"The Last Battle of the Cherokee Artillery" with Author Zack Waters

The Rome Area History Center invites the public to attend a free event with author Zack Waters who will discuss, "The Last Battle of the Cherokee Artillery" and will sign copies of his book, "The Damnedest Set of Fellows" on Saturday, March 14, from 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. "The Damnedest Set of Fellows" tells the story of one of the finest artillery batteries in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Fighting in almost every major battle in the war's Western Theater, their first baptism of fire occurred at Tazewell, in East Tennessee. Later, they battled at Champion Hill in the Vicksburg Campaign, at Missionary Ridge and Tunnel Hill near Chattanooga, and throughout the Atlanta Campaign. Later, they fought upon the snowy fields of Nashville, and finally at Salisbury, North Carolina, where they manned their guns despite having no infantry support. Known for their passionate individualism, disdain for army regulations, and their fighting spirit, their battalion commander later wrote: "Every man thinks himself as good as a brigadier general and don't mind telling you if the occasion offers." Once, following the Vicksburg campaign, they even defied a direct order from Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The crucible of war molded the men of the Cherokee Artillery into a true brotherhood. Their annual post-war reunions further strengthened that bond. As a Rebel veteran observed: "It is said with truth that war will bring out the [true] character of a man quicker than anything else. We were fortunate in finding so many good, true men as we had with us...and feel bound to them as with ties of blood."The Damnedest Set of Fellows" tells the tragic, heroic, story of that true "band of brothers." .