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Field Study Trip Chattanooga and Chickamauga

Chickamauga and Chattanooga
Thursday, Sept. 19 – Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013

Travel to Chickamauga for its 150th commemorative anniversary. Walk the battlefield that brought over 100,000 men together where they vied for control of northwestern Georgia and southeastern Tennessee. In our time there, we’ll explore such sites as Brotherton Field where James Longstreet’s Confederate attack almost destroyed the Federal Army of the Cumberland. We’ll cover Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge where Union Major General George H. Thomas made his army-saving stand. And, we’ll spend time at the Visitor’s Center which houses the Fuller Gun Collection, one of the most impressive in the country. 

At all sites, you’ll bear witness to the dramatic action then and there, and you’ll begin to understand why the battle in northwestern Georgia was the bloodiest two-day battle during the American Civil War. As an added bonus, we’ll visit the battlefield at Chattanooga, Tenn., which will be celebrating its sesquicentennial in November of 2013. Chattanooga was the “Key to East Tennessee” and, as Major General William T. Sherman later demonstrated, the “Gateway to the Deep South.”

While at Chattanooga, we’ll visit Lookout Mountain where the “Battle Above the Clouds” was fought, make a stop at Orchard Knob and drive you along Missionary Ridge where one of the most famous infantry charges of the Civil War took place. Of course, at both military parks, we’ll take advantage of Visitor Centers and their resources to give you more insight into these two major battles. 

That being said, Chickamauga will be our focus since the timing of our visit will coincide with the military park’s 150th anniversary events. As we head our way west, we’ll also feature lunch at the Deerpark Restaurant on the Biltmore Estate. Make your plans to embrace both history and the color and feel of autumn. 

(This tour requires extensive walking.)

The trip itinerary is subject to change based on details the National Park Service provides as the departure date approaches and more event details are finalized.

Space is limited. If you are interested in this tour, please contact Douglass Payne ’04 at (919) 962-0313 or douglass_payne@unc.edu.

Lecturer: Fred W. Kiger ’74 (’77 MAT)
Location: Departs from Chapel Hill
Tuition: $760; Carolina Alumni members pay only $730 (Rooms are based on double occupancy – additional $225 for single-room accommodation.)

Refund for field-study trip: All cancellations for any reason whatsoever will be subject to a $100 cancellation fee. Cancellations made after Aug. 22 will result in a 100 percent forfeiture of the entire cost of the trip, unless you are able to find someone else to book the trip in your place.

This rate includes three-nights lodging, all site fees, seven meals in Chattanooga and transportation to and from Chapel Hill.

Fred W. Kiger ’74 (’77 MAT) leads our Civil War battlefield study programs and teaches several GAA courses each semester. He is the creator of the field guide The Civil War: A History of the War Between the States (Workman) and has two degrees from UNC, a bachelor’s in history and a master of arts in teaching with an emphasis in history.