Page "Chattooga County, Georgia" Paragraph 19

The coming of the American Civil War saw Chattoogans polarized into pro and anti-union camps.

Confederate armies received five regiments from Chattooga.

Several engagements were fought in the county prior to the battle of Chickamauga.

General Nathan Bedford Forrest fought an engagement near Alpine with Federal cavalry resulting in the Federals being thrown back to the Chattanooga area.

The largest single engagement in Chattooga was the " Battle of Trion Factory ," fought on Sept. 15th, 1863 on present day First Street near the site of the East Trion Church of God.

Confederate Infantry forces under the command of General Benjamin Hardin Helm and cavalry under the command of Gen. Joseph Wheeler defeated Union forces in a running battle that started somewhere near Summerville and ended in Trion.

The front section of the Old Trion Cemetery on First Street contains the remains of fifty-five Union soldiers and seven Confederates killed in this action, but the graves are unmarked.

In September 2009, the Chattooga County Camp 507, Sons of Confederate Veterans in conjunction with the Missionary Ridge Camp 63 Sons of Union Veterans, and several local groups erected a memorial monument to remember the " First Battle of Trion Factory " and the soldiers who are buried in unmarked graves at Trion.

In an interesting side note, Confederate General Helm was a brother-in-law to Mary Todd Lincoln and was killed five days after the Battle of Trion Factory on Sept. 19th at the Battle of Chickamauga in Walker County, GA.