Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-16
History of Chickamauga and
 Chattanooga Park.
PRESSED IHRO' CONGRESS
A Single Objection Would Have Been Fatal But None Was Heard Beauties
 of the Park,

| Gettysburg was dedicated as d national | cemetery. On that occasion President | Lincoln delivered an address which was 1 recognized as the philosophy in brief of | the great struggle then impending be- | tween the north and south. In this ad- | dress. in words long since historic, he | formulated the doctrine that this na- | tOn,s under God. shall have a new berth | of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth
 | On Thursday and Friday of this week | the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Ma tional Military park will be dedicated with ceremonies no less imposing than | those at Gettysburg, made memorable by Mir. Lncoln's presence. The time chosen has especial appropriateness in that It will be the thirty-second annivel sary of the fiercely contested battle of Chicka- mauga, in many respects one Of the most decisive of the war and one in which American pluck and endurance were 1 shown to greatest advantage. The vice. president of the United States will pre- fside. The secretary of war and general of the army will by their presence lend official dignity to the occasion.
 Others present will include all. or nearly all, of the surviving federal and Confederate leaders who participated in
 
 Manderson of Nebraska, Gen. H. V. Boynton of Washington city, General Dodge of Iowa, Gems. Horace Porter and Daniel Butterfeld of New York. General Palmer of Illinois, Gen. John B. Gordon of Georgia, General Wheeler of Alabama, Senator Bate of Tennessee, EX-Senator Walthall of Mississippi, Governor Oates of Alabama. and Gen. o. o. Howard tre- tired) of the regular army.
 The Chckamauga and Chattanooga park embraces the entinre battlefield of Chickamauga and the approaches. The
 area within the legal limits of the park is about fifteen square miles. The ap- breaches in the vicinity of Chicamauga are mainly roads over which the armies reached and left the field. Those about Chattanooga lie mainly along the line of battle. Those over Lookout cross Hooker's battlefield and lie near Wal thall's, while the great road along Mis- sionary Ridge follows Bragg's line of battle in front of General Thomas Army of the Cumberland and General Sher- mans Army of the Tennessee.
 Nearly all these approaches, as we'll as the roads within the park, have been rebuilt by the government in the most solid manner. Two of the number, the crest and state road, are constructed on a 50-foot right of way The scenery along part of this magnificent boulevard is such as will give the drive a national reputation.
 The government has acquired the site of Bragg's headquarters on Missionary ridge and about three acres surround | ing it. Among other purchases which it has made in that vicinity is that of Orchard knob. This was the headquar- | ters of Grant, Thomas and Granger dur ing the battle of Missionary ridge. It | is isolated knoll of about six acres in l extent The Confederate works and those erected by the union forces are still well defined, and the general ap- pearance of the knoll remains unchanged. | The old roads which were those of the battle have been reopened and improved, | while roads opened since the battle have been closed and abondoned. The only natural feature existing at the time of the fight which has been changed is the | underbrush, which it has been found nec- eSSary to cut out in order to bring the lines of battle into view and to show the topography of the field. As result of this work carriages can nOw~driVe in all directions through the great forest and along the various lines of battle.
 The first step in the development of the National Military park embraced only the battlefield of Chickamauga. This part of the project has it's origin in a visit ito the field seven years ago 1 of Gen. Ferd Vanderver noted officer of the Army of the Cumberland and Gen. H. V. Boynton, at that time the Wash | ington correspondent of the Cincinnati | Commercial Gazette, who commanded | the Thirty-fifth Ohio regiment at the | battle of Chickamauga. In a series of letters to the Commercial-GaZette de- seribing the condition of the field and re- viewing the campaign and the battle the park scheme was thus suggested The survivors of the Army of the Cumberland should awake to great pride in this notable field of Chickamauga. Why should 1t not, as well as eastern | fields be marked by monuments and it's lines be accurately preserved for his | tory?
 |, .Srhere was no more magnificent fight | ing than both armies did there. Both sides might well unite Tn preserving the field where both, in a military sense, won such renown."
 It will be thus seen that from the first the plan differed essentially from that of Gettysburg, where up to that time only the union lines had been marked. The suggestion was received with such favor at the north that at the next an- nual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland held at Chicago few weeks later. a committee of five was appointed to take the necessary steps to inaugurate a movement 2or the pur- pose of the grounds on which the battle was fought.
 society appointed as members Of this committee Gen. NJ. Cist. Gen. Charles Manderson, Gen, Russell A. Alger Gen. 1 Absalom Baird and Gen. ss Henry V. Boynton. This committee met at Wash- | ington city February 1, 1889. General Manderson presided It was agreed to invite such Confederate veterans of the i battle of Chickamauga as were in Wash l ington to unite in forming Chickamau- ga Memorial association. This joint con l ference was held on the following day in | the room of the senate committee on i military affairs. Those present were | Generals Rosecrans, Baird Reynolds, ] Cist. Manderson,-, Boynton and Colonel Kellogg of the union officers. and Gen | erals Bate of Tennessee, Colquitt of ] Georgia, Walthali of Mississippi, Nor gan and Wheeler of Alabama, Wright | of Tennessee and Colonels Bankhead or | Alabama and Morgan Of Mississippi
 Thus the project grew, enlistng in it's l service distinguished citizens in the | north and south. When the question l rose in the winter following the organ i ization of the association of asking con l gressional aid for the purchase of the | battlefield General Boynton conceived
 the idea of enlarging the scope of the 1 scheme so as to embrace the notable