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Georgia: Cove redeems history with re-enactment

By: Chloé Morrison
(Contact)

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John Culpepper

DAVIS CROSSROADS, Ga. — When thousands of visitors descend upon this spot in McLemore Cove this month for events marking the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga, they will be on hallowed and historic ground, officials said.

“I knew that piece of property was key to the battle,” Ed Hooper, Civil War historian and event organizer, said about choosing the location.

The 849-acre plot of property is well south and west of what is typically considered the battlefield and protected in the nation’s first historical park.

The tract is called Andrews Farm and belonged to Bob Andrews, according to John Culpepper, Civil War re-enactor and historian and the city manager of the town of Chickamauga.

When Mr. Andrews died he had no family to leave it to, so he put it in a private trust. Mr. Culpepper worked to help organizers gain access to the land for the anniversary events, he said.

McLemore Cove, tucked in a gap between Pigeon and Lookout mountains, is the ideal location for the three-day series of re-enactments, living history demonstrations and other events set for Sept. 19-21, officials said.

The land’s central, yet rural location, and historic value made it the perfect pick, officials said.

the history

The site was a land of missed opportunities for Confederate forces in the days leading up to the Battle of Chickamauga, Mr. Culpepper said.

On Sept. 8, 1863, Maj. Gen. James Negley’s Union division marched into the cove, not expecting any Confederate opposition, historians said. His troops were surprised when they were soon confronted by Confederates.

Gen. Negley pulled back and called for support. During the night he adjusted his game plan.

Seeing that Gen. Negley’s troops were surrounded, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg ordered two commanders to move in on him.

“When Bragg discovered that he had this isolated division in McLemore Cove, with no one to support him, then he had him right where he wanted them,” Mr. Culpepper said. “The Confederates did attack. That is where you had the Battle of Davis Crossroads or the Battle of Dug Gap, they call it.”

Although they had attacked, it was too late to truly capitalize on the Union division’s vulnerable situation. Miscommunication and reluctance from commanders, caused Gen. Bragg to miss a chance which could have turned the momentum to the Confederates, Mr. Culpepper said.

“If everything went like Gen. Bragg had planned, the great Battle of Chickamauga could have happened right there where we are going to have the event,” Mr. Culpepper said.

central, rural location

In addition to historic preservation and education, the event is about tourism, officials said. Mr. Culpepper wants each city surrounding the site to benefit economically from the influx of tourists who will come to the area.

He said participants and visitors will bring families and spend money in the surrounding areas.

No matter which direction visitors come from, they will be directed through at least one of the gateway cities — Chattanooga, LaFayette, Trenton and Chickamauga, Mr. Culpepper said.

Mr. Hooper added that proximity to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park also made the location ideal.

“That was a big selling point to me,” said Mr. Hooper, who spent six months searching for the right site. “It is only 30 minutes from Chattanooga, which made it ideal for us in the sense that it is a rural location. Basically, you couldn’t have found a better piece of property to do this reenactment on.”

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