Missionary Ridge - New York monument

One of the other big monuments on Missionary Ridge is the New York monument for Ireland's Brigade. This brigade consisted of the 60th, 102nd, 137th and 149th New York. In the attack on the ridge they connected with the right of the 14th Corps. What I found especially interesting about this monument is the difference in vegetation from the day the monument was dedicated to today. I've included a scan from the New York monument book and this area looks especially desolate, nearly as desolate as I imagine the area looked in 1863 when two armies had been busy chopping down nearly every last tree for entrenchments and fires. Now it resembles a jungle and offers no views down the ridge. Chattanooga actually has a program along the ridge in which goats are being used to eat the kudzu. Maybe one day this will help open up some vistas but I'm not holding my breath on that one.