Chickamauga & Chattanooga
National Military Park
About the Park
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park preserves the sites of the Battle of Chickamauga (Sep. 18-20, 1863) and the Battles for Chattanooga (Nov. 23-25, 1863).
Chickamauga Battlefield. Chickamauga is a traditional battlefield site in that it offers a visitor center/museum and an expansive battlefield. The battlefield has auto-tours available via CD or phone app, but there's no one way to see it. Between monuments, plaques and markers, the battlefield has over 700 commemorative features scattered throughout. The Wilder Brigade Monument tower, which is occasionally open for climbing, is the most notable feature.
Lookout Mountain Battlefield/Point Park. At the north end of Lookout Mountain, there's a small visitor center and Point Park, which commemorates the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Point Park has vistas of the city, a monument, informational plaques, and a small older museum at the northern tip.
Other sites. There are a handful of other monuments throughout the city of Chattanooga - at Orchard Knob and a few along Missionary Ridge. The Park also preserves the site of Signal Point, north of the city, which serves as an endpoint for the Cumberland Trail.
Other things to see:
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The Battles for Chattanooga Museum. Right next door to the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center, this privately-owned museum offers a large diorama of Chattanooga with a 30-minute audio-visual presentation of the Chattanooga Battles.
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The Incline Railway. You can drive up to Point Park (though parking is limited) or park at the bottom of the mountain and ride up the include railway. The station at the top is just a block from Point Park.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park NPS Site
Discussion Topics
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Both the Union and Confederacy failed to take a decisive victory at Chickamauga due to failures in communication. Why is clear communication especially important in battle? In what ways is clear communication important in our lives? What kinds of things happen when miscommunications occur?
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Chickamauga Battlefield is considered a "soldier's battlefield." It has no monuments to individual generals, but hundreds of monuments to the different battalions and brigades that fought on either side during the battle. Why do you think it was important to veterans and their descendants to have monuments to individual units?
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During the siege of Chattanooga, the Union's supply lines were cut off and many of the soldiers lived on a small daily ration of hardtack and some dried pork. What would it be like to live on that? Does thinking about that make you more grateful for the abundance of food we typically have now?
Maps
