After a break for lunch, the group reassembled at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitors Center.

Back on the bus, the group is prepared to head to Alexander Bridge.

Alexander farm: the house, with several related out-buildings stood on the hill to the right of the group. The trees visable here were not around at the time of the battle. From this hill, and for several hundred yards south and beyond Chickamauga Creek, Wilder's men and Eli Lilly's Battery had an open field of fire to defend the creek crossing at Alexander's Bridge.

Along the way south to Alexander's Bridge, the group paused to hear about Company A of the 72nd Indiana and their unfortunate bout with Walthall and Forrest's Confederates. Company A was on the verge of being outflanked by Confederates who had made it across the creek downstream from the bridge. To prevent their horses from falling into Confederate hands, other units from Wilder's own men fired on the horses that had been corralled here in a small depression. It was not a welcomed sight when the men of Company A fell back from the bridge only to find most of the horses dead. Most of the men eventually did make it back into friendly lines.

Looking north from the south side of Alexander's Bridge, the group learns that Wilder's men did not destroy the bridge to prevent it from being crossed by the Confederates. Instead, they pulled up the planks which kept men, horses, wagons and artillery from using it while at the same time kept open the possibility of it being used again by Union forces should some future opportunity present itself.

Because of advancing Confederates from the north and east of Alexander's Bridge, Wilder's men were forced to move further west. We stopped at the eastern edge of Viniard Field and examined the battle maps. Here, Jim points to where the Viniard House once stood on the west side of LaFayette Road. North is toward the bottom of the map; west is the right side.

The Viniard House stood in the clump of trees in the center of the photo. After crossing Chickamauga Creek, the Confederates assembled several infantry brigades to help push Wilder back across LaFayette Road (which is at the end of this field just before the trees). A rather strong battle resulted here, which denied the Confederates access to the road at this spot.

Following the talk here, the group walked further west, crossed LaFayette Road, and entered the next field barely visible behind the monuments in this photo. We closely followed the blue lines shown on the map as Wilder fell back across LaFayette Road.

Fortunately, the group avoided contact with this little black & white park visitor. From the determined and concentrated efforts of his digging, it was obvious to all that this creature was an experienced hunter ("relic hunter" perhaps?). Even the park rangers in our group did not appear too eager to thwart his efforts - much to the relief of all riding the bus!

After crossing the LaFayette Road, the group passed by the Heg monument that marks the spot where Colonel Heg fell during the brutal action here. The wood line in the background is where Wilder's men repositioned themselves after leaving Viniard Field. Again, the fields would play an important part in Wilder's choice of ground for his men - open fields allowed him to see the approach of the enemy and would give him time to react accordingly.

Wilder's Brigade formed in these woods. From here they fired into the left flank of the 39th North Carolina when it crossed LaFayette Road on the afternoon of the 19th. It was also here that Wilder's men were told to "make way for Sheridan, make way for Sheridan" as that division walked through Wilder's line toward Viniard Field. Shortly afterwards, Sheridan is repulsed by Trigg's Confederates and Wilder's men are heard to say "make way for Sheridan, make way for Sheridan" as his division falls back through Wilder!

While along the tree line, the group took a moment to view the 18th Indiana Battery monument (which can be seen in the right edge of the above photo). This monument (closeup at left) was hand carved by one of the battery's participants, Sidney Speed. He had gained grateful notoriety earlier in the day when the battery was in position at the Alexander House defending the Alexander Bridge crossing. A Confederate artillery shell landed among his section, but before it exploded, Speed picked up the hissing shell and threw it over one of the Alexander outbuildings. The shell did explode harmlessly on the other side.

In grateful acknowledgement of his heroic deed (and perhaps in taking advantage of Speed's sculpturing skill), the battery's veterans thought it most fitting to have him carve the battery's monument for Chickamauga. Its unusual detail makes it stand out from most unit monuments. But the fact that an actual participant in this battle carved the stone is most noteworthy in its own right!

The "L. B." at the top of the monument most likely stands for "Light Battery." However, it could also stand for "Lilly's Battery" or "Lightning Brigade."

Finally, what better place to end our day's tour with Wilder than at his tower! The Widow Glenn's house once stood here, just to the left of the tower. It caught on fire from artillery shells landing all around. From here, Wilder's command was ordered to escort Assistant Secretary of War Charles Dana to Chattanooga. This duty effectively ended Wilder's involvement during the rest of the Battle of Chickamauga.

But we did learn that Wilder, for a moment or two after the Confederate breakthrough, was considering charging north and cutting straight through Longstreet's command. Armed with those Spencer repeating rifles... who knows ...another one of the great "what ifs" of the War....