Orchard Knob Walking Tour - Stop 4: 1st Michigan Engineers Monument

The bas-relief on the monument shows engineers bridging the Tennessee River during the campaign.

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The 1st Michigan was the only engineering regiment assigned to the US Army of the Cumberland, only numbering approximately 300 men during the campaign. These men were primarily tasked with building and repairing bridges and railroads. At Chattanooga, a portion of the regiment helped open the much-needed supply line, later dubbed “The Cracker Line” by preparing the needed materials and constructing the pontoon bridges across the Tennessee River at Brown’s Ferry, which was completed in an astounding 8 hours, and at South Chickamauga Creek, near the north end of Missionary Ridge. The amazingly intricate bronze relief on the monument’s face depicts the laying of a pontoon bridge across the river. At the same time, other members of the regiment were engaged in working along the railroad from Chattanooga to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.