our room rate is $129 + tax/night. To make reservations do as follows:

  • Calling hotel at 706-935-4800 and asking for the CWT Chickamauga group block for 10/25 - 10/27/2018 OR
  • Visiting hotel website, selecting dates, enter special code CW8 under "Group Code"
Unused rooms in our block of 20 rooms will released from the block by the hotel after 5:00pm on 9/28/2018. If we meet the room block,the hotel will comp a meeting room for us where in-house presentations can be made and authors or vendors,if any,can set up to sell books or merchandise. If we don't meet the room block,a meeting room,if needed,will be subject to a negotiable $75/hour fee.

The address of the hotel is: 6875 Battlefield Parkway,Ringgold,GA 30736.

Hotel website: http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/ho...inn-ringgold-ft-oglethorpe-CHARGHX/index.html

Meals: Free Hot Breakfast is provided for guests of the hotel. The only planned group meal will be on Friday night. Details are posted below.

TOUR ITINERARY: Here is what we have so far:
CWT member @lelliott19 has secured a commitment from Norman Dasinger Jr to do a full day field presentation at Chickamauga on Saturday 10/27/2018. @lelliott19 can provide more information on that gentleman. CWT member James N. will be giving a field presentation on the Battle of Ringgold Gap on 11/27/1863, with 4 tour stops. That will be on Friday morning,10/26/2018. CWT member @uaskme will be giving a field presentation on Longstreet's Breakthrough on Sunday morning,10/28/2018.

There is still a half day session open on Friday afternoon,10/26/2018 for other CWT members who may wish to attend and guide a tour or do presentations such as a number of CWT members did at the CWT gatherings at Gettysburg in 2016 and 2017. If nobody wants to do that, Friday afternoon will be open for members to sightsee as they please.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Slight change in the Saturday tour subject and itinerary. Our Saturday guide/speaker is aware that James N. is covering Ringgold on Friday and also aware that we originally had a Saturday morning tour scheduled on Wilder's Brigade and Lilly's Battery.

FRIDAY TOUR ITINERARY

Ringgold Tour by James N. :

The tour will begin at 9am in Ringgold and will consist of 4 stops. The name and exact sequence of the stops will be announced later. The sites are known but the exact sequence is TBD. The tour should be over around 11:30am-noon. The next group activity on Friday is dinner. Details below.

FRIDAY EVENING DINNER

We have a reservation for 25-35 people on Friday night at 8pm at the Farm To Fork restaurant in Ringgold. The more I thought about it,the more I liked the idea of a Friday night group gathering. Saturday's schedule is gonna be kinda regimented and grueling. A little more informality on Saturday night at a local watering hole sounded better. We will be ordering off the menu Friday night and they do serve alcohol for those interested. Website is: https://farmtoforkga.com/


SATURDAY TOUR ITINERARY:

We will begin the day at Lafayette, GA at 8:00am and see Gordon Hall and the Civil War Park surrounding it. Next, we visit the battlefield of Davis Crossroads including a stop at Pigeon Hall and then we arrive at the city of Chickamauga with stops to include Gordon Lee Mansion, Lee and Gordon's Mill and Crawfish Springs. Including travel this part of the tour will take 2 1/2 hours- with a bathroom break

Stop #2 - Reeds Bridge and Jay's Mill - One stop at each of these sites. Reeds Bridge took place 9/18/63 and involved US Cavalry defending the crossing of Chickamauga from CS forces commanded by JB Hood. Jays Mill began the third deadliest day of the CW 9/19/63. NB Forrest began the battle of Chickamauga as he attacked Thomas Corps. Tour time 1 hr

LUNCH,11:30am - 1:00pm

Stop #3 Viniard Field/Wilder/Lilly - On 9/19/63 vicious assaults and counter assaults at the southern end of the Chickamauga battlefield were made across the Lafayette Rd. JB Hood of Longstreets First Corps directed CS troops against multiple commands of Rosecrans US Army including Wilder's Lightening Brigade and future revolutionary pharmacist Eli Lilly and his IN Battery. 1 hr

bathroom break at visitors center - if needed

Stop #4 - Winfrey Field - Two assaults made by CS soldiers on the 19th by first Walthall and later -at night - Cleburne. A unique stop on the battlefield where little movement in the days previous opposing lines was made but casualties were added to this brutal first day of the battle of Chickamauga - 45 min

bathroom break - will not have another chance for one the remainder of the day

Stop #5 - Horseshoe Ridge/Snodgrass House - The battle ended in the afternoon of 9/20/63 on a series of five small hills on the northern portion of the battlefield west of the Lafayette Rd. US Gen Thomas organized a mix of Federal defenders in order to allow the army to retreat into Chattanooga. We will visit numerous sites associates with the CS assaults and US defense of these hills. 2 1/2 hrs

SUNDAY TOUR ITINERARY



Longstreet's Breakthrough tour by @uaskme :

It will begin at 8am and should take no more than 3 hours. "If we Park at the Brotherton Cabin. We could do the Break Thru. Go across the Road where Longstreet Formed up. Go back to the west side where the Federal Line is. Discuss the Faithful Order of Woods. Progress back to the Dyer Field. South end of the field is where Rosecrans HDQ is and Lytle Hill. North Side of Dyer Road is the other side of the Break Thru, to the South Carolina Monument, approach to Snodgrass Hill. Do Harkers movement against Robertsons Texans and Hoods wounding. The West side of Dyer field was Rosecrans and most of the Right Wings escape. The Dry Valley Road is where most of that happened. Brotherton is also where A P Stewart broke thru on the 19th. He actually got to the Dyer Field. That never gets talked about.
Probably want to see Thomas’s approach to the Kelly Field on the morning of the 19th. That is actually just north of the Dyer Field on the west side of The Lafayette Road. All of that can be done without moving the cars.

Battlefield Road which is just east of the Kelly Field. Is where Thomas’s Line was on the 20th. Breckinridge was on the Confederate Right. He flanked the Federal left on the 20th and caused the movement of Wood."

Other thoughts: In planning this event,I kept going back to the spirit in which @War Horse created this event in 2016. It is a friendly gathering of CWT members at a CW battlefield. The goal is to keep it simple and fun. This is not a business transaction with a professional tour organization. The plan is no tour buses. We don't have any costs budgeted at this time either. Edited 10/3/2018 to add: As of 10/3 we have 26 known members and guests and one non-member guide committed to attending,for a total of 27 attendees. We have ordered special lanyards and are preparing custom name badges for the attendees. We have a half-dozen spares for late commiters and walk-ins. Member @lelliott19 is preparing welcome bags for attendees. The countdown has begun.

Ringgold itself is a pretty historic CW town and we wanted a suitable hotel as close to the Chickamauga battlefield as we could get. There is plenty to do in nearby Chattanooga and Atlanta Campaign sites too for early arrivers and/or late departers.


I'm sure I'm leaving something out but there it is. The ball is rolling. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. I'm totally new at this and learning on the fly. :D

Edited to add: No trip to Chickamauga is complete without a visit to the Visitor Center. It is one of the best among the NPS CW Visitor Centers.
 
Had planned to do this a coupla weeks ago but didn't have enough information to launch. Myself,members @lelliott19 @Drew and @War Horse have been kicking this around. Here's what we have for starters.

Tour dates: Friday,October 26,2018 - Sunday,October 28,2018.

Accomodations: Block of 20 rooms(14 Double Queen,6 Standard King) at the Hampton Inn Ringgold - Ft. Oglethorpe,GA for 3 nights,Thurs. night 10/25 - Saturday night 10/27/2018. Our room rate is $129 + tax/night. Attendees must call 706-935-4800 to make your reservations and tell them you are with the group CWT Chickamauga 2016. Online reservations will not receive the group rate or be credited to the room block. Please call the hotel to make your reservations. Unsused rooms in our block of 20 rooms will released from the block by the hotel after 5:00pm on 9/25/2018. If we meet the room block,the hotel will comp a meeting room for us where in-house presentations can be made and authors or vendors,if any,can set up to sell books or merchandise. If we don't meet the room block,a meeting room,if needed,will be subject to a negotiable $75/hour fee.

The address of the hotel is: 6875 Battlefield Parkway,Ringgold,GA 30736.

Hotel website: http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/ho...inn-ringgold-ft-oglethorpe-CHARGHX/index.html

Meals: Free Hot Breakfast is provided for guests of the hotel. No other plans for meals have been made yet. stay tuned for updates.

Tour Itinerary: Here is what we have so far. CWT member @novushomus will be giving a field presentation on Longstreet's Breakthrough on Sunday morning 10/28/2018. @lelliott19 has secured a commitment from Norman Dasinger Jr to do a full day field presentation on Longstreet at Chickamauga on Saturday 10/27/2018. @lelliott19 can provide more information on that gentleman. We are hoping to only need him for a half day.

We are leaving at least 3 half day or less sessions open for other CWT members who may wish to attention and guide a tour or do presentations such as a number of CWT members did at the CWT gatherings at Gettysburg in 2016 and 2017. If any CWT members are knowledgeable George Thomas at Chickamauga fans,it would be a great place to showcase your knowledge and share it with CWT members. Gen. Hood's wounding would be a good topic. That is a great place on the battlefield. I personally would love a guided tour/presentation on Cleburne's night attack. Anyway time slots are open if any CWT members wanna showcase their knowledge of Chickamauga.

Other thoughts: In planning this event,I kept going back to the spirit in which @War Horse created this event in 2016. It is a friendly gathering of CWT members at a CW battlefield. The goal is to keep it simple and fun. This is not a business transaction with a professional tour organization. The plan is no tour buses this time unless we are overwhelmed with attendance and need one. We don't have any costs budgeted at this time. If attendance is gonna be big and a tour bus is needed or if attendees collectively want a professional guide,we may need to come up with some set registration fee for attendees so inclined. As the date of the event draws near and attendance is known,we may need to buy name tags or lanyards or folders for maps or itineraries or such and a per attendee fee may be asked. An accounting of any such costs will be provided.

Ringgold itself is a pretty historic CW town and we wanted a suitable hotel as close to the Chickamauga battlefield as we could get. There is plenty to do in nearby Chattanooga too for early arrivers and/or late departers.


I'm sure I'm leaving something out but there it is. The ball is rolling. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. I'm totally new at this and learning on the fly. :D
And doing very well, may I add.
 
My Grandparents lived in Rossville Ga 1/2 mile from the battlefield, my little brother and I used to spend endless hour trooping the battlefield. Ive spent many a weekend relic hunting there. (I will leave the detector at home) The first weekend trip I spent with my first wife was to Chickamauge. Between there and Chattanooga it will be a GREAT event and I will be there with bells on. I really think we will need a photo of us at Lookout Mountain with all the Yankees in the front. :D

lookout mt.jpg
 
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