The October 8th Claiburne Progress reports that this weekend the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park is having a deep look at its Civil War heritage with a program called War of Iron and Irony.
This is where the states of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky meet. No big battles were fought there, but the gap was of strategic importance nonetheless.
For the Confederacy, it was a place to block Union advances into the heart of the Confederacy and an opening for attacks on Kentucky.
For the Union it was the gateway to eastern Tennessee and a way to divide the South in the middle.
Both sides knew t it was the key to control railroads connecting Virginia and Tennessee.
There will be a variety of programs as well as 1300 students who will attend. Of course, a reenactment as well as tours of the remaining fortifications. The newly refurbished cannons at Fort Lyons will be rededicated and there will be tours of Gap Cave, where hospitalized soldiers and their doctors signed their names.
Sounds Like a Great Time. I Have Never been to Cumberland Gap, But, It Is On the List. --Old B-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
