Sculpted by Gary Casteel
 
1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
On November 19, 1863, Colonel Thomas J. Ahl returned to command of the 28th Pennsylvania after detached duty at Division Headquarters.  At the small but significant battles in Tennessee at Lookout Mountain (November 24—the “Battle above the Clouds”) and Missionary Ridge (November 25), the 28th was often kept in reserve but filled gaps, served as sharpshooters, and supported a battery of “flying artillery”.  However, on November 27, 1863, the regiment was in the front lines with seven killed and twenty-seven wounded at the Battle of Ringgold Gap, Tennessee.  In his official report regarding these engagements, General Joseph Hooker noted, “It has never been my fortune to serve with more zealous and devoted troops.”  
 
At the dedication of the monument in 1897, Corporal Joseph L. Cornet declared “To-day we meet where in our young manhood days we followed that gallant and brilliant Commander, Colonel Thomas J. Ahl, who led us above the clouds to battle an almost unseen foe.” These combined Union victories, under the leadership of General Ulysses S. Grant, helped open the road for a Union advance into Georgia.
 
The monument was dedicated on November 15, 1897 and is located along a park hiking trail that runs from the Craven’s House, up the slope of the ridge, to Point Park on the summit of Lookout Mountain.