Two strategically important railroads met in Chattanooga. The Western & Atlantic Railroad from Atlanta was finished in 1850. A few hundred yards away, it joined the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad, which was completed from Dalton, Georgia to Knoxville in 1855 and extended to Chattanooga in 1859. As efficient movers of troops and supplies, the Chattanooga rail junction became an important strategic objective for both Union and Confederate commanders. Multiple bridges of these railroads crossed Chickamauga Creek nearby. In November 1861, Union sympathizers attempted to burn the East Tennessee & Georgia bridge but found it too closely guarded; however, they successfully burned two nearby Western & Atlantic bridges. In April 1862, James Andrews and more than twenty Union soldiers in civilian disguise stole a train near Atlanta and headed northward, intending to burn these bridges behind them in the event known as the Great Locomotive Chase. Confederates captured the raiders before they reached the Chickamauga bridges and tried and executed Andrews and seven men. Confederate soldiers burned both bridges as they retreated from Chattanooga in November 1863, but failed to stall the Union army's pursuit. At the East Tennessee & Georgia stone arch bridge, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and his army discovered that only a temporary wooden section was burned. Grant's engineers repaired it in an hour, and the pursuit continued. After the war, new stone piers were installed to handle heavier trains, but the locations of the Chickamauga Creek crossings remain largely the same.

Photo: Leah Tibbs

Photo: Leah Tibbs

Photo: Leah Tibbs

Photo: Leah Tibbs

Photo: Leah Tibbs