Few cities are so identified with a song as CHATTANOOGA , in the southeast corner of Tennessee. Though visitors expecting Tex Beneke's and Glenn Miller's Chattanooga Choo-Choo may be let down to find that there is no longer even an Amtrak service, the town continues to celebrate its railroad history, and has plenty more to offer besides not least its beautiful location on a deep bend in the Tennessee River , walled in by forested plateaus on three sides. This setting led John Ross, of Scottish and Cherokee ancestry, to found a trading post on the spot in 1815, and its strategic importance made it a great prize during the Civil War; victories here in 1863 were the springboard for Sherman's march through Georgia.