Raymond Evans, local cultural anthropologist and archaeologist, will speak at the Downtown Library Saturday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m. His talk is based on his two most recently published books, The Battle of Orchard Knob and General John T. Wilder and Modern Chattanooga. Books will be available for purchase after the program.
The story of the Battle of Orchard Knob is also a story of German participation in the American Civil War. In the local area, on the fields of Chickamauga, the slopes of Lookout Mountain, and the side of Missionary Ridge, the Germans proved their ability as fighters. The success of the Federal troops that started at Orchard Knob led to the breaking of the siege of Chattanooga and had a major impact on the rest of the war.
General Wilder was one of Chattanooga’s most distinguished citizens in the last half of the 19th century. Mr. Evans will recount Wilder’s personal story of the place on Stringer’s Ridge where his guns had been placed during the shelling of Chattanooga. Wilder was elected mayor six years after the war ended. He developed industry around the city, the state and the South, and in the process became one of the South’s leading industrialists. A major monument at the Civil War battlefield at Chickamauga bears his name, as well as Wilder Point on Signal Mountain.