Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Pond Spring in Walker County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
 

Gowan’s (Gower’s) Ford And Widow Glenn’s Grave

Chickamauga Campaign Heritage Trail

 
 
Gowan’s (Gower’s) Ford And Widow Glenn’s Grave Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
1. Gowan’s (Gower’s) Ford And Widow Glenn’s Grave Marker
Inscription. In mid-September 1863, General John M. Palmer’s division of the 21st Army Corps was assigned to the duty of guarding the fords on West Chickamauga Creek. A primary Federal objective was keeping the Confederates on the east side of the creek while the federal army moved up to position. Two of the most important of these crossing places were Owen’s and Gower’s Fords. “On September 15, [I] started at daylight for Chickamauga Valley,” General Palmer reported. “Marched by way of Crawfish Spring, and then up the valley to Gower’s, two brigades occupying and covering the crossing at Gower’s, and one was posted at Matthew’s new Owens’ Ford.”

Early in the morning of September 17th, around 4:00 a.m., a mounted contingent of the 4th Georgia Cavalry Regiment rode over the pickets of General William B. Hazen’s Brigade, posted on the Dry Valley Road near Gower’s Ford. General Hazen, with an aide, was personally at the picket post when the attack occurred. “The attack was so sudden,” he wrote, “that the horsemen were upon us, and some passed us and were captured before they could check their horses. The pickets took cover, while I sought the friendly shelter of a field of high corn. The affair was over almost in an instant with a repulse and a loss to the enemy of one captain and several men.”

The
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
next day, September 18th, brought more prolonged fighting north of Gower’s Ford in the vicinity of Owen’s Ford and Bird’s Mill. Around 9:00 a.m., the Federal pickets along the creek near Owen’s Ford noted the enemy advancing in force on the opposite bank. Shortly thereafter Confederate artillery, probably form A.L. Huggin’s Tennessee Battery, began firing shells into the camps of Colonel Sidney M. Barnes’s Brigade. The shells caused much confusion but no injury in the Federal camps. Barnes had been ordering his men into line of battle when the attack commenced. After completing the maneuver the troops marched 200 yards to the rear, occupying “a commanding position in an open field.” To protect his front and flank from the advancing infantry, Colonel Barnes ordered the 26th Pennsylvania Battery to unlimber on a nearby commanding hill.

The following day troops at the ford were moved further north to take park in the Battle of Chickamauga.

Near the ford there is a small church cemetery established by the Cove Methodist Church. It is sometimes called the Porter Cemetery, Among the wartime individuals buried in this cemetery is the “widow” Glenn, a young woman whose husband had been recently killed in Confederate service. She lived on the battlefield and had her house used as Federal headquarters by General William S. Rosecrans. The cemetery
Gowan’s (Gower’s) Ford Federal Picket Post image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
2. Gowan’s (Gower’s) Ford Federal Picket Post
is significant to the present study because many other individuals from the wartime local civilian population are buried here. It is possible that one or two of the unmarked graves could be the burial place of unidentified Confederate casualties of the fighting in the local area.
 
Erected by Chickamauga Campaign Heritage Trail.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Bridges & ViaductsChurches & ReligionWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Chickamauga Campaign Heritage Trail series list. A significant historical month for this entry is September 1942.
 
Location. 34° 49.053′ N, 85° 19.657′ W. Marker is in Pond Spring, Georgia, in Walker County. Marker is on Kensington Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Chickamauga GA 30707, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Veterans Memorial (approx. half a mile away); Bethel Church (approx. half a mile away); Bird's Mill and Worthens' Gap (approx. 0.7 miles away); Owing's Ford and Childress Plantation (approx. 1.2 miles away); Chickamauga Prince Hall Lodge No. 221 (approx. 3 miles away); Worthen's Gap (approx. 3.8 miles away); Glass's Mill Battle Site
Widow Glenn’s Grave image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
3. Widow Glenn’s Grave
(approx. 3.9 miles away); a different marker also named Glass's Mill Battle Site (approx. 3.9 miles away).
 
More about this marker. Chickamauga Campaign Heritage Trail
Army of the Cumberland site #23
 
Also see . . .  Chickamauga Campaign Heritage Trail Website. (Submitted on October 2, 2008, by David Tibbs of Resaca, Georgia.)
 
Gowan’s (Gower’s) Ford And Widow Glenn’s Grave Marker Map image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
4. Gowan’s (Gower’s) Ford And Widow Glenn’s Grave Marker Map
Widow Glenn’s Gravesite image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
5. Widow Glenn’s Gravesite
The Cove Cemetery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
6. The Cove Cemetery
The Cove Cemetery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
7. The Cove Cemetery
This is another view of the cemetery.
The Cove Methodist Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Tibbs, September 1, 2008
8. The Cove Methodist Church
Founded in 1872
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 2, 2008, by David Tibbs of Resaca, Georgia. This page has been viewed 2,713 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on October 2, 2008, by David Tibbs of Resaca, Georgia. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=11986

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 19, 2024