Seminar in the Woods, 2022

Seminar in the Woods: Chickamauga, March 11-12, 2022

Mission Statement: The purpose of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as explore other nearby Civil War-related sites.

Tour Leaders:  Jim Ogden and Dave Powell

Date: Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, 2022; By bus and car caravan.

Friday’s tour will begin and end at The History Company, 2949 Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe Georgia. Parking is available, but please carpool as much as possible.

Saturday’s tour will begin and end at the CCNMP Visitor’s Center.

By Bus:

Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00: Union Cavalry Operations.

On Friday, we will explore Union cavalry movements from Dougherty’s Gap at the southern tip of McLemore’s Cove, movements around Blue Bird Gap, and the actions around Glass Mill, Lee & Gordon’s Mills, and the evacuation of Crawfish Springs.  

Lunch is TBD, but probably on your own in the vicinity of the town of Chickamauga.

Friday evening, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Q&A Panel with Jim Ogden, Dave Powell.

 Site: TBD, Fort Oglethorpe, GA

 Reprise of the Annual free-form Question and Answer session.

Car Caravan – Saturday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: Sheridan comes to grief, the fight for Lytle Hill.

Between 12 and 1 PM on September 20, after an unsettled morning’s shifting of position multiple times, Philip Sheridan’s division was dispatched to reinforce George Thomas’ line in the vicinity of Kelly Field. Sheridan’s men never reached their destination. Instead, they ran headlong into the southern flank of the Confederate breakthrough column—Thomas C. Hindman’s large infantry division. Laiboldt’s and Lytle’s brigades were engaged in and around what has come to be known as Lytle Hill, where Brig. Gen. William H. Lytle was killed in action.

Car Caravan – Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Manigault’s brigade vs. Walworth and Wilder.

While Sheridan’s other two brigades grappled with the bulk of Hindman’s division, Col. Nathan Walworth’s brigade (Formerly Bradley’s, wounded on September 19) turned to face Confederate Brig. Gen. Arthur L. Manigault’s large command of Alabamians and South Carolinians. The resultant encounter, first with Walworth and then with the newly-arrived Lightning Brigade under John T. Wilder, delivered a rude check to Manigault’s command—and saved Sheridan’s division from further disaster.

Costs:

 Friday’s Tours will be by Bus. Pre-registration and Fee required: $45, due by February 1, 2022.

 Sign-up after February 1 or on-site Fee (based on space available): $50 

 Saturday: no charge.

Fees raised in excess of costs (as well as any donations) will be used to support the causes of battlefield preservation, interpretation, and renovation.

 In 2021 the Study Group made the following donations:

$750 to the Jewell Monument fund, run by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, for maintenance and restoration needs.

$500 to the American Battlefield Trust, in support of land acquisition on Lookout Mountain and other western battlefields.

Thanks to all who contributed.

 Send to (and make checks payable to) my work address at:

David Powell

1300 Mark Street

Bensenville IL 60106

This fee is NON-REFUNDABLE after February 1st, 2022. Once we are committed to the bus, we will be charged the booking fee, no matter what.  

Please note that everyone is responsible for their own lodging, meals, snacks, and incidentals.

Thank you, see you in March.