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VOLUME CIII - NUMBER XXXVI
Reenactors, Spectators Enjoy
Battle Despite Rain Problems
Mud Changes Parking Plans; Camps Become Quagmires
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
Despite an introductory act
of heavy rain, minor flooding
and acres of mud, thousands of
Rebels and Yankees went at
each other with great en
thusiasm Saturday and Sun
day during the anniversary
reenactment of the Battle of
Chickamauga at Pennville.
As had ieen the case 125
years ago, the Confederates
whipped the Union troops and
sent them packing toward
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UNION ARMY (RIGHT) HOLDS OUT BEHIND RAIL FENCE ON “LAFAYETTE ROAD” UNTIL PRESSURE BECOMES TOO INTENSE
Left Photo Shows Vanguard Of Victorious Confederate Troops Taking Former Union Position Minutes Later
Vandals Trash Raccoon Recreation Spot
After watching four years
of hard work famaged or
destroyed continually by un
caring vandals, officials of the
Raccoon Recreatioon Assn. at
Berryton are about ready to
call it quits. If they do, restora
tion of the local swimming hole
will never become a reality.
Sam Cothran, who was
elected president of the group
last April after having served
as maintenance chairman since
the association was organized
in April, 1984, expressed his
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CHS FFA Wins
--See Page 3-B
Che msummerville News
Chattanooga, Tenn. But the
Southerners couldn't dislodge
remnants of the Federal army
from Snodgrass Hill, again a
repeat of actual events on Sept.
18-19, 1863.
SPECTATORS
Extraordinary crowds of
spectators failed to materialize
during:the weekend, apparent
hv because of a steady
ownpour that began Friday
afternoon and continued until
about two minutes before the
first battle at 2 p.m. Saturdag.
Skies threateneg more rain the
rest of the day and didn’t com
pletely clear on Sunday. The
possibility of additional rain
Disgusted Berryton Officials Are Almost Ready To Call It Quits
disgust after the latest incident
in Berryton. “We're just about
ready to take everytgfing down
(in the playground area) and
just keep the buildinf for those
who want to rent it for parties
inside,”’ Cothran said.
GRILL DESTROYED
The association’s members
built a concrete block and brick
barbecue pit behind the recrea
tion center building in Ber
ryton a few weeks a%:), he ex
plained. The concrete had hard-
FLOYD PARK SUPT. DERRELL RUSH WINS
Wife Gail Also Attended Atlanta Banquet
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1988
evidently scared away both
spectators and reenactors both
days.
i A 1 .p(::lcrilst-minutlfil crifsis
evelo; over parking after
the rain began fafiing. P%ans to
use a huge field on the west
side of U. S. Highway 27 had
to be scrapped when it
deteriorated into a muddy
mess. Chattooga County
Sheriff Gary McConnell and
Sgt. Joe Gossett of the Georgia
State Patrol at Rome came up
with a plan to have e?ectators
f)ark at three paved parking
ots in Summerville and Trion
and bus them to the reenact
ment site.
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ly time to dry before vandals
gl)rekthe grill apart, block by
ock. L
“They had to have made
some noise when they tore
down the barbecue grill,”
Cothran said, ‘“but nobody
ever sees anything or hears
anything or says anything.”
He and other members of the
association suspect that
youngsters living in the im
mediate area are the vandals
but they haven’t been caught.
The barbecue pit is just
Chickamauga Photos
See Pages 1-B, 8-B
© Copyright 1988 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
NUMBERS
Patrick Massengill, presi
dent of Napoleonic Tactics Inc.
(NTI), the Frivate consultini
groui that put the even
together for two non-profit
Civil War organizations, said
approximately 3,600 reenac
tors Farticipated in each of the
battle scenarios on Saturday
and Sunday. Some 4,300 had
%re-registered for the event.
etween 5,000. and 6,000 had
been expected earlier in the
summer.
About 3,600 spectators
braved rain and wuuf, to attend
the reenactment on Saturday,
Massengill said, an approx
imately 6,300 were present
about the last straw for
Cothran and other members of
the group. Thefi' had already
had an area on the bank of Rac
coon Creek cleared of under
brush in hopes of providing a
picnic table at the site, located
just north of the bridge.
SWIMMING HOLE
“We wanted to dredge the
creek out there because of all
the glass broken in the bottom
and then folks could agdin use
it as a swimming hole in the
Floyd Park Wins Second
Derrell Rush Honored At Atlanta Banquet
Derrell Rush, superinten
dent of James H. ‘“Sloppy”
Floyd State Park, won second
place in Georgia in the creative
planting com&etition sgon
sored by the Garden Club of
Georgia Inc.
The award was presented to
Rush at the second Georgia
Parks and Public Lands
awards dinner last Thursday at
the Carter Presidential Center
in Atlanta. Gail, his wife, at
tended the luncheon with
Rush. N :
Along with a framed cer
tificate, Rush also received a
cash award of S4OO.
The award was presented in
the mixed planting category by
the Ganfi’en Club and the
Georgia Department of
Natural Resources, a
€O-Sponsor.
PROGRAM
“The staff at James H.
Floyd State Park chose a pro-
Sunday afternoon. A crowd of
30,000 to 35,000 had been pro
jected earlier in the summer.
Roufih‘lg; 55 sutlers (authen
tic Civil War era merchants}
set 18) camp on the banks o
the Chattooga River, he con
tinued. A number of modern
merchants and food vendors
was located just behind the
spectator seating area.
LOST SHIRT
NTI may have lost its
financial shirt on the event,
said Massengill and his wife,
Nancy, vice Plfesident of the
organization. They weren't ex
pected to have a final talley on
see REENACTORS, page 9-A
summer and churches would
have a nice place to do their
baptizin% in. But now after
three or four years of fighting
it, we're just about too
dis%xsted to try.”
andals have taken delight
in tearing down everything the
association has worked for
since its creation in the spring
of 1984, Cothran said.
Both the Georgia state flag
and the United States flag
were stolen at one point by
see VANDALS, page 10-A
Lect that enhanced a sloped
ard clay hillside visible from
most of the park,” the official
grogram reads. “In addition,
hey added two mini-flower
meadows and three beauty
spots. Due to the drought,
several Saturdays were spent
hauli.t:g 800 gallons of water
from the lake onto the beds us
ing 55-gallon drums. The
flowered areas have minimized
the task of mowinf a
dangerously steep hillside
while checking erosion and ad
ding a seasonal display of col
or.
Bobby Chisolm, assistant
superintendent, and staffer
David_ :’dadgelt‘t were also
reco in the program.
: 'IE aloo StatepPark won
first pface in the category and
Reed Bingham State Park
received honorable mention.
PRESIDED
Mrs. Charles O. Smith Jr.,
) 5 oKy 2
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Staff Photo By Tommy Toles
VALIANT SOLDIER MOVES INTO THE MORNING MIST ON SUNDAY
Heroism, Sacrifices Of Union, Confederate Armies Demonstrated
Rebels Win Again
No Surprises In Reenactment
The only surprises involv
ing the 125th anniversary
reenactment of the Battle of
Chickamauga during the past
weekend involved the weather.
The Confederacy again won
its last great victory of the
War Between the States. The
big difference this time was
that the soldiers who were
“wounded”’ or who ‘died”
Saturday or Sunday got ufi and
walked away after the fighting
ended.
In the battle of Sept. 19-20,
1863, 33,000 soldiers became
casualties of the bloodiest war
in U. S. history. Of the total,
18,000 were Southerners.
REELING
But the Union Army was
sent reelin% north to Chat
tanoo%a, enn. Had Con
federate Gen. Braxton Bragg
pursued the Federal troops as
urged by his subordinates, the
outcome of the war might have
been different. Many historians
feel, however, that a Con
federate victory at Chat
tanooga would have delayed
the war for another year and
president of the Garden Club of
Georgia Inc., presided at the
session last week.
Mrs. Thorne Winter Jr.,
Dogwood District director of
the Garden Club, greeted those
resent while Mrs. Robert S.
grown, co-chairman of parks
and Eublic lands enhancement
for the club, recognized judges
for the contest and the DNR
staff.
Burt Weerts and Chuck
Gregory of the DNR'’s Parks,
Recreation and Historic Sites
Division presented a slide pro
gram on the finalists.
J. Leonard Ledbetter, com
missioner of the DNR,
presented the awards, along
with O. R. Cothran 111, direc
tor of the DNR’'s Parks,
Recreation and Historic Sites
Division, and Mrs. A. Robert
Johnson, co-chairman of the
Garden Club's Parks and
Public Lands Enhancement
see FLOYD PARK, page 10-A
State Eyes Landfill
--See Page 3-A
resulted in thousands more
deaths on both sides of the
Mason-Dixon line.
Before the battle began
Saturday, the Union Army —
outnuml‘;ered this time by
about a four to one ratio —
marched in ranks to the north
end of the battlefield. Con
federate troops remained
behind and northeast of
“‘Snodgrass Hill.”
SKIRMISH
Just as was the case with
the original battle, a few Union
Cavalrymen stumbled onto a
Confed}e,arate unit. A brief skir
mish resulted and it was
reported to the Union com-
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YOUNGSTER CUTS LOOSE WITH OWN CANNON
During Battlefield Excitement Sunday
PRICE 25*
mander, who ordered a few of
his troops to seize what was
thought to be a small Con
federate unit.
But the blue-clad soldiers
ran into a firestorm and called
for reinforcements. When the
reinforcements moved south
toward the sound of gunfire,
the huge Confederate Army
made its ap;lxzarance, drawing
partisan applause and cheering
from the spectators.
As the battle progressed,
the Confederate artiller{,
cavalry and infantry slowly
drove the Union Army back to
near the Brotherton cabin at
the west end of the battlefield.
see REBELS, page 8-A