The Campaigns for Chattanooga
Two significant Civil War battles were fought for Chattanooga and its strategic transportation arteries. The Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863), was a decisive battlefield victory for the Confederacy, though Union troops were able to maintain their recently won hold on Chattanooga. Two months later, in the Battles for Chattanooga (November 23-25), the North routed Confederate troops from the area, thus assuring Union command of the city for the duration of the war. Over 47,000 Americans became casualties as a result of this fighting.
Twenty-seven years later, veterans from both sides joined together to promote the creation of a historical reserve on the ground where they had fought the Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga. On August 19, 1890, their efforts led Congress to establish Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park "for the purpose of preserving and suitably marking for historical and professional military study the fields of some of the most remarkable maneuvers and most brilliant fighting in the war of the rebellion." It was the nation's first such park, and served as a model for other historical areas.
Planning Your Visit
Today, this Park preserves portions of the battlefields of Chickamauga and Chattanooga. Located throughout the greater Chattanooga metropolitan region, the 8,000 acres that constitute this Park are divided into several areas to allow people to visit and understand various phases of these two battles.
The Chickamauga and the Chattanooga Battlefields are explained in greater detail on the adjoining panels.
Signal Point is an isolated area north of Chattanooga. It was utilized by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the Civil War. Exhibits located there describe its use.
A brochure to guide you during your visit is available at either the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center or the Point Park Visitor Center for the Chattanooga Battlefields on Lookout Mountain.
Outdoor exhibits appear throughout the Park.
Comments 0 comments