Battle Above the Clouds from Down Below with Hooker
We’re excited about the arrival of the latest Emerging Civil War Series book, Battle Above the Clouds: Lifting the Siege of Chattanooga and the Battle of Lookout Mountain by our own award-winning author Dave Powell. One of Dave’s appendices focuses on the now-famous painting of the battle, commissioned by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker. Painted by James Walker, Battle Above the Clouds situated Joe Hooker—white horse and all—front-and-center of the action.
While in Chattanooga for the Civil War Trust’s annual conference this week, I had the opportunity to visit the spot depicted in the painting.
Here’s what that spot looks like today:
Walker’s painting, which first went on display in New York in the fall of 1874, now hangs on display at the National Park Service’s visitor center atop Lookout Mountain at the entrance of Point Park.
The “Hooker Perspective” (Heh) of Lookout Mountain is a pretty cool view of the battlefield, and also the location of a couple of pretty obscure 11th Corps Monuments – Weidrich’s Battery and the New York Regiments in Von Steinwher’s division for their actions during the battles for Chattanooga. I always enjoy visiting that location, though it isn’t easy to get to.