National Military Parks And Bessie Smith Cultural Center Present "A Tale Of Two Coles"

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, in partnership with the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, invites the public to participate in a free, one hour program at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 East Martin Luther King Boulevard, Chattanooga, on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 11 a.m.

Robert Coles was born into a life of wealth – a wealth made possible through the labor of the people his family enslaved, like Thomas Cole. Robert and Thomas were around the same age, grew up in the same household, found themselves in the midst of the fighting at Chickamauga, and both left behind accounts of their experiences during the Civil War.