Wanderers in Wonder

The second bloodiest battle of the Civil War, after Gettysburg, Chickamauga (18 – 20 September 1863) might have been a bigger turning point of the War than Gettysburg. The South carried the field at Chickamauga but they did not destroy the Union Army of the West. The tables would be turned two months later when Grant, now the Commander of the Army of the West, routed the Confederates from Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge outside of Chattanooga, laying the way open for Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea’, Grant’s promotion to the commander of all Union forces (Lee’s worst nightmare), and Lincoln’s reelection.

States began erecting monuments to their men who fought at Chickamauga in the 1880’s. Chickamauga – Chattanooga was established as the first National Battlefield Park by act of Congress in August of 1890.

Union General George Thomas saved the day for the North for his stand at Snodgrass Hill. Thomas was a born and raised Virginian. He graduated from West Point and unlike so many others, he held true to his oath to defend his country against all enemies, foreign or domestic. His dramatic stand, even after being ordered to withdraw, allowed the Union forces to retreat from the battlefield in good order, rather than in a rout. Thomas would be hailed as ‘The Rock of Chickamauga’ for the rest of his life.

The New York Monument to Peace, tallest in the Park, at Lookout Point.

Peace…Wanderers in Wonder.