Dr. Drew Bledsoe, assistant professor of history at Lee University, is offering students a new way to learn about Civil War history and the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga—by leading them out of the seminar room and onto the actual hallowed ground where Union and Confederate soldiers fought and died over 150 years ago.
The new course, HIST 490: The Battle of Chickamauga in History and Memory, is the first of its kind to be offered at Lee University. Over the course of the Spring 2015 semester, students will explore various aspects of the 1863 military campaign to capture Chattanooga, from its planning and execution, to the fateful Battle of Chickamauga and its place in public and historical memory.
Students who take the course will engage in original research projects, readings, and discussions about the battle and efforts to commemorate and preserve the site. The heart of the course will consist of several weekend battlefield excursions to Chickamauga National Military Park, where students will explore issues of the Civil War combat experience, tactics, terrain, battlefield preservation, monuments, and public commemoration first-hand.
Dr. Bledsoe, a historian of the Civil War, believes that the Battle of Chickamauga remains underappreciated when compared to more famous Civil War clashes.
“Many people don’t realize that Chickamauga was the second-bloodiest battle of the entire war,” said Dr. Bledsoe. “Only Gettysburg was worse in terms of total casualties. Chickamauga was a dramatic, complex battle with colorful personalities and amazing stories, and it was the Confederacy’s only clear-cut victory in the West. It absolutely deserves attention, and this course is intended to inspire students to think more deeply about both the battle and our efforts to commemorate it.”
Dr. Bledsoe joined the faculty of Lee University as an assistant professor of history in fall 2013. He is the author of a number of scholarly works on the Civil War and American military history, including the forthcoming book “Citizen-Officers: The Union and Confederate Volunteer Junior Officer Corps in the American Civil War” (Louisiana State University Press, 2015). He teaches courses on the Civil War, American military history, the American Revolution, the Early Republic, and the American West, and is active in a number of local and national historical organizations.
Dr. Bledsoe received his doctorate and master’s in history from Rice University.
For more information about the course, contact Dr. Bledsoe at abledsoe@leeuniversity.edu.