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An Occurrence at Chickamauga Creek
In a few days, it will be the anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga.
For most people, Chickamauga is a place in a history book. For me, it's home.
I've spent a lot of time in and around the battlefield over the years. I've walked those roads, crossed the creeks, and wandered the woods. I grew up knowing one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War happened right here.
So, it was inevitable I'd eventually write something about it.
Ambrose Bierce got there first. A long time ago, actually.
If you've never heard of Bierce, he was a Union officer in the 9th Indiana Infantry who fought and witnessed the devastation at Chickamauga. He was also a writer. If you're into literary horror, think of him as the bridge between Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. Bierce's personal story is a fascinating study itself if you ever get a chance to look him up. Not to ruin the ending, but he vanished in Mexico in early 1914, after heading south to "observe" the Mexican Revolution. No body or grave was ever found.
His short story, Chickamauga, written in 1889, is one of those pieces of Southern literature that sticks with you. It's a short, brutal story, and if you haven't read it, I recommend doing so before reading or listening to mine. You don't have to read it to understand what I've written, but my piece will hit different if you do.
Here's a summary of Bierce's Chickamauga if wading through 19th century prose isn't your idea of a good read.
Bierce's story follows a young boy who wanders onto the Chickamauga Civil War battlefield, blissfully unaware of the true horror unfolding around him. The boy is deaf and unable to speak, and he imagines the wounded and dying soldiers he encounters as part of some strange game. He plays among them, mimicking their movements and laughing at what he sees, never understanding what has happened. Eventually, he makes his way home, only to discover that his house has been burned. There he finds the body of his mother among the dead, and the reality of the war finally becomes clear, not through words, but through what he sees.
If you want to try the full version, here's a link to read for free. Seriously though, prepare yourself. Bierce was a master of psychological horror.
My story is called An Occurrence at Chickamauga Creek. The title is also a nod to one of his most well-known stories, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, which eventually became an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Mine isn't a retelling of Bierce's story. I didn't set out to rewrite it. I wanted to take the ideas that have haunted Chickamauga for generations and put them into a story of my own. The battlefield, the creek, the dead, the way the past seems to linger in the landscape, all become a part of those of us who call this little corner of Georgia home.
Then, somewhere along the way, it became... well, something different.
That's one of the things I've really enjoyed about this collection. Some of these tales don't want to stay in one form. They become poems, songs, stories. Sometimes all three.
So, with the anniversary of the battle approaching, I thought it was a good time to finally share this one.
An Occurrence at Chickamauga Creek will appear in my upcoming collection, A Piper's Verse, which is scheduled for release in October.
But for now, here's the song.
And if you haven't read Bierce's Chickamauga, I really do encourage you to give it a few minutes before or after you listen, or at least read the summary of it above.
Sometimes the old stories aren't finished with us yet.
JP
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