Kennesaw Mountain & Chickamauga ?

For a first time visit I would tour the visitor center than follow the driving tour through the park, which will take you to most of the important locations. At a minimum, two to three hours, although as others have said, you could spend days there.
Visitor Center is a must—it contains a huge collection of firearms in beautiful condition.
 
Well I changed my plans a little. Instead of staying near Road Atlanta on Sunday night I am staying at Fr. Ogelthorpe that evening instead. No need to go back to original hotel after Atlanta Historic Center visit on Sunday afternoon. This will allow more time Monday morning at Chickamauga and leaves a window of a couple hours on Sunday night to stop at Resaca.
Also it looks like I will be visiting your way again either next year or 2022. I love Indycar and it appears they are going to announce a downtown race in Nashville, if that happens I will be in town and if that happens you can be sure I will be making a second stop at the battlefield as well as Franklin and Silver Springs.
I know you are going to have a good time in Chattanooga. For what it is worth, it is physically impossible to hold a race downtown. There is a track at the fairgrounds in Nashville. There is a super speedway in Smyrna, 25 miles SE of Nashville.
 
I really enjoyed The Fuller gun collection in chickamauga.

EE610383-8B80-4EE7-93EF-148402F85B1B.jpeg


1DFACACC-5B0E-451A-A56B-1BBF56004767.jpeg


316A7189-2038-4808-AAD9-B2965851F468.jpeg
 
I just noticed that the Battle of Resaca Battlefield is located close to 1-75 not far from Chickamauga. September 7th is shaping up to be quite a day. Might have to skip it though if I am going to get to Lookout Mountain.
I just returned from Resaca. Battlefield involves a lot of walking the trails for which I was unprepared to do. Somewhat disappointed.
 
I just returned from Resaca. Battlefield involves a lot of walking the trails for which I was unprepared to do. Somewhat disappointed.

I was looking at it recently it didn’t look like it was that developed as a site. Is it a state park or national battlefield or neither ?
 
I know you are going to have a good time in Chattanooga. For what it is worth, it is physically impossible to hold a race downtown. There is a track at the fairgrounds in Nashville. There is a super speedway in Smyrna, 25 miles SE of Nashville.
I'll take your word on downtown Nashville racing. We had a race in Columbus back in the 80's and nobody thought that was possible. Roger Penske who owns the Indy Racing series is supposed to be in final negotiations with Nashville now. I am familiar with the Smyrna track and if I remember correctly Stones River is not far from there.
 
Chickamauga Visitors Center and Point Park on Lookout Mountain is still Closed. It hasn’t open since the beginning of COVID-19. all the rest of the Park is open. You can go to Cravens House. Anywhere on Missionary Ridge. All of the roads and trails are open at Chickamauga. Wilder Tower is closed.
 
I have been to both parks, but I confess that Chickamauga is my favorite. One of my great grandfather's fought there, and I believe it was his regiment's greatest day of the war, they held the line. My mother was a WWII Wac and went through basic at Fort Oglethorpe. I have friends there, and there is a little display to my mother in a museum at Oglethorpe. So I am partial to Chickamauga. Kennesaw is an interesting park and I enjoyed it very much. I also like Chattanooga quite a bit for various reasons. My great grandfather's regiment also had a very good day on Missionary Ridge.
 

Bit of information about the site from the Civil War Trust.
 
I'll take your word on downtown Nashville racing. We had a race in Columbus back in the 80's and nobody thought that was possible. Roger Penske who owns the Indy Racing series is supposed to be in final negotiations with Nashville now. I am familiar with the Smyrna track and if I remember correctly Stones River is not far from there.
Both the river & the battlefield are close and hand.
 
Chickamauga Visitors Center and Point Park on Lookout Mountain is still Closed. It hasn’t open since the beginning of COVID-19. all the rest of the Park is open. You can go to Cravens House. Anywhere on Missionary Ridge. All of the roads and trails are open at Chickamauga. Wilder Tower is closed.
Thank you very much.
 
I am a NPS living history volunteer & have spent a great deal of time at both Chickamauga-Chattanooga & Kennesaw. <www.nps.gov>kemo> is the link to Kennesaw. There are daily ranger & volunteer led tours. The museum at the Visitor Center is worth a look. You definitely want to go to the top of the mountain. The staff there are very friendly & knowledgable. It is not the easiest battlefield to wrap your head around, so make good use of the staff's knowledge.

The Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History is well worth a look. Excellent CW collection & steam engine relics you won't see anywhere else. 2829 Cherokee ST NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144 (770) 427-2117. <southernmuseum.org> The locomotive, The General is worth the trip on its own.

At Chickamauga/Chattanooga there are a host of possibilities. <www.nps.gov>chch> is a good place to start. What you do will depend on your interests. The battlefield can be just as confusing as the battle was. It is not uncommon to find Confederate & Union batteries within a few yards of one another, regimental markers from both sides almost seem to be scattered at random. It can be very difficult to unravel on your own.

To unravel the events, you can't do better than Lee White's Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chickamauga both the book & the audio version. It is a driving tour that is logically laid out & very informative. I am sure they have it at the Visitor Center bookstore & online. Lee is a NPS Ranger at the park & a lifelong resident. Nobody knows the ground like he does.

My favorite place to contemplate the Army of the Cumberland's attack on Missionary Ridge is from the large open balcony at Sugar's BBQ restaurant. <www.sugarsribs.com> It is an easy on easy off the interstate place on Missionary Ridge with a dramatic 180 degree view of Chattanooga, the river & the surrounding mountains. The BBQ is top notch, try the grilled okra, very good. Watching the sunset on that balcony while giving sore feet a break is as good as it gets.

For a literal birds eye view, Point Park atop Lookout Mountain has a view that is on a scale all its own. You will never think about the Tullahoma-Chickamauga-Chattanooga Campaign the same way again. All the blithe why didn't they do this or that questions & flippant dismissal of just how difficult that campaign was will melt away like ice on a hot rock. You will also be standing where U.S. Grant & just about every soldier in the army had his picture floated.

As I say, without knowing your particular interests it is hard to suggest a particular thing to do or see. One thing I do recommend no matter what you are looking for is to end your visit at the singe soldier grave that remains on Chickamauga Battlefield. After the grandiose monuments, regiments, batteries & sweeping battlefield maps, standing there in front of a stone marking the grave of one lonely man can be moving. The experience humanizes the awful events you have been contemplating all day long. It is a very appropriate way to end your visit.

If you are spending the night in Chattanooga, the Battleview Bed & Breakfast is a great place to stay. The house was the duplex Captain's quarters on the Fort Olgethorpe 2nd Cavalry parade ground. <www.battlefieldviewbedandbreakfast.com> The windows on the back of the building look directly onto the Chickamauga Visitor Center.

If there is something in particular that you are interested in, (the Moon Pie factory comes to mind) I might not know the answer, but probably know who does. Have a great trip, Rhea Cole
Thanks for the tips, staying in Fort Olgethorpe.
 
There is a great body of videos available for all the battles that have helped me out a lot. This is especially true with all the western theater battlefields I have visited this year. The rangers that appear to be the main speakers for videos of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Kennesaw Mountain have been great. Enjoyed the videos from National Battlefield Trust also. Also was to Shiloh and Corinth this year as well as Antietam.
 
Thanks again to everyone or all the great tips. Had wonderful visits to Kennesaw Mountain and Chickamauga. Even had time to make a stop at Resaca. Not much at Resaca but with the info given and a little imagination it is easy to picture the events that unfolded. Still can't believe Sherman ordered the attack up that hill. I also am thinking that the South came close to winning the war at Chickamauga since a more devastating defeat might have made it impossible to take Atlanta before the election. Does anyone else have any thoughts on that?

1599826249001.png
 
Thanks again to everyone or all the great tips. Had wonderful visits to Kennesaw Mountain and Chickamauga. Even had time to make a stop at Resaca. Not much at Resaca but with the info given and a little imagination it is easy to picture the events that unfolded. Still can't believe Sherman ordered the attack up that hill. I also am thinking that the South came close to winning the war at Chickamauga since a more devastating defeat might have made it impossible to take Atlanta before the election. Does anyone else have any thoughts on that?

View attachment 373345
Chickamauga was nothing but a tactical setback because Bragg did not take Chattanooga. He lost more men than Rosecrans did. Immediately after the battle there is a significant difference between the letters home. The AoT was in what amounted to mass despair. The AoC soldiers, despite the obvious danger of their situation, remarkably, were of a we’ll get ‘em next time’ tone.

On order for the AoT to follow up Chickamauga with an assault on Chattanooga there would have had to be a set of follow up orders in hand. In the dark after the close of fighting, Bragg had no way to find his commanders or issue orders to them. As was typical of Bragg’s generalship, he could only think one day at a time. He had at no time shown the executive ability to plan or execute campaign.

As events played out, nobody on the Confederate side was willing to take matters into their own hands & make a close pursuit of Rosecrans into Chattanooga. As soon as Thomas entered the fortifications of the city, Bragg’s army would have faced a very hard tactical nut to crack. There is no reason to believe Bragg could have discovered a magical way to overwhelm a fortified position by assault. We all know what happened when the AoNV gave it a go at Knoxville.

If, as history shows, even besieging the AoC was a formula for disaster, what could Bragg have done? Nothing would seem to be the only answer based on the historical facts. The only hope for victory would have lain with the AoC. It would have taken a breakdown in morale among the men or psychological disorder among the leadership. As events show, that was not going to happen.

Within 24 hours of receiving news of Chickamauga, Lincoln & Stanton had two Corps marching for the railhead for the transfer to Chattanooga. Absent Lincoln & Stanton & there was hope that the siege of Chattanooga would have succeeded. That scenario is of the intervention of space aliens end of the spectrum.

Given the realities on the ground, Bragg was incapable of conceiving a victorious attack on Chickamauga; the dog fight going on in the command structure would not have executed Bragg’s orders; events argue that the soldiers of the AoT were morally & physically incapable of carrying out a determined attack if ordered to do so. It is my opinion that there was no clear path to victory for AoT vs AoC.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top