Aretha Frankenstein and the Chickamauga Battlefield

Friday morning we would depart from Chattanooga and begin our journey home.  But there would still be some trip highlights before leaving town.  We had a great French Toast breakfast at a unique eatery across the Tennessee River, Aretha Franklinstein's.  This place would fit in nicely in Chapel Hill or any true college town.  And I mean that in the very best way.  We loved the atmosphere and decor, and the waitress and chef both gave us special attention.  Here's the entrance to the small frame house which now houses a highly popular local restaurant.

I love places where you can study the paraphernalia on the walls as you await your food.  There were posters, novelties, and curiosities wall-to-wall.  But this was no Cracker Barrell.  In fact, it reminded me of some of my own "collections."

After a brief drive-through to see the Riverwalk on the north side of the river, we checked out and followed Market Street out of town.  That gave us one last photo op of Lookout Mountain.  I doubt it will be the last time we see it.  If we live long enough, that is.

A few minutes later we arrived at Chickamauga National Military Park, about 12 miles south of Chattanooga.  This was our nation's first military park, envisioned by two Union soldiers who fought here and returned to visit in 1888.  Two years later, Congress enacted the park.  The dramatic visual program at the visitor's center was one of the best and most instructive I've seen.

The story of the battle is fascinating, but I won't attempt to chronicle it here.  It was one of, if not the bloodiest day of fighting in the entire Civil War.  Legend has it that "Chickamauga" is a Cherokee word meaning "River of Death."  There were 34,000 casualties and 3,969 deaths in a single day of fighting, almost incomprehensible when we read the statistics of our contemporary conflicts, which are grim enough.

This would be the last major victory for the Confederacy, but it would only delay the fall of Chattanooga a couple of months.  Like Atlanta, Chattanooga was a railroad center.  Its population was quite low in those days, but its strategic importance was huge.  In the end, southern valiance might carry a day of fighting, but the well-supplied and superior Union forces were irresistible.

This tower was the most striking scene we saw on the 7 mile self-directed driving tour of the battlefield.  There were monuments everwhere, but this was the only one you could actually climb.  It was named the Wilder Tower after Union Colonel John Wilder, whose troops made a brave but vain effort to thwart General Longstreet's advancing rebels. 

I climbed the spiral stone steps of the 85-foot monument to survey Chickamauga from above.  It seemed much higher.  From the observation platform on the top you could see far in all directions.  I knew that Atlanta was only a two hour car drive from this spot now.  But in the Civil War, the north's campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta would take months.  It would break the back of the south signal the inevitable end of the war.

Far below the towering monument you can see my and Judy's car on the tree-shaded avenue.  With cars touring and visitors strolling the grounds, I tried to envision a very different scene some 140+ years ago.  It wasn't really within my capability.  But this battlefield and Gettysburg seem to be the best-preserved ones I've seen.  Each monument represented hundreds if not thousands of sacrifices.

The most interesting footnote about this monument was one I didn't read until we were home and I was perusing one of my travel books on Georgia.  It stated that the Colonel Wilder of this monument settled in Chattanooga after the war and in 1876 the townspeople elected him mayor.  Remember, Wilder was a UNION general! 

After I descended from the Wilder Tower, we were soon on interstate and homeward bound.  One more post should wrap up this trip.  Thanks for dropping by.