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
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