_The following pages have been written after a careful study of the
Official records and other Civil War library books to which I have had
access over a period of years, and not upon the recollection of personal
experience, as I did not belong to the generation which fought the great
Civil War. It has been my desire to make all statements as accurate as
possible, and sincerely believe that any and all statements contained in
this volume can be verified by the Official Records. I wish to express
my thanks to the War Department, under whose authority the Official
Records were published. I also wish to express my thanks to the late
Hon. Charles W. Lusk of Chattanooga, Tennessee, for his valuable
suggestions._
[Illustration: Entrance to Point Park. Lookout Mountain]
[Illustration: Riderless Horse—Chickamauga Battlefield]
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
(Georgia and Tennessee)
By an act of Congress, approved August 19, 1890, the Chickamauga and
Chattanooga National Military Park was established, with a view to
preserving and suitably marking those battlefields for historical and
professional military study. The part undertaken by the Government in
the establishment of this park embraced the purchase of lands,
restoration of the fields, construction of roads and trails, building of
observation towers, the erection of appropriate monuments to the regular
troops engaged there, the preparation of hundreds of historical tablets
for the various organizations of the contending armies, the mounting of
original guns in their exact positions during the battles and the
erection of shell pyramids, both of square-base and triangular-base
type.
The park was created as a result of the reunion of the Army of the
Cumberland which was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on September 19-20,
1889. At this reunion, the Chickamauga Memorial Association was formed.
Gen. John T. Wilder was elected president and Gen. Joseph Wheeler
vice-president. Then a Board of Directors, numbering 28, were elected.
Of this number, an equal division was made of ex-Union and
ex-Confederate officers.
Since that time the various states having troops in the battles have
erected hundreds of beautiful, expensive monuments and markers which
show the exact regimental positions of their troops. The tablets mark
the brigade and division positions and give a brief history of their
activities. The blue tablets mark the Union positions, while the red
tablets mark Confederate positions. Another interesting thing to know is
that all of these tablets have been placed in such a manner that when
you are facing them, you are facing the same direction which the troops
were facing at that time and place. Therefore, if anyone cares to follow
up the movements of any particular organization, it can be done very
easily.
Every effort has been made to restore the battlefields to their original
condition. Speaking of the shell pyramids, there are 14 of the
square-base type which mark the headquarters sites of either an army
corps or the field headquarters of the commanding general. There are 8
of the triangular-base pyramids which mark the exact spot where each of
the brigade commanders lost their lives. All of these are located on the
Chickamauga battlefield. On Missionary Ridge, a bronze cannon-ball
monument has been substituted for a pyramid. This also marks the site
where a brigade commander lost his life. One original house stands on
the Chickamauga battlefield; also three replicas of the original.
This is the largest and oldest of the National Military Parks. It is
probably the first one on which the high-ranking officers of the
contending armies ever met to determine their exact locations during the
battles. The park consists of approximately 8,584 acres, and embraces
the battlefields of Chickamauga, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain and
Missionary Ridge, all of which were very important in military
operations around Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the fall of 1863. The
Chickamauga battlefield alone covers 5,562 acres.