Two Chattanoogans will be honored today for their work over the last 10 years to preserve more than 500 acres of land where major battles occurred during the Civil War.
Bobby Davenport Jr. and Rick Wood will be recognized by officials with the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association, who also will tour land recently added to the Chicka-mauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
Staff Photo by Gillian Bolsover Bobby Davenport, left, former director of the Chattanooga office of the Trust for Public Land, and Rick R. Wood, the office’s current director, look out over the land the trust purchased on the western flank of Lookout Mountain. The two men will receive the Robert A. Ragland Award Saturday from the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association for their work in acquiring land for preservation.
Mr. Davenport and Mr. Wood “capture the essence of community preservation,” said Mary Ann Peckham, executive director of the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association. “They have worked tirelessly to protect lands on Moccasin Bend and Lookout Mountain.”
The largest piece of land that Mr. Davenport and Mr. Wood were involved in buying is 382 acres on the western flank of Lookout Mountain. The property was purchased in three parcels from CSX Railroad Co. with $4.8 million in congressional appropriations over three years.
The area was crossed by 3,600 Union troops on Nov. 24, 1863, before they forded Lookout Creek and worked their way up Lookout Mountain to help drive Confederate troops off their perch above Chattanooga and the Tennessee River.
For the first time, the public can view the land today while park historian Jim Ogden discusses the area’s historic significance. The entire parcel isn’t easily accessible yet, but Mr. Ogden said park officials eventually want to host tours of the property and the entire Lookout Mountain Battlefield.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Viewing of new battlefield land
WHEN: 2 p.m. Today
WHERE: Meet at Humphreys House at Reflection Riding, 400 Garden Road
INFORMATION: 706-866-9241
THE STORY SO FAR
More than a decade ago, national park historian Jim Ogden did a Civil War site assessment of the Chattanooga area, identifying all the historically valuable parcels of land. Since then, Bobby Davenport and Rick Wood, with the Trust for Public Land, have worked to help preserve those parcels. In 2007, a 382-acre parcel was acquired and added to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, at the western flank of the Lookout Mountain Battlefield.
Mr. Davenport said he can’t take all the credit for the acquisitions and preservation work.
“As much as anything, it is to recognize people like Jim Ogden, who have dedicated their whole lives to keeping this stuff alive,” he said. “Without his incredible knowledge, we wouldn’t know where to go.”
Mr. Wood said protecting historic land is needed, in part, so future generations can learn the stories of their ancestors.
“You read it in the textbook, and that is one thing,” he said. “But seeing it and having a story told about that piece of land and what happened on that piece of land is really what gets me excited.”
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Hurrah to these folk who have taken back a piece of history for our next generations in one of the most pivitol points of the Civil War.