It has been a while since I posted. Books, speaking engagements, and a series of sudden changes at work have all contributed to that hiatus. Sorry for that.
So let’s resume operations, shall we?
I recently completed a road trip to New Orleans and Austin Texas, speaking to those round tables. Along the way, I visited a great many Civil War sites: Fort Pillow in Tennessee; Vicksburg, Raymond and Champion Hill in Mississippi; Port Hudson, etc. I finished at Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge, and Wilson’s Creek.
One of the best afternoons came at the Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans; which as you might know is under some modern-day political pressure. It stands near Lee Circle, where the statue of Robert E. Lee was recently removed. While I don’t want to get into a lot of back-and-forth about memory, removals, and the like; I would like to spend some time highlighting Confederate Memorial Hall because – highly relevant to this blog – the place is chock-full of Chickamauga-related artifacts.
For example:
This flag was carried up Hill 1 on September 20 1863 by the Second Battalion, Hilliard’s Alabama Legion. That flag was pierced by 83 Federal bullets during that fight, and yes, this is THAT FLAG. you can see the patched places in the cloth.
Here is a close-up.
No Chickamauga-themed museum post would be complete without an example of a “Chickamauga Log,” brought back from the battlefield in the 1890s as a momento. I find these all over the place, and the Hall did not disappoint.
Here’s one, with a close up of the tag.
Flag of Austin’s Battalion Sharpshooters – 14th Louisiana Sharpshooter Battalion.
The flag of the 5th Company, Washington Artillery
Braxton Bragg’s dress uniform and sword…
Brigade commander Daniel W. Adams’s uniform…
And the bullet that wounded him on Sept 20 1863…
There were plenty more things that just blew me away. What a place.
So there you go. I was overwhelmed. Make the effort to stop in some time.
Chickamauga Blog 