The Cravens House

Robert Cravens, an ironmaster, built the first house on this site in 1856. In the fall of 1863, Confederate troops occupied Lookout Mountain, and Cravens' house became the headquarters of Confederate Brig. Gen. Edward C. Walthall. On November 24, 1863, Union troops stormed the foggy slopes of Lookout Mountain in the famed "Battle Above the Clouds." Federal infantry pushed the outnumbered Confederates around the north end of the mountain and across Cravens Terrace, and as the Confederates fell back, the Cravens house fell into Union hands. Skirmishing ended there about dusk, and at 2 A.M. the Confederates, short on men and ammunition, withdrew from the mountain. At dawn, Union soldiers climbed to Point Lookout above and planted the U.S. flag. When Robert Cravens returned after the battle, he found little of his home standing except the basement, the chimney, and the stone dairy. Besides artillery damage, soldiers had stripped the house for souvenirs and firewood. The house standing there today was rebuilt by Cravens on the same site.

Chattanooga, Tennessee · United States