The public is invited to join Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park staff and volunteers to commemorate the 161st Anniversary of the Battles for Chattanooga with a series special programs taking place in and around the city on Nov. 23, 24, and 25.
By November 1863, months of besiegement culminated with a series of battles throughout the Chattanooga area. By the time the smoke cleared, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge were strewn with the wreckage of war, and the Confederate Army of Tennessee was in full retreat. It was, as one Confederate later wrote, the “Death Knell of the Confederacy.”
This year, the park will offer a variety of special programs marking the anniversaries of the battles, including historical hikes and tours on Moccasin Bend, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. On Nov. 23-24, inside Point Park, living historians will conduct artillery demonstrations as they portray one of the Confederate artillery batteries located atop Lookout Mountain during the 1863 siege and battle.
As a reminder, an entrance fee is charged at Point Park, atop Lookout Mountain. The fee is $10 per adult, ages 16 and older; children 15 and younger are admitted free of charge. Programs occurring in other areas are free.
A detailed schedule including program dates, times, and descriptions is available online at https://www.nps.gov/chch/161stbattlesforchattanooga.htm.