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Chickamauga and Agricultural History

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  • Chickamauga and Agricultural History

    Pardon me if this is in the wrong thread, but I wanted to pass along an image that Chickamauga/Chattanooga Battlefield posted on Facebook this morning, and why their work in this area is so important. The park is currently working to restore the area to reflect the impact of period agriculture on the physical environment at the time of the battle by removing underbrush in order to show how free-grazing livestock effected the battlefield landscape. It's a great physical reminder about the importance of agriculture in the 19th century environment and how it shaped the world these soldiers came from, as well as fought in during the war.



    For those not on Facebook, it's an image of a wooded section of the park with no underbrush present, with this text:

    "Morning at Chickamauga Battlefield. Recent efforts at landscape restoration have made significant strides forward toward taking the battlefield back to the way it looked in 1863. Local farmers would have fenced in their crops, but fenced out their livestock, leaving horses, cows, sheep, goats, and other animals to graze in the woods. This cleared most undergrowth and low-hanging branches. Invasive species have since choked out most park viewsheds, but through hard work, the battlefield landscape is slowly turning back into its historic character. We hope this helps park visitors imagine what it might have been like for tens of thousands of young American men fighting for their lives in these woods nearly 150 years ago. (ws)"

    I appreciate the Park's efforts to recreate and preserve the actual physical environment as it was present in 1863 to the best of their ability.
    Bob Welch

    The Eagle and The Journal
    My blog, following one Illinois community from Lincoln's election through the end of the Civil War through the articles originally printed in its two newspapers.
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