A Hood's eye view of Horseshoe Ridge

          It is a quiet spot on most days. The trees stand without much molestation. A small road is nearby and a sign near the road directs visitors toward the exact location.

          The area is in the midst of a national park and it is a common occurrence to see wildlife cavorting during your visit. Somehow, the deer and squirrels lend calm to the scene, even as they cavort. It is cavortingly calm, one might say. The animals can cavort completely free of concern about the humans they see because weapons are not allowed in these environs. There is no hunting.

          It seems odd that weapons are not allowed here because for two days in 1863, this was one of the most weapon-rich, violent places on the Earth. It is the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in northern Georgia, site of the terrible Civil War battle of Chickamauga.

          The spot in question is the site where Confederate General John Bell Hood was wounded on September 20, the second day of the fighting. Hood’s injury knocked him out of the fighting and marked an important moment in the battle but it is not part of the story we consider here.

          Of interest now is the location and the view it provides because from here the visitor can see the hill that is home to the South Carolina monument (the monument itself is hidden by another group of trees) and behind the monument is Horseshoe Ridge.

          Horseshoe Ridge! Lesser known than Gettysburg’s Little Round Top or Cemetery Ridge, Chickamauga’s Horseshoe Ridge none-the-less holds a place in American military history among the most desperate of engagements.

          From the spot where Hood was wounded, one can look across Dyer Field. Many Confederates had to stride across that field to reach the fighting on the Ridge. Late in the day, sometime shortly after 4 p.m., the men of Hilliard’s Legion came into the field. Part of General Archibald Gracie’s brigade, the Legion had not seen combat before.

          There is a small marker on the piece of ground where Hood suffered his wound. He was long off the field when Gracie and his command turned to face the Ridge and began the march toward history, but you can see the field from Hood’s marker. Gracie’s men accomplished something thousands of other Confederate soldiers failed to do when they pushed the Federal defenders off the brows of the Ridge’s Hills 1 and 2.

          The casualty count for Gracie’s men was very high, especially among members of the Legion. They paid a terrible price for their success.

          Looking out over Dyer’s Field, a visitor can imagine the minutes before the Legion mounted its charge up those hills. Gracie’s men had listened to the sounds of battle for two days by then. They heard the crash of artillery and the rattle of smaller

The Hood marker is at the bottom of this image. The hill
in the distance leads toward Horseshoe Ridge. The
 South Carolina monument is near the top of the grassy
 portion of the hill.

arms. Beyond that, they heard all the human sounds; the piercing Rebel Yell and the screaming and moaning of the wounded. Sometimes cheering broke out somewhere in the distance.

          From the field the Legionnaires could see and smell the smoke from artillery fire, more smoke from rifle fire and even smoke from small brush fires sparked by all that weaponry.

          As Gracie’s men prepared to march toward the front line the impact of the sights, sounds and smells must have become all the more personal. The Legion would shortly be ordered to move up the distant hill and into the trees, facing a determined enemy and long odds.

          Now, 15 decades later, we can stand where Hood was wounded and stare into the past. We can try to imagine what the soldiers felt as they prepared to go into battle for the first time.



The final yards toward the edge of the top of Hill 1 of Horseshoe
Ridge at Chickamauga.

          Drive a short distance from the spot where Hood fell and the opportunity presents itself to imagine a different experience: Defending those hills. Your loyal blogger understands that there were two sides to the bloody battle of Chickamauga. The losses on both sides were monumental and credit is due to the Federal soldiers who defended the line on the Ridge while virtually every ranking officer in the Federal Army of the Cumberland raced away from the fighting toward the safety of Chattanooga.

          The Federal line was in front of Gracie’s Brigade and the men of Hilliard’s Legion as they faced the hills of the Ridge for the first time. The men of the Legion didn’t know they were about to make history, but they could probably guess the cost.

          Imagine that some time.

 

          Thanks for reading.