Chattanooga Civil War Round Table
Moccasin Bend
National Park Preservation
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Home     News     Photos     Preservation News Posted March 4, 2007  

On March 3, 2007, from 2:00 PM-4:00 PM a Moccasin Bend Civil War Fortifications Walking Tour was sponsored by Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park. Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden conducted the tour. Visitors walked about 2 1/2 miles up and down 3 hills to view Union artillery positions that still exist from the Battles for Chattanooga during the Siege of Chattanooga in September, October and November of 1863.

Shown below are photos taken by Chattanooga Civil War Round Table Webmaster Harvey Scarborough. Please note that this land is a recent acquisition for the National Park Service and trails and interpretative programs are only now being made available. Much is yet to be done to put this Battlefield on a similar par to the military reservations in and around the Chattanooga area.
We begin the tour The group begins the tour just outside the entrance to the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Hospital. The main purpose of the Union occupation of Moccasin Bend (more precisely called Moccasin Point) was to use artillery fire to hinder Confederate use of roads around the north end of Lookout Mountain that were used to send and supply troops on the western side. This hinderance was stongly felt by the Confederates when they were unable to stop Union attempts to open the "Cracker Line" in October 1863.
Here, Jim Ogden holds a 12-pound artillery shell typically fired from 12-pounder Napoleon cannon.
 12-pound Artillery Shell
Area Map This map helps orientate the group to Moccasin Bend's location, what it looks like from above, and discover its relationship to other prominent landmarks nearby. The Tennessee River flows south after passing Chattanooga only to run head on into Lookout Mountain. The River makes a sharp turn back northward forming the familiar shaped bend seen in the lower portion of this map.
The map below is from the Atlas to the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. Shortly after the Battle of Chickamauga, the Confederates occupied positions south of the Tennessee River from Chattanooga Creek on the right to well beyond the left side of this map (the Racoon Mountain pennesula). The Confederate position deprived the Union Army of the Cumberland use of the river as a supply line thereby resulting in near starvation rations via a much longer alternate route. However, that ended rather suddenly in the early morning hours of October 26, 1863. Most of Hazen's Brigade floated down the river from Chattanooga hugging the north side of the river while hoping not to be detected by Confederate pickets along the south side of the river. Fortunately for the North, the Southerners were unable to spot the 50-pontoon boats and two flat boats loaded to capacity. This rare nighttime amphibious operation eventually resulted in the landing at Brown's Ferry and the Battle of Wauhatchie (October 29, 1863). The much shorter "Cracker Line" was opened, and sufficient supplies began to arrive to replenish the starving Union army.
Battle Map
Encampment The group stops along the side of a ridge used by Union troops as their encampment. Small indentations can still be seen today where the troops used dugouts to protect themselves from the weather and occasional Confederate artillery fire.
Up and down hills "Stretch out...." The "hardy and determined" walk along a service road to one of three hilltops on today's visit.
Fort Whitaker With help from a map, the group sees that the several hills walked on today formed what was unofficially referred to as "Fort Whitaker" (named after - and by - one of the Union field commanders here). Although this was primarily a Union artillery position, strong defensive works were erected to deter Confederate attack.
Ammo Supply Dugout The groups stands around a depression in the earth that once contained a dugout used for supplying ammunition for the artillery. Its size and shape indicate that it was built "by the book" - according to army regulations of the time.
Questions answered Jim fields a question from one of the younger folks as the groups returns from one of three Union artillery positions still visible.
Eastern side of Moccasin Bend Standing on the easternmost hill, the groups gets a nice view of the Tennessee River, Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge beyond. This position also served as a "wig wag" relay station used by the Signal Corps that kept Union high command informed of events and allowed orders to be transmitted when telegraph lines were inoperative.
Radio tower And, as if history doesn't repeat itself too often - a couple of decades ago, the top of this hill was bulldozed to facilitate a Chattanooga Police Department radio communications tower. Nice fortifications once here are now lost forever, except for a few depressions barely visible behind some of the undergrowth. Part of the radio tower can be seen just to the right of the picture.
Reading a soldier's letter Jim stops to read an actual account written by a Union soldier during his stay here.
One artillery section A view of Lookout Mountain as seen from the very same Union artillery position in 1863. A two-gun section here kept the pressure on Confederate forces crossing this portion of the mountain. It must be remembered that this area was a major fortification and that years of erosion have reduced the mounds, rotted the timbers and filled in the gun pits. Confederate reports indicated that these guns were almost invisible to them and only became so when they fired at the mountain.
Sighting the guns A closeup view of Lookout Mountain from one of the gun positions. This is as real as it gets for now when trying to visualize this Union position and Confederate positions on Lookout Mountain. It is hoped that a section of Napoleon cannon can be placed here in this very same spot previously occupied by Union artillery.
Teaching & Learning With Lookout Mountain barely visible through the trees, Jim Ogden teaches the group the importance that this particular area played in helping Union forces retain their hold on Chattanooga. Although the Mountain looms well above this area, the fact that Union artillery at the Bend severely limited Confederate access to roads across the face of Lookout Mountain greatly helped to pry loose the Confederate hold on land west of Lookout Mountain.
rifle pits Although these infantry rifle pits saw no action, Union infantry was used to support the artillery positions here, just in case Confederate forces were to attack from across the Tennessee River. Lookout Mountain can be seen in the background right at a distance of one mile and well within range of the field pieces of the time.
View of Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain comes to a point on the north end. This was a very familiar sight for Union troops occupying Moccasin Bend during the two-month siege.