Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host programs at Chickamauga Battlefield on Saturday, Oct. 11. These 30 minute talks, focusing on the 44th U.S.C.T., will take place at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. in the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center.
The 44th U.S.C.T. formed in Chattanooga during the spring and summer of 1864, just as General Sherman’s armies battled their way to the gates of Atlanta. The ranks of this regiment were filled with men who were born slaves, yet seized the opportunity to free themselves by escaping their masters and making their way to the Union lines in Chattanooga. There, they chose to risk their lives in order to destroy the institution that kept many of their families in chains.
The first battle action in which the 44th U.S.C.T. participated was at Dalton in August 1864, where they helped repulse a raid upon Sherman’s supply lines. By October, the Confederate Army of Tennessee had surrounded the town and demanded that the Union troops surrender. The garrison’s hope was fading fast. What thoughts now rushed through the men’s minds? What would the future bring?
For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, please contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706.866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 821-7786, or visit the park webpage at www.nps.gov/chch.