Civil War Roundtable will present The Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga
Another quality program commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War will be held Tuesday, January 21st at 6:30pm at the Wayne County Public Library Wooster, Conference Room A. Civil War Roundtables are a collaboration between the Wayne County Historical Society and the Wayne County Public Library. The program will be a review of The Battles of Chickamauga (Sept. 18- 20, 1863) and Chattanooga (Nov. 23-24, 1863).
Craig and Diane Forcell and Gerald and Marilyn Payn visited the Chattanooga area and will be presenting this program, which will be an overview of the battles, then a National Park Service 26-minute video, The Campaign for Chattanooga: Death Knell of the Confederacy, will be shown. This is the video (which is quite graphic) which is shown at the Park Visitor Center for visitor orientation. Following the video will be photographic images taken in the Chattanooga area by the Forcells and Payns. The program will be in the Wooster Library Conference Room at6:30 p.m. There is no charge, and the program is open to the public. In case of inclement weather, the program will be postponed.
Background: The Battle of Chickamaugawas the second bloodiest engagement of the war, after Gettysburg, and the biggest battle fought in Georgia. There were a total of 35,000 casualties, including 4,000 killed. The battle ended as a disaster for GeneralnRosecrans Army of the Cumberland. The defeated Union troops retreated to Chattanooga where they remained until late November, under siege by the Confederates. At least, Chattanooga was saved for the Union!
After Vicksburg, General Grant was given command of all the armies in the west. OnOct. 23,Gen. Grant arrived in Chattanooga and immediately set to work to open the supply line to his new command. During the long siege, the troops were quite hungry and discouraged. With the addition of armies from the east and the west, on Nov. 23-25, the Union soldiers did a spectacular job attacking and clearing out the Confederates from the Chattanooga area and opening up the Gateway to the South and the road to Atlanta.This battle is considered by many to be one of the turning points of the war.
