Chickamauga and Chattanooga

I'm back. My wife had training for her new job in Dalton, GA, and I got dragged along. There's not a whole lot to do there, but luckily the ACW battlefields of Chickamauga and Chattanooga are about 20 minutes away. For those not familiar with the American Civil War, Chickamauga was the greatest military victory for the South. It was not masterminded by General Lee, as you might have expected, but it was a lucky break for the much maligned Braxton Bragg.

The battlefield itself is lot like it was then, mostly woods. There are roughly 1,110 separate monuments, put there by their respective regiments after the war. It's criss-crossed by dozens of walking paths, but it's best done by following the driving trail, which is about 7 miles long. The tour takes in order of how the battle was fought. The whole place has that weird, unearthly feel most Civil war battlefields have for me.
It wasn't the best I've been too, Gettysburg gets that, but it's well put together and the small museum at the Visitor's Center has hundreds of guns and a cheesy, but informative movie.

Some cool revolving carbines

General Wilder's Monument. 135 steps to the top!

The next visit to me to Lookout Mountain, the scene of most of the fighting around Chattanooga, TN and home to the "Battle Above the Clouds". It's a great view up there, and of course the most striking question is "how did they drag cannons up here?"
Chattanooga, a few months later would be the South's greatest defeat, and ultimately open up the South to Sherman and his March to the Sea.

I spent the rest of the trip drinking beer and smoking cigars by the motel pool, wondering why my copy of Renaissance Principles of War hasn't shown up yet.