(Directions to Nickajack Cave Recreation Area- From Chattanooga, go west on I-24 roughly 17 miles (depending upon where you get on I-24) to Exit 161, Tennessee Highway 156, Haletown, Ladds, Exit. At the end of the ramp, turn left (West) toward Big Daddy's Fireworks, toward Nickajack Dam, New Hope and South Pittsburg, onto Tennessee Highway 156. You'll immediately cross over I-24, then pass the fireworks places on both the left and right (Big Daddy's), and then continue on 156 for about 5 miles. You'll climb over a spur of the Sand Mountain range and then come down to where Nickajack Lake and the railroad are immediately on your right and a large backwater area on your left. Just beyond the backwater, you'll see the entrance of the Nickajack Cave Recreation Area on the left. Turn in and find a place to park. We'll gather by one of the picnic tables. There are restrooms at the parking area.)

Our speaker this month, Marion O. Smith, is making a return visit to our Round Table. He’s previously spoken on the Civil War aspects of his speleological interest. This time, “in the field,” he’ll talk specifically about Nickajack Cave. The cave isn’t what it once was, but, with Marion’s narration, you can certainly come to understand it’s importance.

Georgia native Marion O. Smith is a graduate of what is now the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia. Now retired, he was a key researcher for the President Andrew Johnson Papers at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. A resident of Rock Island, Tennessee, he now pursues his various caving interests fulltime.

REMEMBER, THE MEETING IS IN CENTRAL TIME, BUT WE’RE STILL MEETING ON EASTERN TIME!!!!!

There are three items this month for the Speaker’s Fund. The first is a copy of Cities and Camps of the Confederate States by FitzGerald Ross, an Englishman visiting the Confederacy in 1863, including time in the Chattanooga region. The second item is a copy of the reprint of the 1908 regimental history of the 127th New York Infantry, the “Monitors,” a regiment from Long Island that did most of its service on the South Carolina coast. The third item is all seven issues of Civil War Times Illustrated for 1997 with articles on such subjects as the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain, raising the Monitor, and the Battle of Corinth. The last two of the three items this month were donated to the Round Table to support the Speaker’s Fund. To those donors go our thanks. Proceeds from the Speaker’s Fund go toward bringing speakers in from outside the area. Your support of the Speaker’s Fund is appreciated.

August 15, 2006 - Dr. R. Fred Ruhlman, adjunct professor of History, University of Tennessee, author of the just released Captain Henry Wirz and Andersonville Prison: A Reappraisal, University of Tennessee Press, speaking on a subject related to his book.
September 19, 2006 - Since it will be the 143rd anniversary of the fighting on September 19 at Chickamauga, we'll have an evening walking tour meeting on the Chickamauga Battlefield; bring a flashlight.
October 17, 2006 - Russell K. Brown, author of To The Manner Born: The Life of William H. T. Walker, Augusta's "Pet Company:" The Washington Light Artillery of August, Georgia, and "Our Connection With Savannah:" History of the FIrst Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters, 1862-1865, presenting a subject from the latter book, "Sharpshooters in the Valley of the River of Death: A Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion at Chickamauga."
November 21, 2006 - Sam Davis Elliott, "The Southern End of the Battle of Missionary Ridge"
December 19, 2006 - To be announced.

September 16-20, 2006--Commemoration of the 143rd Anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga, Chickamauga Battlefield, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park; regular and special tours, talks, presentations, book signings, Living History demonstrations, etc.; more details later; see also, eventually, www.nps.gov/chch

November 9-11, 2006--14th Annual Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression, sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Department of Communications; more details later.

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