Blue and Gray Trail

A guide to Civil War sites in northwest Georgia and Chattanooga.  This area was the setting for some of the Civil War's most dramatic events.

In April 1862, James Andrews' train thieves raced along the Western and Atlantic Railroad, hotly pursued by Confederates.  In May 1863 near Rome, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest tracked down and captured Federal cavalry raiders.  Later that year, two armies clashed at Chickamauga - the biggest and bloodiest battle fought in the Western Theater.  Then came the legendary battles around Chattanooga - Lookout Mountain on November 24, 1863 and Missionary Ridge the following day.  And finally, northwest Georgia is the hub of the Atlanta Campaign - where U.S. General William T. Sherman's armies marched, battled and bullied against Confederate General Joseph Johnston's soldiers during the spring and summer of 1864.

Since the Civil War, many have marked these historic spots with monuments to Generals Johnston and Forrest and with roadside plaques and tablets.  You can find artifacts everywhere you go - bullets and uniforms displayed in museums.  There is the land itself, with features such as Tunnel Hill and Allatoona Pass.  There are battlefield parks from Chattanooga-Chickamauga to Kennesaw Mountain, areas where much blood was spilled.  Houses once used as wartime hospitals or generals' headquarters still stand.  Finally, history resides in cemeteries along the Trail, from Chattanooga to Marietta, where soldiers found their own little plot of North Georgia earth.

• See our brochure for more detailed information on the Blue and Gray Trail.

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