Chattanooga Battlefield, Tenn.
Preserve 161 Acres at Five Western Theater Battlefield Tracts!
The Opportunity
These five tracts of Western Theater battlefield land are all connected and — like dominoes — they all had an impact on what came after them, and the outcome of the war. From Fort Heiman and Fort Henry on the Kentucky/Tennessee border ... to Brown’s Ferry/ Chattanooga and Spring Hill in Tennessee ... to Bentonville in North Carolina ... each of the battlefields we can save today bore witness to the events that eventually propelled the war to its close.
The total land value is a staggering $3.8 million! Fortunately, the Trust expects to obtain state and federal preservation grants along with a donation from one of the landowners, meaning that we can save all of this critical history for just $70,000.
But only if we can secure the funding in the 60 days to close the deals. Please help us with your best donation today, and your it will be multiplied by a factor of 54 to save crucial, irreplaceable hallowed ground.
The History
Travel back in time to 1862. Union forces are resurgent. They are moving on several fronts in the west, with one of their most important priorities being the capture of Fort Donelson located near the border of Kentucky and Tennessee.
But to capture Fort Donelson, they must first seize Fort Heiman, and then Fort Henry. One domino falls, and then another, eventually leading to the fall of the first Confederate state capital, Nashville.
General Grant is emboldened by these victories. He moves further into Tennessee, leading to victory at Shiloh and the capture of Corinth. The Confederates then move into Kentucky, where the Battle of Perryville takes place. This leads to Stones River, then the Tullahoma Campaign, and then beyond Chattanooga to the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia.
Union troops move back toward Chattanooga. That’s where the “Cracker Line” is created to feed the troops via Brown’s Ferry, and will then sustain them for the fighting at Orchard Knob, the Battle Above the Clouds on Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge.
The Confederates retreat into Georgia, while Sherman’s armies head toward Atlanta, to the sea, and then northward.
But while this is taking place, something truly remarkable happens. Confederate troops marching toward Nashville stop at Spring Hill, but fail to detect as many as 20,000 Union soldiers under Gen. John Schofield who simply march by the Confederate campfires!
These troops would fight at Franklin, and then at Nashville, with some of the same Confederate soldiers who battled there traveling by rail to North Carolina, where they would be part of the last major battle of the Western Theater, Bentonville, leading to the largest surrender of the Civil War at Bennett Place.
A few more details on the tracts we can save:
- A small but extremely valuable waterfront tract at Fort Heiman, Kentucky (associated with Fort Henry, Tennessee too) in an area now threatened by high density residential development.
- 31 acres at Brown’s Ferry / Chattanooga. The intact Civil War-era earthworks on an adjacent tract saved by the Trust continue into this property, thus connecting our preservation work.
- 12 acres at Spring Hill, Tennessee, a tract adjacent to land you have previously helped to preserve... It’s right in the core of the battlefield!
- And two separate tracts at Bentonville, North Carolina, totaling 118 acres. Both of these tracts were central to the action in this major battle.
Each of these battles is fascinating in its own right, but I want to take an opportunity to look more closely at the way the dominoes fell. Every one of these battles was critical to the outcome of the war.
Don't Let These Battlefields Fall Like Dominoes
Looking back, it’s possible to observe the connections between our nation’s battlefields and the events that unfolded on them. We can line them up like dominoes on the coffee table.
But that’s not how it was to the brave men who were fighting. They were farmers, tradesmen, and craftsmen, some as young as 15 or 16. They were answering the call to serve, for country and family and honor, and fighting with all they had to give.
Today, you can be the one to give what you can so that their service and sacrifice are not lost forever. Please make a donation to preserve this land forever.
BONUS: If you can give $50 or more, you'll receive a special gift in gratitude — a brand-new battlefield photo book! This wonderful volume is called Battlefields in Focus, and it’s just been published by our own Chief Historian, Garry Adelman, along with his collaborator Bob Zeller, the president of the Center for Civil War Photography. It’s a brand NEW 114-page book that provides a stunning showcase of historic and modern battlefield photography and maps, illustrating the benefits of battlefield preservation, and the natural beauty that is saved along with it.
