Fort Oglethorpe, GA: On Saturday, Sept. 29, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host special, 30-minute artillery demonstrations on Chickamauga Battlefield at 10:30 am, 11:30 am,
1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, and 3:30 pm. These programs will be presented near the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center. Come experience the power and sound of Civil War artillery, as a park ranger and living historians tell the story of Fowler’s Battery on the battlefield.
The battle was something out of a nightmare for the soldiers who experienced it in 1863. The forest was the last place a Civil War battle was supposed to be fought, making it impossible to see, for commanders to lead, and in the case of the artillery, impossible to fight the way they were intended. Civil War cannon were weapons of mass destruction, designed to deliver death and destruction over long distances, which proved to be impossible in all but a few situations. One of those exceptions was the McDonald Farm, where on the afternoon of Sept. 20, Captain William Fowler’s Alabama Battery went into action as the final hours of the battle ticked away. Chickamauga is largely a soldier’s story, and we invite you to learn about the story of Captain Fowler, his men, and what they did here 155 years ago.
For more information about upcoming programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, please contact the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center at 423- 821-7786, the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, x123 or visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/chch.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
