MIDDLE TENNESSEE CIVIL WAR TOURS

BATTLE OF HOOVER'S & LIBERTY GAP

JUNE 21, 2008
  This years tour will be held on Saturday, 21 June, 2008. The price per person will be $29.95 Please make your reservations as soon as possible. There is very limited seating and we are filling up fast. Call for availability. 931-389-6294 and ask for Laquitta or Connie. If you prefer email, contact us at, blockaderunner@midtnn.net

  This years tour will be held on the 145 Anniversary of the Battle of Hoover's Gap. Park your cars in the Blockade Runner parking lot. Don't forget you drinks, snacks or cameras! Your bus will leave from the Blockade Runner Store at 10:30 Saturday morning after a short briefing to familiarize you with the overall battle scenario. You will be riding in air conditioned comfort while we tour the country side, demonstrating the path the participants took to reach site of the conflicts. We will arrive at the Beech Grove Confederate Cemetery at approximately 11:30, from this position you will be able to observe the specific locations of the different regiments, both Union and Confederate, as Dr. Michael R. Bradley reveals the truth, the humanity and the horrors of the vicious fight. Such as how the 20th Tenn. Regt. of Infantry almost ceased to exist after charging the wall of lead which was dealt by Union General Wilder's lightning Brigade, armed with Spencer repeating rifles and used for the fist time in battle. Relating many personal tales as told by the soldiers who were there.   Lunch is included and will be served at the covered picnic area on site.

  After lunch, the bus will proceed through Rutherford County, showing the path taken by the Union forces of General Rosecrans as they approached the Arkansas Regiments who were "dug in" to defend Liberty Gap on that faithful day, 145 years ago. Of course Dr. Bradley will be pointing out specific sites along the way and telling of their significance as it relates to the Battle. Our bus will stop in the center of the Liberty Gap Battlefield in Bedford County where Dr. Bradley will relate the troop movements and some of the more fascinating stories and facts of the fight. Such as the first use of Irish born, CS General Patrick Cleburne's Whitworth Sharpshooters. Which the General recorded in his after action report as, "Doing their work at 1000 yards and further."

  You will be standing on the same hallowed ground which our brave ancestors fought and died for. The vistas have hardly changed. In large part you will view the same sites as the soldiers did. When there, it is not difficult to imagine the skirmishers working their way across the field as the cavalry scouts both flanks, with a little imagination you hear the cannons of Eli Lilly's "Jackass Battery" or his heavy Rodman guns as the command to fire is given repeatedly and death itself is unleashed upon the opposing charging infantry.

  Our bus will return to the Blockade Runner some time between 2 and 3 in the afternoon.

The Tullahoma Campaign June 1863

The Battle at Hoover's Gap & The Skirmish at Liberty Gap

PRIVATE TOURS AVAILABLE BY RESERVATION

  Step back into time with us as renowned author and historian Dr. Michael R. Bradley leads you on a driving tour of The June 1863 Tullahoma Campaign.
  Drive the scenic middle Tennessee country side stopping at key points of the engagement and listen to the tales of valor both north and south as Dr. Bradley takes you back to those desperate days in June of 1863 as only he can. You will stand where they stood, look across the same unchanged landscape as they did when they faced their foe. With a little imagination you'll be right there with them as Union General Willich loses another mounted courier to Confederate sharpshooters or as the 2nd Arkansas Regiments flag bearer is killed and rolls down Beechboard Hill into the union lines where there Regimental flag is captured.

  Although the Campaign is little known to the general public due to the fact that it took place on the same days as Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg it is arguably strategically more important than either as Middle Tennessee was the "bread basket", not only for the Army of Tennessee but huge shipments of beef and meal were shipped to Virginia on an almost daily basis. A loss the Confederacy could ill afford.
When President Abraham Lincoln heard of the Tullahoma Campaign he called it:
"The most brilliant piece of strategy that I know of".

  This campaign gave rise to such legends as General Patrick Cleburne's Whitworth Sharpshooters whose skill at long distance shooting was unmatched until the Vietnam war, and Wilder's Lightning Brigade, the first brigade to use the Spencer repeating rifles in a major campaign. The rifle the Confederates referred to as "The rifle the Yankee's could load on Sunday and shoot all week".

  General (later President) Garfield stayed in constant touch with the Generals in the field from the Army of the Cumberland Headquarters in Murfreesboro. General Rosecrans (overall commander) feigned a frontal assault and then quickly out flanked General Bragg, Polk and Hardee through Hoover's Gap resulting in the complete loss of Middle Tennessee for the Confederates. A running battle / rear guard action ensued that lasted until July 8th when Gen. Bragg crossed the mountain at Cowan Tn.

  Tour of Hoover's Gap leaves the Blockade Runner at 10:30 a.m., This tour includes a stop at The Beech Grove Confederate Cemetery, where we will stop for a picnic lunch (not provided). During the battle the cemetery was the location of Ely Lilly's Jackass battery. A battery of 12 lbs. mountain howitzers which protected Rosecran's left flank.

The tour then continues to Liberty Gap and returns at approximately 2 p.m.

For more information or to make reservations call the Blockade Runner at 931-389-6294 Blockade Runner is located on Hwy 269 half way between Bell Buckle and Wartrace.