Dear Study Group Attendees:

Thank you once again for turning out for our annual expedition to Chickamauga. The bus has again been a solid success, and we have accumulated a surplus over and above the costs of transportation.

This year, we had a surplus of $660. This year, after discussing the needs of the park with Jim Ogden and other interpretive staff, I decided that the best use of these funds would be to help improve the park library. While no park is ever fully funded to meet every demand, and needs will always outweigh resources, I wanted our contribution to align with our state mission: To provide a scholarly, in-depth examination of the events that occurred at the CCNMP.

Currently, the park has no budget specifically dedicated to purchasing new scholarly works written concerning the battle or about the men who fought there. In recent years, a number of excellent works - mostly regimental histories - have been published, bringing to light new accounts and primary sources that address the battles for Chattanooga.

I have begun an ongoing effort to obtain the best of these works and donate them to the park library, using the Study Group Funds. So far, we have added ten volumes to the shelves, with more on the way.

Here is a list so far:

"The Battle Rages Higher" Kirk C. Jenkins, 15th Kentucky (Union)
"My Brave Mechanics, The First Michigan Engineers" Mark Hoffman
"The Civil War Letters of Joshua K Calloway" Judith Lee Hallock, Ed. (28th Alabama)
"Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Roster" Bruce Allerdice
"August Willich's Gallant Dutchmen" Joseph R. Reinhart, (32nd Indiana)
"History Of The 90th Ohio Volunteer Infantry" Scott Cameron
"Campaigning With Uncle Billy: The Civil War Memoirs of Sgt. Lyman S. Widney, 34th Illinois Volunteer Infantry"
       Robert I. Girardi
"The Golden Age Of Battlefield Preservation" Timothy B. Smith
"The Pride of the Confederate Artillery" Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, (Slocomb's Battery, Washington Artillery)
"Keep The Flag To The Front" Bill McFarland, (8th Kansas)

All of these worthy additions would not have been possible without your willingness to join us for our "study in the woods" and I thank you for being a part of our group.

Dave Powell