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Sequatchie Valley
East Valley Road (Highway 283) and Wheeler’s Raid
Directions: From Chattanooga, take US 27-N to TN 111- N. Travel approximately 14 miles to East Valley Road.
The most important military route in the Sequatchie Valley was East Valley Road, now marked as State Highway 283. The section from Chapel Hill United Methodist Church (5149 East Valley Road) east of Dunlap to New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church (176 East Valley Road) at the county’s southern border is an excellent way to view the landscape where thousands of Confederate and Federal soldiers marched and camped.
During the Confederate siege of Chattanooga in the Fall of 1863, Union commanders constantly moved supplies overland, trying to keep its surrounded armies in Chattanooga supplied with food and ammunition. Confederate cavalry leader Gen. Joseph Wheeler carried out numerous raids on the Federal supply trains in a futile attempt to stop this massive Federal effort. His raid of Oct. 2, 1863, which passed along East Valley Road, was the most spectacular.
His troopers destroyed hundreds of wagons, taking an estimated 1,600 prisoners, whom Wheeler released as he escaped the valley and returned to the safety of Confederate lines. Another important location for Wheeler’s 1863 raid is Powell Crossroads, where the East Valley Road (Highway 283) intersects with Highway 27 (the old Anderson Road) east of Whitwell in Marion County.
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