With over twenty years experience guiding individuals and groups around the battlefield, Robert has a unique understanding and expertise of the Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga. He is the author of two books on the Battle of Chickamauga, LONGSTREET’S BREAKTHROUGH AT CHICKAMAUGA: ACCIDENTAL VICTORY, and THE FIGHT FOR SNODGRASS HILL AND THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA. His third book, THE OPENING GUNS AT CHICKAMAUGA, is on the way.

 

Robert grew up in the Chickamauga area. He was five years old when he first visited the Chickamauga Battlefield with his family. He has studied the battle, the soldiers, and the leaders that make up the Chickamauga and Chattanooga story for practically his whole life. Besides guiding visitors around the battlefield, he serves as a National Park Service Volunteer: working at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center, giving lectures, leading tours, and doing research in the park archives for both visitors and authors.

 

Without a doubt Chickamauga is the most complicated and confusing battle of the Civil War. Robert’s distinguished 43-year teaching career makes him singularly qualified to communicate the complexities of the battle to novices and experienced Civil War students alike. You will come away from the tour with a deeper understanding of what happened during those three crucial September days in 1863, the context in which the battle was fought, and its aftermath. 

 

Robert is the administrator of the BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA DISCUSSION GROUP on Facebook. He is a regular speaker for Civil War groups throughout the southeast and the country.

 

Why is a tour with a personal guide the best way to visit a battlefield?

 

1. You get a customized tour! The tours are not “one size fits all.” Robert will figure out what interests you the most, gauge your existing knowledge level, and provide a unique tour designed specifically for you. Plus, if you have an ancestor that fought in the battle, Robert will be able to highlight the unit in which your ancestor fought and show you the places where he fought. You will be able to literally “walk in his footsteps.”

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2. Answers to all your questions! You will see countless things on the battlefield—monuments, cannon, tablets, houses, terrain features, etc.—that will attract your attention. Robert will be able to tell you what you are seeing, and the stories behind what you see.

 

3. You won’t get lost! You won’t get confused following driving instructions, missing directional signs while you are trying to view the battlefield, deal with road closures, and otherwise wasting time. Robert knows exactly where to go, and will offer to drive your car so everyone can look out the window and fully enjoy the tour. 

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4. A family-friendly tour! Drawing on his 43-year career as a teacher, Robert will be able to keep young people interested and happy, while simultaneously telling grown-ups the story of the battle.

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5. You’ll know what to look at and where to look! If you try to tour the battlefield on your own, you may often be confused as to what you should be looking at and which way you should look. Robert will point the way.

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You will feel the history! Years of study reading reports, letters, memoirs, and books, plus years of walking the battlefield have uniquely qualified Robert to tell the stories of the armies and their generals, all the way down to what the men felt and saw on the battlefield. The goal is to put you in the shoes of the soldiers in the battle, while at the same time not losing sight of the big picture. The stories are what make the battle come alive. No mechanical or electronic device can match the skill and personal touch of a knowledgeable human guide.