Orchard Knob Reservation: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, National Park Service

Styles, Sean; Goetcheus, Cari; Hasty, David

Orchard Knob Reservation, a component landscape of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, occupies a full block within the city limits of Chattanooga. Surrounded by an urban residential neighborhood, the site is located on a prominent knoll near the base of Missionary Ridge. The 7.4-acre block marks the site of the forward observation post and artillery position of the Confederate lines during the Civil War battle, and it later served as the headquarters for Union General Ulysses S. Grant. It was from here that he directed the Army of the Cumberland as it advanced against Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. The sight-lines between Missionary Ridge, Orchard Knob, and Lookout Mountain were critical to the conduct of the battle. Orchard Knob Reservation is significant for associations with the Civil War as its topography, strong battle associations, and views to other key landforms influenced battle operations. The reservation was developed as a cornerstone of the park, demonstrating that its significance is also attached to the commemoration of these Civil War-era events through the establishment of the first national military park. The various units of the entire park are designed landscapes that reveal a great deal about landscape design practices of the 1890s through the 1930s, as well as trends and concepts in memorialization through sculpture and architecture. Vehicular access to the site is via the city streets bounding the reservation. The entire site is enclosed by a cut limestone wall, with crenelated entrance pillars and decorative iron gates opening to the southeast corner on Orchard Knob Avenue. The gated gravel and asphalt entrance drive with decorative iron pedestrian gates leads up to the crest of the hill, the focal point of the landscape, where three state monuments (Illinois, New York, and Maryland) and associated tablets and cannon are clustered in a lawn. Curvilinear, gravel and asphalt footpaths lead up the hill to this open space.Two state monuments (Wisconsin and New Jersey) are located to the left of the entrance drive. Numerous smaller state monuments are located at the foot of the site and can be viewed from the roads, and monuments were allowed to commemorate troops whose positions were outside park boundaries. Remnants of breastworks are located down the western slope. Historically, the Park Commission maintained the summit as lawn and kept the slopes largely cleared of dense understory in order to preserve views of Missionary Ridge to the east and Lookout Mountain to the west, reflecting the importance of this visual connection during the battle. Benches are located in areas that command views. According to historic photographs, the site was extremely bare at the time of the dedication. Scattered trees, mostly cedars with some hardwoods, dotted the site. In the late 1990s, there were areas of maintained grass along the walls on all four edges of the reservation and at the summit surrounding the monuments. Other than these small grass patches, the majority of the reservation was dominated by a mixed woodland and light understory. This vegetation has since been removed leaving a scattering of trees with little understory growth, bearing a closer resemblance to its historic design intent and restoring views. The reservation retains the overall spatial organization established by the Park Commission, a commemorative overlay of the battle-era topography, vegetation patterns, and historic long views. It retains integrity as a contributing resource to the military park in terms of its characteristics dating to the time of the battle, and also through the design, materials, and workmanship of the commemorative era infrastructure and monuments. The feeling and setting of the reservation have been improved in recent years with the clearing of a succession of trees and undergrowth.

Orchard Knob Reservation: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, National Park Service

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