Day 29 - October 12, 2012: Visit to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

We spent the day visiting the Chickamauga Visitor Center and the site of the Battle of Chickamauga. We had the good fortune that one of our very good friends in Hermosa Beach, CA, grew up here, and her parents volunteered to pick us up for a driving tour of this site. Her father is a history buff and Civil War expert, so we got a thorough in-depth narrative. Thanks to Jim and Barbara for the wonderful day!

The Visitor Center, like all we have visited so far, is very well done with a movie, exhibits, artifacts, plus this one has the Fuller Collection of American Military Shoulder Arms.

Chickamauga Visitor Center

 

Interior Displays   

Outside there are six different kinds of cannons used in the battle, some made in the U.S. and some from Europe. Some of these are steel and some bronze. The bronze were favored by the troops because they did not get as hot and therefore could be reloaded faster. Can you imagine what it must have been like charging across a field into the face of dozens of these, carrying a musket that fired one shot and then took over a minute to reload?

Cannon Display

Certain death...

Claud E. and Zenada O. Fuller collected long rifles over many years and in their later years they donated a portion of the collection to the visitor center and supervised the display. There are six isles, one of which is shown below, with the rifles arranged by year of manufacture. Many of the 346 weapons on display are rare and unique. What a great opportunity to see how these rifles evolved over time.

Fuller Shoulder Arms Collection

These were made from 1821 to 1823

We drove the battle grounds, reliving the battle and viewing many of the park's 1,400 monuments and markers which were donated by states which contributed troops and placed by veterans of the battles.