John and Mary Camp a Battlefield.

Have you ever camped at a Civil War battlefield?

On our trip from SPR to Pigeon Forge we stopped at campgrounds in Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee. We arrived early afternoon at the Holiday Trav_L campground and had an opportunity to explore the area. We like to walk the perimeter of any campground we stop at. During this walk, on the side of the road adjacent to the camp, we discovered this marker:

This raised our curiosity to explore further.

Why did an Indiana Infantry troop spend the night here?

 Here is another market we found.

This marker reads as follows:

In this place, on September 19, 1863, the first desperate fighting for control of this highly important rail center of Chattanooga took place.

The Eighty-fourth Indiana Regiment, memorialized by a marker on this property was part of a 60,000 Federal force under General Rosecrans who was trying to drive General Brexten Bragg’s 47,000 Confederates deep into Georgia and set the stage for the capture of Atlanta.

On the morning of the 19th the Federal army of the Cumberland was located in a line running south from here to Chickamauga. Ordered to move towards the Confederate forces near Chickamauga Creek, they encountered heavy resistance from infantry, cavalry and artillery: and withdrew to their camp. The Confederates then attacked in force but the Union line held and the Eighth-fourth Indiana achieved its first success of the Chickamauga campaign.

On Sunday morning, September 20th, the deadly battle began of Chickamauga opened in earnest. General Granger, who commanded the entire reserve force which included the 84th Indiana, found little action to his front: but he could hear the sound of battle growing steadily stronger to the south. Leaving a small force behind, he marched his men three miles to the area to the Snodgrass Mill where they immediately joined the desperate conflict. The Union troops held their line although the slaughter on both sides was great. The 84th Indiana came to Chattanooga with 374 men: by the end of the carnage 133 were killed, injured or missing.

There was no real victor at the battle of Chickamauga. While the Confederates held the field at the end of the day as the Union army escaped northwest to Chattanooga, they failed to drive Rosecrans’ army from Chattanooga and win a decisive victory which may have saved the South.

By late November, 1863, Union forces had won the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The Confederates retreated deep in to Georgia, and the way was paved for the fall of Atlanta and Sherman’s March to the Sea and split the South and sealed their defeat.

This campground was a battleground during the Civil War.

This stop was an eye opener as our only previous exposure to The Civil War was a trip we made one weekend to Shiloh when we lived in Memphis may years ago.

So yes we have spent one night camping at a Civil War battlefield.

John & Mary (#5)