The Chattanooga Civil War Round Table will hold its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday with a topic of a Russian general's wife at Chickamauga.
The meeting is at 7 p.m. and will be held in the Millis-Evans Room of Caldwell Hall on the campus of the McCallie School.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Park Ranger Lee White is the speaker and he will speak on Nadine Turchin, the wife of a Union general in the Campaign for Chattanooga who accompanied her husband in the campaign and even to the edge of the Battle of Chickamauga.
One of the more colorful characters of the Civil War action in the Chattanooga area is the Russian-born John Basil Turchin. Made infamous to many by his allowing his men in May, 1862, to sack the town of Athens, Alabama, Turchin had also notable roles in the Battle of Chickamauga and the Battle of Missionary Ridge, later writing one of the more important treatments of the former battle. Another aspect that adds color to this foreign-born brigadier general is that his wife, Nadine Lvova Turchin, accompanied her husband in the field for some important periods in the war, including during the Campaign for Chattanooga. And, Nadine Turchin recorded her biased thoughts for us in a diary.
Nadine Turchin, like her husband, was born in Russia, the daughter of a Russian officer. She and John immigrated to the United States in 1856 and located in Chicago. Always a strong supporter of her husband, she was not afraid to take the field with him during the war. During the operations leading up to Chickamauga, she was right with her husband daily, and gives us some important insights about the movement of the Army of the Cumberland at the time. During the Battle of Chickamauga itself, she staid with the brigade and division wagons which were parked just on the western edge of the Chickamauga Battlefield and she climbed up on to the eastern hills of Missionary Ridge to observe events.
Ranger White will speak on this unique individual and her unrestrained views of her husband’s fellow officers and what she saw and experienced of the Battle of Chickamauga.
Enter the McCallie School campus on Dodds Avenue and follow the signs to the Academic Quadrangle.
The meeting is free and open to the public.
The Chattanooga Civil War Round Table is a group of area citizens interested in the study of the American Civil War. The Round Table meets on the third Tuesday of each month, normally in the Millis-Evans Room of Caldwell Hall on the campus of The McCallie School on Missionary Ridge.
At each month’s meeting, a historian or author from the region or from across the nation, or a member, makes a presentation on some aspect of the conflict. The meetings are free and open to the public and membership in the Round Table is open to all with an interest in the era of the War Between the States.