Historic Photos of Chickamauga-Chattanooga
By James A. Hoobler
(September 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, notes on photographs, 205 pp., 2007. Turner Publishing Co., 200 Fourth Ave. North, Suite 950, Nashville, TN 37219, $39.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Michael J. Winey
Michael J. Winey, who has a BS in history and MS in history museum training, was a curator for more than 25 years and is retired from the U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, Pa.

Review:
Unlike the Gettysburg battlefields, the fields, woods, ridges and mountains were not photographed until well after the battles had been fought and the bodies of the slain and the debris of battle had been buried or cleaned up by the Ordnance Departments of the contending armies. Thus there are no poignant views of bloating corpses of humans and horses strewn over miles of terrain for these two battles.

As a matter of fact, for the battlefield of Chickamauga, very few contemporary images are extant and those images which are 19th century photos are some 10 to 20 years following the Confederate victory there.

Photos of Chattanooga and environs fared better but all are of post-battles as well. Once, Thomas, Hooker and Grant won the battles of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain in late November 1863, Northern photographers could get to that area with greater ease and they made up for lost time. The town of Chattanooga, camps of the armies, captured Confederate cannon and, of course, the principle commanders and their headquarters homes were all documented.

Also, the fascination with the heights of Lookout Mountain drew both photographers and a myriad of clientele to the summit to have their photos taken both singly, in groups and entire companies atop a prominent overhanging rock formation known as “Point Lookout.”

The surrounding vista and natural sights, such as Lula Falls and Lake on the Mountain and overlooking Moccasin Bend of the Tennessee River, all caught the eye and lens of the photographer.

The Chickamauga and Chattanooga battlefields were the first National Military Parks to be created under the War Department’s administration in 1890. Other battlefields had been recognized as memorial sites but had not as yet been made National Military Parks. Several soon followed.

The Chattanooga National Cemetery was begun in late 1863 following the fighting at Missionary Ridge. Near the site of Orchard Knob on which Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas watched his men of the Army of the Cumberland storm the heights of Missionary Ridge, Thomas supervised the burial of Federal soldiers who had died in the fighting in that area.

Following the war additional land was purchased and today there are 121 acres with more than 37,000 burials. Although the South was not allowed to bury their soldiers in the National Cemetery, the South started their own system of Confederate cemeteries to honor their dead, one of which became Chattanooga Confederate Cemetery.

Monumentation of the battlefields began in the late 1800s and by 1895 both battlefields sported beautifully sculptured monuments to specific units, armies and commanders. Additional monuments were placed during the early 20th century.

Men from the various units, along with Grand Army of the Republic reunions, visited the battlefields regularly along with a growing number of tourists who had in no way participated in the 1863 battles. Chattanooga hosted numerous grand parades with thousands of veterans of the Civil War marching and other U.S. Army units of later years marching as well.

During the Spanish-American War the battlefield of Chickamauga was taken over for a training camp for men who were en route to Cuba. Camp George H. Thomas was used by 72,000 troops and had all the functions of a massive training area, even supporting Sternberg Hospital, a tent complex of wards where more men died of disease than died in combat during the four months of the little war with Spain.

The park continued to be used by the U.S. Army well into the 20th century with Camp Nathan Bedford Forrest on park grounds and Fort Oglethorpe just north of the park. Following World War I the park went back to interpreting history. It continues today, along with the Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain areas, to be well visited Civil War battlefield parks.

Historic Photos of Chickamauga-Chattanooga contains a myriad of photographs showing the areas, monuments, veterans’ reunions and parades, and Spanish-American War camps of these battlefield parks.

Short lead-in texts set the stage for what the reader will be viewing on the pages to follow. Photo captions are well-written and fill in events of the battles that are portrayed visually via the photos. All of the photos are sharp, clear, full-page presentations.

Four sections or chapters, The Tullahoma Campaign, The Chickamauga Campaign, The Siege of Chattanooga, and Remembrance, Reunion and Preservation, present the photographs in the order given in this review and illustrating the subject matter mentioned in great and vivid detail.

The lead-in texts, though not lengthy (this is not a book of strategy and tactics of the campaigns) are excellent synopses of the campaigns/battles and of what the following photographs depict.

The whole volume is a fascinating presentation of the era during and following (mostly following) the war in that single area of Tennessee where, but for poor Southern generalship (Braxton Bragg), the course of the Civil War almost changed.

Civil War News readers will enjoy having this book to read, refer to for the wonderful photos and as an addition to their library of the visual images of those great battlefields.