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 9/25/2018. 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. CWT member
@richard will be giving a field presentation on Wilder's Brigade and Lilly's Battery at Alexander's Bridge and Viniard Field. That will be on Friday or Saturday,the exact day and time TBD.
We are leaving at least 2-3 half day or less sessions open 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 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.
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.