Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Location	Catoosa, Dade, & Walker counties, Georgia & Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States
Nearest city	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Coordinates	34°56′24″N 85°15′36″W / 34.94°N 85.26°W / 34.94; -85.26Coordinates: 34°56′24″N 85°15′36″W / 34.94°N 85.26°W / 34.94; -85.26
Area	8,119.11 acres (32.8569 km2)   (8,102.32 federal) 32.86 km²
Established	August 19, 1890
Visitors	901,384 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service

Entrance to Chickamauga Battlefield Park (1975)

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, located in northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee, preserves the sites of two major battles of the American Civil War: the Battle of Chickamauga and the Chattanooga Campaign.

History

Chickamauga and Chattanooga

Starting in 1890, during the decade the Congress of the United States authorized the establishment of the first four national military parks: Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Shiloh, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg.

The first and largest of these (5,200 acres), and the one upon which the establishment and development of most other national military and historical parks was based, was authorized in 1890 at Chickamauga, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. It owes its existence chiefly to the efforts of Generals Henry V. Boynton and Ferdinand Van Derveer, both veterans of the Union Army of the Cumberland, who saw the need for a federal park to preserve and commemorate these battlefields. Another early proponent and driving force behind the park's creation was Ohio General Henry M. Cist, who led the Chickamauga Memorial Society in 1888. Another former Union officer, Charles H. Grosvenor, was chairman of the park commission from 1910 until his death in 1917.

Use during the Spanish American War

The newly created Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was utilized during the Spanish American War as a major training center for troops in the southern states. The park was temporarily renamed Camp George H. Thomas, in honor of the union army commander during the Civil War battle at the site. The park's proximity to the major rail hub at Chattanooga and its large tracks of land made it a logical marshalling area for troop being readied for service in Cuba and other points south.^[1]

Park areas

Point Park

The military park consists of four main areas, and a few small isolated reservations, around Chattanooga.

• Chickamauga Battlefield
• Missionary Ridge
• Lookout Mountain and Point Park
• Moccasin Bend

As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the military park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

On February 20, 2003, Public Law No: 108-7 added Moccasin Bend as a new unit of the park. Moccasin Bend Archaeological District, designated a National Historic Landmark a September 8, 1986, is directly across the Tennessee River from Lookout Mountain. It is significant due to its archaeological resources of American Indian settlement. There are currently no public facilities at Moccasin Bend.

See also

• First Battle of Chattanooga
• Second Battle of Chattanooga

References

1. ^ The Troops at Chickamauga, Park now called Camp George H. Thomas, The New York Times, 23 April 1898, Retrieved 1 February 2010, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9806EEDE1738E433A25750C2A9629C94699ED7CF, See also, "Spanish-American War" The Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Retrieved 1 February 2010,

External links

• Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park Official NPS website:

• U.S. Department of the Interior, The National Parks: Index 2001–2003.