Join the staff and volunteers at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park as we commemorate the 156th Anniversary of the Battles for Chattanooga with a series of ranger-guided tours and hikes. Participants are encouraged to wear clothing appropriate for the weather, closed-toed shoes, insect repellent and to bring a bottle of water. For programs with the park historian, long pants are recommended, as many tours will walk through wooded areas, often over uneven and rocky terrain. All programs and tours are subject to change depending on staffing and hazardous weather conditions.
Youth Programs
A park ranger watches as a summer day camper as he practice loads a cannon inside Point Park on Lookout Mountain.
NPS
Hands on History
Ongoing programs throughout the weekend (Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24)
Location: Point Park
On Saturday, November 23 and on Sunday, November 25, meet a park ranger for a series of hands-on activities for young people to earn a unique Junior Ranger badge available during the battle anniversary.
Ranger and Historian Programs
Saturday, November 23
9 am - 5 pm - Cravens House (Open)
Location: Cravens House on Lookout Mountain (1060 Cravens Terrace, Chattanooga, TN)
Robert Cravens home was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting during the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Cravens rebuilt his home after the war, and this postwar structure still stands among the battlefield monuments. The house will be open and staffed for tours.
10 am - Trained to Sweep the Slope of the Mountain: The Moccasin Battery and the Battles for Chattanooga
Location: Moccasin Bend National Archeological District, near 201 Moccasin Bend Road, follow “Special Program” signs
Through late September and October, the Union cannon on Stringer’s Ridge helped keep Confederates at bay. Now, Ulysses S. Grant made his plans to attack and drive the Confederates away from the “Gateway to the Deep South.” Park Historian Jim Ogden will lead this 2-hour, 2-mile round trip walk through the Union artillery earthworks on Moccasin Bend as he relates the role Grant planned for the guns in this vital position.
11 am, 2 pm, & 4 pm - Battles for Chattanooga Walking Tour
Location: Meet inside the Point Park entrance gate
Between November 23-25, 1863, Union and Confederates clashed on Chattanooga’s surrounding mountains and ridges. Meet a park ranger for a 45-minute program exploring the actions that helped seal the fate of this important city.
1 pm - We all Remained Silent Spectators - The Fight for Orchard Knob
Location: Orchard Knob Reservation, North Orchard Knob Avenue and Ivy Street
The Union army’s success during this brief, yet overwhelming, engagement set the tone for its success over the next days as they tried to wrestle Chattanooga from the grasp of the besieging Confederates. This 45-minute program will explore the fighting on Orchard Knob that crisp November 23.
2 pm - Staging Sherman’s Force
Location: Moccasin Bend National Archeological District, Brown’s Ferry Road Trail, 707 Moccasin Bend Road, Chattanooga, TN
Ulysses S. Grant had a specific role in mind for those forces of his old Army of the Tennessee that William T. Sherman was bringing to Chattanooga. In fact, Grant’s attack could not, and would not, be launched until they were in place. In this 2-hour, part walking tour, part caravan tour, Park Historian Jim Ogden will examine the experience of Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee detachment that Grant was counting on to bring him victory at the “Gateway to the Deep South.”
Park Historian Jim Ogden provide a program to park visitors outside the historic Cravens House.
NPS
Sunday, November 24
9 am - 5 pm - Cravens House (Open)
Location: Cravens House on Lookout Mountain (1060 Cravens Terrace, Chattanooga, TN)
Robert Cravens home was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting during the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Cravens rebuilt his home after the war, and this postwar structure still stands among the battlefield monuments. The house will be open and staffed for tours.
10 am - The Army of the Cumberland, November 24, 1863
Location: Orchard Knob Reservation , North Orchard Knob Avenue
Union soldiers captured Orchard Knob on November 23. Now, on November 24, the main effort to overtake the Confederates shifted to General William T. Sherman’s forces. With the Confederate army largely in their front, they could not let their guard down. During this 90-minute program, Park Historian Jim Ogden will relate what General George Thomas’ Union Army of the Cumberland did on that misty, drizzly, rainy Tuesday that is normally thought of as the day of the “Battle Above the Clouds.”
11 am, 2 pm, & 4 pm - Battles for Chattanooga Walking Tour
Location: Meet inside the Point Park entrance gate
Between November 23-25, 1863, Union and Confederates clashed on Chattanooga’s surrounding mountains and ridges. Meet a park ranger for a 45-minute program exploring the actions that helped seal the fate of this important city.
1 pm - A Dreary Spot for a Man to Bleach His Bones - The Battle of Lookout Mountain
Location: Cravens House on Lookout Mountain (1060 Cravens Terrace, Chattanooga, TN)
On November 24, 1863, Union troops scrambled up the fog-enshrouded slopes of an ominous Lookout Mountain, feeling their way toward the unknown. After making contact with Confederate soldiers, the “Battle Above the Clouds” commenced. During this 2-hour, 1.5 mile walking tour, a park ranger and visitors will trudge the same ground as the soldiers 156 years ago as they explore the famous battle that unfolded on Lookout Mountain.
2 pm - Sherman’s Crossing and the Occupation of Billy Goat Hill
Location: Meet at the Chickamauga Dam Reservation of the Tennessee Riverpark along Amnicola Highway just west of TN 153, near 4631 Amnicola Highway, Chattanooga, TN
An amphibious assault across the Tennessee River to attack the Confederate right along Missionary Ridge was intended by General U. S. Grant to be his offensive blow at Chattanooga in November 1863. His most trusted subordinate, General William T. Sherman, would lead the attack across the easily, and recently, rain swollen river. Park Historian Jim Ogden will lead this 2-hour car caravan tour investigating Sherman’s efforts to implement Grant’s plan for November 25, 1863.
Monday, November 25
10 am - Cumming’s Georgians and Cleburne’s Left at Tunnel Hill
Location: Sherman Reservation, Missionary Ridge, 2800 block of Lightfoot Mill Road
Alfred Cumming’s Georgians had a tough spring and summer. Defeated at Baker’s Creek, then besieged and surrendered at Vicksburg, now, on November 25, they prepared to battle some of the same men they recently faced in Mississippi. During this 2-hour, 2-mile up and down Tunnel Hill walk, Park Historian Jim Ogden will relate the role of Cumming’s Georgians in the Confederate effort to protect the Army of Tennessee’s right flank in what became known as the Battles for Chattanooga.
2 pm - Keystone Soldiers Assault Tunnel Hill
Location: Sherman Reservation, Missionary Ridge, 2800 block of Lightfoot Mill Road
On the previous day, these Union soldiers helped provide the initial link between two wings of General Grant’s assaulting army. Now, on November 25, they were ordered forward, no longer merely as a link, but as a part of the attacking force. Park Historian Jim Ogden will focus on the role of these Pennsylvania solders during this 2-hour, 1.5 mile up and down Tunnel Hill walking tour.
