Georgia: Vice president to attend battle commemoration

Vice President Dick Cheney loves American history but has a special interest in the Battle of Chickamauga, historian Brad Quinlin says.

The vice president’s great-grandfather, Samuel Fletcher Cheney, was a Union lieutenant with the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, seeing action at the crucial Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia in September 1863.

“His interest is in his great-grandfather’s service” and in the other men who served in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Mr. Quinlin said Tuesday.

Vice President Cheney will share that interest this month, speaking at the opening day ceremony for the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga, his Assistant Press Secretary Jamie Hennigan confirmed Tuesday.

The three-day series of re-enactments, living history demonstrations and other events is set for Sept. 19-21 in McLemore Cove, said Ed Hooper, Civil War historian and event organizer.

John Culpepper, Chickamauga’s city manager and a Civil War re-enactor, said having the vice president attend the anniversary is thrilling.

“Here is the second most powerful man in the world actually coming to where his ancestor fought,” he said. “It shows the War Between the States touches many people.”

During the Battle of Chickamauga, Lt. Samuel Cheney was an aide to Third Brigade Commander Col. William Sirwell, Mr. Quinlin said. For part of the battle, the lieutenant moved away from the major fighting with Gen. James S. Negley’s division, historians said.

“There are numerous letters that describe his command,” Mr. Quinlin said of Samuel Cheney. “They called him ‘Cheney — true as grit, brave as always.’”

Mr. Quinlin said he has spent decades studying the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry and has developed a personal relationship with Mr. Cheney — visiting the White House five times — based on their common interest.

“His office is filled with original paintings of former presidents he admires,” Mr. Quinlin said. “When you get him in a discussion of the 21st Ohio, he goes very much in-depth.”