Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will conduct artillery programs at Chickamauga Battlefield on June 3. Programs, lasting approximately 30 minutes, are scheduled at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. near Tour Stop 3, along Poe Road. Follow the “Special Event” signs to the program site. There are no admission fees for these programs.
On Sept. 20, 1863, Confederates under the command of Braxton Bragg attacked Union positions all along LaFayette Road. Employing artillery as an offensive weapon, the Confederates were able to break the Union line, and Confederate shells rained down on the retreating Union soldiers. The park will host these artillery demonstrations highlighting the role of cannon in supporting the Confederate attack.
There will also be a special panel discussion and battlefield tour about General Braxton Bragg, commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, on Saturday, June 3. Presenting their views about the leadership of General Bragg will be three Bragg scholars: Dr. Earl Hess, Robert Carter, and David A. Powell. The 1-hour panel begins at 11 a.m., while a special two hour car caravan tour about General Bragg begins at 1 p.m. Both programs start inside the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center.
Today, the name Braxton Bragg is one of the most disparaged generals in American History, considered by many to have been incompetent, universally hated, and one of the main reasons that the Confederacy lost the war, but is that true? As with many things, the truth is much more complicated. This panel will look to give a better understanding of Bragg and if he is indeed, “the most Hated Man in the Confederacy.”
Recent scholarship on the Battle of Chickamauga and the Western Theater have started asking that question, the writings of Dr. Earl Hess, author of Braxton Bragg: The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy, David A. Powell, author of The Maps of Chickamauga, Failure in the Saddle, The Chickamauga Campaign: a Mad Irregular Battle, The Chickamauga Campaign: Glory or the Grave, and the Chickamauga Campaign: Barren Victory, and Robert L. Carter, author of The Fight for Snodgrass Hill and the Rock of Chickamauga and Longstreet’s Breakthrough at Chickamauga being notable among them.
The authors will also conduct book signings inside the Eastern National Bookstore from 10-11 a.m. and throughout the afternoon.
For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706.866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 821-7786, or visit the park website at
www.nps.gov/chch.