Chickamauga & Chattanooga

Our next stop was the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Fort Orglethorpe, Georgia. This area was the site of a series of Civil War battles, and was the nation's first Military Park, established in 1890. We first tried to visit the Tennessee portion, but discovered it was on the side of Lookout Mountain, and decided against trying to get our RV to it. We arrived at the Chickamauga Visitor Center in the late afternoon (we also lost an hour due to crossing into the Eastern time zone), and commenced working on the Junior Ranger program.

The visitor center at the Chickamauga Battlefield was very nice, except their multi-media presentation wasn't working. They had several very nice exhibits, including an electronic map that showed the movements of the two armies during the battle and a collection of Civil War era guns. To complete the Junior Ranger program, the kids had to look over the various exhibits to find the answers to several activities, plus drive the battlefield. It was nicely put together. A visitor could easily spend a full day checking out both battlesites.

Like Gettysburg, the Chickamauga Battlefield contains many monuments to the men who fought there. Above is the 85' Wilder Brigade monument. Chickamauga was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. We completed the Junior Ranger program just before 5 pm eastern, then headed south towards Atlanta, Georgia, stopping in the town of Calhoun for the night.