Seminar in the Woods:

Mission Statement: The purpose of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as explore other nearby Civil War-related sites.

Tour Leaders:  Jim Ogden and Dave Powell

Date: Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11, 2023; By bus and car caravan.

Friday’s tour will begin and end at the History Company, 2949 LaFayette Road, just north of the Chickamauga Park north entrance.

Saturday’s tours will begin and end at the CCNMP Visitor’s Center.

Bus – Friday all day, 8:30 to 5:00 p.m.: Cavalry Operations on the Union Right

We will travel through McLemore Cove as far as Dougherty’s Gap (not through, the bus cannot navigate the road) and then come back north, discussing cavalry operations up to Glass Mill and Crawfish Spring. This will be a daylong tour. Lunch TBA.

Friday evening, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Q&A Panel with Jim Ogden, Dave Powell.

 Site: Gilbert-Stephenson Park Pavilion, Fort Oglethorpe, GA

 Reprise of the Annual free-form Question and Answer session.

Car Caravan – Saturday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: Confederate Artillery in Action, Williams’s and Robertson’s Battalions, plus A. P. Stewart’s advance on September 20.

Despite artillery’s overall limited effectiveness amid the heavily wooded terrain of Chickamauga, there were instances of that arm’s effective employment during the battle. During the afternoon of September 20, Confederate reserve artillery was used to engage the southern end of the Union Kelly Field position, prior to the final advance of A. P. Stewart’s division. Our morning talk will explore both the artillery engagement and that final advance.

Break for lunch

Car Caravan – Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Confederate Artillery in Action, Cleburne’s batteries reduce the 4th Indiana, and Cleburne vs. Starkweather

A second example of effective artillery use can be found in Cleburne’s Division, also on September 20. After being repulsed in the morning, Rebel gunners focused on suppressing the Federal 4th Indiana Battery. The action that followed provides a fine example of highly effective interarm coordination, allowing Cleburne’s division to drive into Kelly Field against Starkweather’s brigade on the evening of September 20.

Costs:

 Friday’s Tours will be by Bus. Pre-registration and Fee required: $45, due by February 1, 2023.

 Sign-up after February 1 or on-site Fee (based on space available): $50 

 Saturday: no charge.

Fees raised in excess of costs (as well as any donations) will be used to support the causes of battlefield preservation, interpretation, and renovation.

 In 2022 the Study Group made the following donations:

$500 to the Jewell Monument fund, run by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, for maintenance and restoration needs.

$750 to the American Battlefield Trust, in support of land acquisition at western battlefields.

Send to (and make checks payable to):

David Powell

1300 Mark Street

Bensenville IL 60106

This fee is NON-REFUNDABLE after February 1st, 2023. Once we are committed to the bus, we will be charged the booking fee, and unable to cancel. 

Please note that everyone is responsible for their own lodging, meals, snacks, and incidentals.

Weather note: Last year, we had snow on Saturday, but we did not cancel. We are a (fool)hardy bunch, we go rain or shine. Dress accordingly.