News Release

Knocking the Lid off the Cracker Box: Opening the Cracker Line

Date: October 9, 2018
Contact: Kim Coons, 706-866-9241 x139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: On Saturday, October 27, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host 90 minute, 1.2 mile ranger-led walking tours and living histories commemorating the 155th Anniversary of the Cracker Line’s opening along the Brown’s Ferry Federal Road, located in Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. These tours are scheduled for 10 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm, beginning at the Brown’s Ferry Federal Road trailhead (707 Moccasin Bend Road, Chattanooga, TN). 

At 4:30 am, on October 27, 1863, a large signal fire crackled and blazed on Moccasin Point’s western shore, just above Brown’s Ferry crossing. A few moments later, an order rang out through the dead of night to “Pull in, Pull in!” This was the signal for the first boat loaded with US soldiers to make their way across the Tennessee River. Confederates on the opposite bank, hearing the shouts in the darkness, readied themselves for battle. The boats quickly pulled ashore and a brief, but fierce, fight arose in the fog enshrouded ferry pass. The gray-clad soldiers retreated through the gap, and US soldiers began frantically digging fortifications on the surrounding hilltops. As dawn broke at Brown’s Ferry, a jubilant US General William Hazen rode down his line of soldiers, declaring they “had knocked the cover off the cracker box and plenty to eat was in sight.” 

As US soldiers climbed in the boats earlier that morning, they had no idea their overall mission was to open the “Cracker Line,” essentially saving the US Army from the brink of starvation, while also moving the end of the war and the hope of freedom ever closer to becoming reality. We hope you will join us as we commemorate this important event in Chattanooga’s Civil War history.