More than 150 years after the Battle of Tunnel Hill, mounted cavalry will again charge across the grounds of Tunnel Hill near the historic Western & Atlantic railroad tunnel and 1850 Clisby Austin House. Cannons will boom and bugles sound as Union and Confederate soldiers again clash in North Georgia.
The Civil War’s Battle of Tunnel Hill is annually re-enacted on the weekend following Labor Day. Ken Sumner, who coordinates re-enactors and sutlers, says there will be as many as 350 re-enactors at the North Georgia site, along with two dozen mounted cavalry and 10 to 12 cannons.
Sumner says the purpose of the re-enactment is strictly educational. It’s to “tell the story of the citizen soldier.”
For example, six to eight sutlers will be set up at the re-enactment. Visitors can see authentic uniforms and muskets, see the type of metal plates and forks that soldiers carried with them. There will also be a blacksmith giving demonstrations.
Spectators take photographs during a re-enactment of the the Battle of Tunnel Hill at the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center.If you go
› What: Battle of Tunnel Hill re-enactment› Where: Tunnel Hill Heritage Center, 215 Clisby Austin Road, Tunnel Hill Ga.› When: Gates open 9 a.m. Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 9-10; 2 p.m. battle each day› Admission: $10 ages 13 and up› For more information: www.battleoftunnelhill.com