The FReeper Foxhole Profiles The Little Steamboat That Opened The "Cracker Line" - Nov. 24th, 2003

http://www.qmfound.com/ ^

[Soaring Feather]

1911 Kirby Grant Butte MT, actor (Sky King)

I used to listen to Sky King on the radio every Saturday morning. There was an offer to send in a box top to get a Sky King ring. I sent for it and had that ring for years. I loaned it to a woman for a festival she was going to be in and never saw the ring again. It was a Robins Egg Blue/Green stone. Probably would be worth some money today. :-(

This taught me not to lend anything I valued.

[Soaring Feather]

Interesting read, thanks for the ping.

My cousin Ruth, retired a Captain from the Army some years back.

[SCDogPapa]

Considering the times, they're lucky they didn't run into a Union commander who decided they were spies.

That's true. They could have been shot, hung or turned out to the men. They were lucky.

[snippy_about_it]

like .60 and .48 calibers
(one larger one, and one smaller one)

LOL.

So do you still have them or did they go the way of most childhood toys. :(

[snippy_about_it]

We're glad you enjoy them. My favorites are still WWII and Vietnam yet there is fascinating information out there about each era.

[Johnny Gage]

Acutally, I may still have them in one of several boxes of "miscelaneous" stuff from my childhood.

[SAMWolf]

My son picked up some bullets at a Civil War Re-enactment a few years back. I'd hate to have been hit by one of those.

[SAMWolf]

A Virtual State of Siege

Rosecrans’s beaten army dug in at Chattanooga in a virtual state of siege. Food for men and horses dwindled to starvation level. Confederates on Lookout Mountain watched the approaches to Chattanooga and they could stop any movement of supplies along the road and railway that passed by the foot of the mountain. The north reacted swiftly to the plight of the hungry army in Chattanooga. U. S. Grant himself was shortly on the way. Grant relieved Rosecrans and gave the Army of the Cumberland to George Thomas, the hero of bloody Chickamauga.

Establishing the “Cracker Line”

Grant’s first task was to open a supply line into beleaguered Chattanooga. A route bypassing Lookout Mountain was available if Confederate outposts west of the mountain could be eliminated. Some Federal troops moved overland and others, under cover of darkness, drifted past Lookout Mountain in flatboats to drive the Confederates away from Brown’s Ferry. The so-called “cracker line” was quickly put into operation, to the joy of the famished garrison in Chattanooga.

“Battle above the Clouds”

Grant planned a three-pronged attack against the besieging Confederates, from Lookout Mountain on the Federal right to Missionary Ridge in front and on the left. Fighting Joe Hooker’s corps was given the task of clearing the Confederates off Lookout Mountain. Hooker’s men greatly outnumbered the Mountain’s defenders and by late afternoon of November 24, 1863, Northern flags were flying on the heights. The conquest of Lookout Mountain looked more spectacular than it actually was, but war correspondents thrilled the North with their descriptions of the “Battle above the Clouds.”

Last Link of the Supply Line

The swiftly developing movements of the Federal Army could now be adequately supported. In October, Army engineers had thrown a stout wagon bridge over the Tennessee, completing the last link of the supply line into Chattanooga.

[snippy_about_it]

SAM, you king of scrounging!!! These are beautiful paintings and good additions to the story. How do you do it?

I know, I know...you'll never tell. :)

THANKS.

[SAMWolf]

Scrounger's secret.

[Darksheare]

I'm in.
I see that Sam's finding things allover the planet again.
*chuckle*

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon Darksheare. Yep, I guess when you've "got it" you've got it! SAM's got scrounging talent like no other. :)

[Darksheare]

*chuckle*
Yeah, true enough.
Sometimes I'll use 'alltehweb' image search to find stuff.
Sometimes.
It depends on what the search is for.

[snippy_about_it]

Heck, I used to think I was good at it, then I met SAM. Now I consider myself mediocre. LOL.

[Darksheare]

I know I'm nowhere near as good as that!

[GailA]

Afternoon

[SAMWolf]

Hiya Darksheare. How's your BIOS?

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon GailA. Good one today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon Gail, that's a pretty presentation of our flag.