Reed’s Bridge: The Road to Chickamauga

Deep in the heart of the Chickamauga Battlefield, the forest appears as it most likely did during the Civil War.

American Battlefield Trust

Recipient: Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Amount: $172,133.16
Acres: 4.08

In the late summer of 1863, the Battle of Chickamauga occurred in the rugged hills of northern Georgia. A 3-day slugfest between Union and Confederate armies vying for control of nearby Chattanooga, Tennessee, this battle took place primarily in woods and farm fields split by meandering streams. A dense landscape that contributed to communication challenges and misunderstandings on both sides, influencing the actual course of the battle. Crucial chokepoints were quickly identified and fought over to control the flow of reinforcements.

On the first day of the battle, Union and Confederate forces clashed along Reed’s Bridge Road, as the Confederates under General Braxton Bragg attempted to flank (get around the side) of Major General William Rosecrans cavalry and get between the northern troops and roads heading north to Chattanooga. After a fierce fight, the Union cavalry was forced to withdraw, but not before Union infantry had secured the vital LaFayette Road, west of the bridge.

After two more days of fighting near Reed’s Bridge and along the LaFayette Road, the Confederates broke the Union line and forced them to withdraw to Chattanooga. Moving the campaign into Tennessee, and the events that would earn Major General Ulysses S. Grant command of all Union forces for the rest of the war.

Awarded to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR), a 2023 Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program will help preserve a 4-acre tract that lies directly on Reed’s Bridge Road in Catoosa County, Georgia. Increasing the total land preserved relating to the action at Reed’s Bridge to 140-acres. By providing the financial support to fund GA DNR’s conservation easement on the tract, this Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant will help ensure that the pristine nature of the undeveloped grass and woodlands of those acres remain the same as they have since at least 1886.

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants from the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War battlefields. In addition, the program administers three other grant opportunities: Preservation Planning Grants, which are open to all sites of armed conflict on American soil, and the newly authorized Battlefield Restoration and Battlefield Interpretation Grants. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.