Abraham Lincoln once said, “To take and hold the railroad at or east of Cleveland, Tennessee, I think is as fully as important as the taking and holding of Richmond.”
While most of the Civil War focus in southeast Tennessee is on Chattanooga, the role that Cleveland played should not be overlooked. Through this puzzle cache I hope that geocachers will learn a little more about the fascinating Civil War history of Cleveland, Tennessee!
How this cache works:
At the above listed coordinates there is a very nice historical marker. From that answer the following questions, and with that data compute the coordinates to the final (see directions below). If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me through my geocaching.com profile.
The coords to the final of this cache are as follows:
N 35 1A.BCD / W 084 5E.FGH
The Questions:
1. How many words long is the subtitle for this marker?
2. When the Civil War began, Cleveland was what kind of a community? Take this word and count how many letters it has; this is your answer to this question.
3. Fill-in-the-blank: Confederate troops occupied the area in 1861 to defend the East Tennessee & ___________ Railroad. Take this word and count how many letters it has; this is your answer to this question.
4. Union Col. Eli Long severed railroad lines connecting Chattanooga to Knoxville and which other town? Take this word and count how many letters it has; this is your answer to this question.
5. Fill-in-the-blank: Long also destroyed the area’s only ______-rolling mill. Take this word and count how many letters it has; this is your answer to this question.
6. Fill-in-the-blank: In 1864, Union officers established headquarters at the ____ house. Take this word and count how many letters it has; this is your answer to this question.
7. Union troops built how many forts on the highest points here?
8. How many generals are pictured on this sign?
To compute the coords:
To get A, take your answer from Question #1 and subtract three.
To get B, take your answer from Question #2 and subtract two.
To get C, take your answer from Question #3 and subtract four.
To get D, take your answer from Question #4 and add two.
To get E, take your answer from Question #5 and subtract four.
To get F, take your answer from Question #6 and subtract one.
To get G, take your answer from Question #7 and subtract one.
To get H, take your answer from Question #8 and add seven.
About the actual cache:
The cache is only a mile or so away from the marker, and should be an easy find for just about anyone. No poison ivy or ticks. ;) As with all micros, please bring your own writing device. Also, please use stealth. This should be a given for urban caching, but sometimes some people don’t think of this. I don’t want this cache to get stolen! And it’s in a perfectly good hiding spot, and shouldn’t be discovered by non-geocachers if we all just use a little stealth and common geo-sense. :) Lastly, please replace as found.
I hope that both Cleveland residents and out-of-town visitors enjoy completing this cache, and all have “a blast with the past!” :D