Visiting Chickamauga Battlefield: Need suggestions

OldSarge79

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Location
Pisgah Forest, North Carolina
A friend and I will be leaving tomorrow morning (Fri Dec 6) for the show in Franklin, but plan to visit Chickamauga on the way. I anticipate that we will only have perhaps 2 1/2 hours to see everything we can. Neither of us has been to Chickamauga before.

I know it's pretty short notice, but:

Is the movie at the visitor center worth taking a half hour out of our already limited time?

Are there any suggestions as how best to see as much of the battlefield in the time we will have, or is 2 1/2 hours sufficient?
I suspect that it isn't.

Thanks in advance.
 
A friend and I will be leaving tomorrow morning (Fri Dec 6) for the show in Franklin, but plan to visit Chickamauga on the way. I anticipate that we will only have perhaps 2 1/2 hours to see everything we can. Neither of us has been to Chickamauga before.

I know it's pretty short notice, but:

Is the movie at the visitor center worth taking a half hour out of our already limited time?

Are there any suggestions as how best to see as much of the battlefield in the time we will have, or is 2 1/2 hours sufficient?
I suspect that it isn't.

Thanks in advance.
Didn't see this yesterday. No way 2.5 hours is sufficient. As @ucvrelics said,hit the Visitor Center for sure. The Ranger there will probably be helpful with suggestions for the best use of the remaining time. I have been there for parts of 5 days and it wasn't sufficient. Let us know how your visit goes.
 
I've visited Chickamauga and agree that 2.5 hours is not enough time. But if that's all the time available, I would suggest doing the driving tour with the audio accompaniment which can be located on your phone's battlefield app. Your should be able to visit the major sites within that time, although it will require quick stops.
 
I was looking into perhaps visiting the Chickamauga Battlefield myself prior to the Shiloh gathering and it seems like you would want to dedicate no fewer than two days to the battlefield, three if you want to throw in Missionary Ridge. But that's of course if you do the walking tours.

The driving one still seems though to demand nothing less than a full day unless you wish to really curtail the experience.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, and due to the short time I gave before leaving, most unfortunately, were too late for me to read in advance.
We decided to save the movie till after we had toured the battlefield, and then, only if there was any time left. We did a very quick walk through the Fuller gun collection, then out to the battlefield itself. We used a combination of the map they provided and the phone tour, which was pretty good.
We found the locations of Wilder's stand and Thomas's stand as the most interesting, largely since they both afforded some of the best views of the land involved. Due to various patches of woods, which limited views, some of the sites were difficult to piece together in our minds, particularly the Confederate flanking attack on the first day.
Also, unfortunate, the tower which affords the best overall view, had been closed five days earlier, I think for the season.

Anyway, it was well worth the visit and we managed to get out just before they closed up and locked us in. Like some of you indicated, more time would have been nice.

Oh, and we never saw the movie.
Thanks again to all
 
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, and due to the short time I gave before leaving, most unfortunately, were too late for me to read in advance.
We decided to save the movie till after we had toured the battlefield, and then, only if there was any time left. We did a very quick walk through the Fuller gun collection, then out to the battlefield itself. We used a combination of the map they provided and the phone tour, which was pretty good.
We found the locations of Wilder's stand and Thomas's stand as the most interesting, largely since they both afforded some of the best views of the land involved. Due to various patches of woods, which limited views, some of the sites were difficult to piece together in our minds, particularly the Confederate flanking attack on the first day.
Also, unfortunate, the tower which affords the best overall view, had been closed five days earlier, I think for the season.

Anyway, it was well worth the visit and we managed to get out just before they closed up and locked us in. Like some of you indicated, more time would have been nice.

Oh, and we never saw the movie.
Thanks again to all
A short visit to Chickamauga is better than no visit at all. The good thing and bad thing about Chickamauga is that with the Lafayette Road running right through it, you can visit parts of the battlefield even when it's closed.
 
Get a copy of William Lee White's book Bushwacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chicamagua, September 18-19. Lee is a life long resident of the area who is a National Park Ranger at Chicamauga-Chattanooga National Battlefield. His book is a driving tour of the battle field. If there ever was a confused fur ball, it was Chickamauga. Before you go, be sure to call ahead & find out what the schedule of ranger led tours is. With any luck, Lee White himself will take you around the park. He is not only a walking encyclopedia of the events of the battle, he is also a terrific person to spend some time with.
Chattanooga is a fun place to visit, I know you are going to have a good time.
 
If there for a short time I'd concentrate on the second day and visit the Federal positions by the Kelly Farm, the area around the Brotherton Farm where Longstreet hit Wood and Snodgrass Hill.

Whoops, too late. But still good advice.
 
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