McLemore’s Cove

A reenactment of the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia’s historic McLemore’s Cove. 2013

The Battle of Chickamauga happened in the wilderness of northwest Georgia in September 1863. The armies of the western theater of the Civil War had been playing a game of cat and mouse Cumberland Valley since that summer.

The Union Gen. William Roscrans, believing the Confederates in full retreat after giving up the City of Chattanooga, splits the Army of the Cumberland in an attempt to capture the fleeing rebels off guard. But the Confederates were not retreating, they were regrouping and preparing to meet the Union Army head on.

They met and fought here at McLemore’s Cove on Sept. 11th then disengaged – the Battle of Chickamauga eventually taking place a few miles north of this valley on September 19-21st 1863.

The Battle of Chickamauga is lesser known than some other Civil War battles but nevertheless is ranked as the second bloodiest encounter of the war.

Image and text by Michael Falco