The Battle of Chickamauga - An Historic Walk of Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge

We will meet in the Visitor's Center!

From 12:30 pm to 7:00 pm on September 20, 1863, the wooded and hilly area around the small George Snodgrass farm was witness to one of the great defensive stands in the annals of the United States Army. After suffering the disintegration of the Army of the Cumberland’s center and right caused by a division being mistakenly ordered out of the line, the survivors of that attack gathered on the high ground west of their original battle line to attempt to stop the seemingly unstoppable Confederate assault. Shattered units were placed into a hastily improvised line on Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge and ordered to hold the ground at all costs. If they failed, the Army of the Cumberland could be completely destroyed, killed, or captured.

The Confederate Army of Tennessee was not familiar with battlefield success. Having been heavily reinforced from Mississippi and Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, they sensed that this was their one opportunity. If they could drive the Yankees off the ridge and then turn to destroy the Federals to the east in their Kelly House line breastworks, the war, even after Gettysburg and Vicksburg, could still be won. For Rebel and Yankee alike, this would be a battle in which both sides would fight desperately….the irresistible force meets the immovable object. As one Federal lieutenant who was a survivor of Horseshoe Ridge wrote, “Our assailants seemed to understand that our frail line was all they had to overcome to reach the rear and very heart of the horseshoe formation. There was that peculiar fierceness in the manner of the assault that men show when they realize that the supreme opportunity has presented itself, and are determined not to let it slip. And our boys could do nothing but set their teeth and fight, as for their lives.”

On March 9, 2023 you are invited to walk this historic ground. Our guide will be Robert Carter, author of The Fight for Snodgrass Hill and the Rock of Chickamauga, owner of Chickamauga Battlefield Tours (www.chickchattbattlefieldtours.com), and long time Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Volunteer. The walk will be 2.5 miles in length, and will take about 2.5 hours to complete the study. Be sure to wear good supportive footwear and dress according to local weather conditions that day. We’ll be in the Horseshoe Ridge area, so climbing moderate hills will be involved. Hope to see you there!