Ellington

Red Bank has identified two sites within the city for historical markers to be built as part of the Tennessee Civil War Trails program.

“It’s important to remember the history of our nation,” said Mayor John Roberts, as to why he wanted the city to be included in the program.

More than 1,000 interpretive markers have been installed in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Missouri and Maryland through the Civil War Trails program.

The city’s businesses could also benefit from its inclusion on the trail, which many Civil War tourists are expected to follow this fall as the sesquicentennial of the Civil War gets under way.

“The state of Tennessee is really supportive of this,” said Roberts. “They want as many markers as possible.”

Red Bank dentist Anthony Hodges, a Civil War buff and Friends of Chattanooga National Military Park board member, was asked by Roberts to write the text on the interpretive markers.

“I’ve always been interested in Civil War history since I was a small boy,” said Hodges, a Red Bank native. “It’s something I’ve studied my entire life.”

One of the signs marking the site of a former hospital will be placed at the intersection of Signal Mountain Road and Dayton Boulevard near the Waffle House, he said.

A second sign will go near the softball fields on Memorial Drive, the location Gen. William T. Sherman used to hide out from Confederate troops.

“This is probably the most well known,” said Hodges.

Union reinforcements were brought into the duck pond area, where they camped before attacking Missionary Ridge the next day.

Another new marker near Red Bank in North Chattanooga will be placed near the intersection of Morrison Springs and Mountain Creek roads, the end of the old W Road, which served as a supply route over Walden’s Ridge, said Hodges.

The installation of the interpretive signs should take place sometime within the next 60 days, he added.

In order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, parking for the disabled must be built at the Sherman’s hideout site in order for it to be considered an official stop on the Civil War Trails program, Roberts noted. The city is also waiting on permission from Waffle House to construct the other marker on its property, he said.