Event
160th Anniversary of the Battles for Chattanooga
Fee:
Free. Fees may apply depending on program location. Any program taking place inside Point Park will require a park entrance fee of $10 per adult, ages 16 and older; children, ages 15 and younger enter for free.Dates & Times
Date:
Time:
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Type of Event
Description
9:30 am - “A Vicious Little Battery:” The Union Artillery on Moccasin Bend during the Siege and Battles for Chattanooga
Location: The tour begins from a parking area along Moccasin Bend Road just north of the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute; look for the “Special Event” signs and the park ranger who will direct you into the parking area
Union artillery, firing from fortifications on the southernmost hills of Stringer’s Ridge on Moccasin Bend, helped keep the Confederates at bay during the Siege of Chattanooga and then assisted in prying the Confederates from Lookout Valley and Lookout Mountain during the Battles for Chattanooga. Many of the earthworks that protected those Union cannon survive. Join Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden for a two-hour walking tour through the earthen complex and learn how “a vicious little battery” could essentially dominate the looming bulk of Lookout Mountain to the south.
11 am – Come See Seven States!
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
The Phrase “come see seven states” has been a pull for tourists to visit Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, long before the first Rock City Barn. This special 1-hour program will follow the story behind tourism to Lookout Mountain from the Whiteside family to current day.
2 pm – Walking Tour of Point Park
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
Chattanooga was known as the “Gateway to the Confederacy” because of four converging railroads and the Tennessee River that flowed just outside the city. Between October and November, US and Confederate troops fought several engagements to determine the city’s fate. This 30–45-minute program will help put the struggle for Chattanooga into perspective.
2:15 pm – Engaging the Attention of the Enemy: Hooker’s Demonstration on Lookout Creek
Location: The tour will begin along Parker Lane off Brown’s Ferry Road just south of Interstate 24, Exit 175, in Lookout Valley/Tiftonia; look for the “Special Event” signs at and on Parker Lane
While John Geary’s “White Star” Division moved to sweep the western slope of Lookout Mountain, Union Major General Joseph Hooker directed other troops to move against the main Confederate positions guarding the road bridges over the creek at the mountain’s northwest base. Join National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden for a two-hour, 2 mile walk through part of the Lookout Mountain Battlefield that later became the perspective and foreground of artist James Walker’s mammoth painting, The Battle of Lookout Mountain.
4 pm – Come See Seven States!
Location: Meet inside the Point Park Entrance Gate
The Phrase “come see seven states” has been a pull for tourists to visit Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, long before the first Rock City Barn. This special hour-long program will follow the story behind tourism to Lookout Mountain from the Whiteside family to current day.
Living History
“I Believe I did Some Good Firing” – Artillery During the Battle of Lookout Mountain
Location: Western Overlook – Inside Point Park
Program Times: 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, and 3:30 pm
On November 24, 1863, Captain Max Van Den Corput rolled a section (two cannon) of his Cherokee Artillery to the western edge of Lookout Mountain’s summit. From there, he tried to hinder the Union force assaulting the mountain, but due to the elevation and the dense fog that enshrouded Lookout, he was unable to inflict much damage on the rolling blue wave assailing the heights. This 30-minute program will explore the role artillery played in the “Battle Above the Clouds.”