The National tribune., 1895-07-18

q. S. Cav, who served on the staff OF
Gen. Thomas, was appointed as the rep
resentative of the Regular Army, and
served in that capacity until he was sent
to Paris, when his place was taken 10y
Maj. Frank G. Smith, who commanded
Battery I, 4th U. S. Art, at Chicka-
mauga, and held his place on Snodgrass
Hill until the final withdrawal Of the
army. Gen. III. V. Boynton was ap.
pointed Historian.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE.
Work was begun at once, and has
been pushed forward with the greatest
vigor This is shown by the immense
amount accomplished.
The entire ground fought over at
Chickamauga has been acquired from
the owners, and restored as nearly
as possible to its conditions at the
time of the battle. Forests which have
grown up in what were then open fields
have been cut of, buildings erected
since the war have been removed, the
grounds since cleared are being replant-
ed with trees. The only change has
been the cutting away Of the under
brush, so as to allow all parts Of the
lines to be visible. The roads running
through the fields have been restored TO
their original directions, and converted
into substantial, easily-traveled boule-
wards, which make superb drives. These
improvements cover all the ground from
Chickamauga River to the road to Nc
Farland's Gap, and extending north
ward from Lee & Gordon's Mills, which
was the right of our line, to point 600
yards north of the Cloud House, where
our hospitals were.
Three steel Observation Towers"
each 20 feet high, stand at prominent
points within sight of one another, and
give an opportunity of studying the
whole field. The first is at Halls Ford,
where Bragg's army first formed for
battle; the second is near Jays Saw
mill, where the battle actually began /;
and the third on Snodgrass Hill, where
it ended.
MARKING THE FIELD.
The following description Of the
markers on the field is taken from Gen.
IL V. Boynton's "The National Mill
tary Park:
"The plan of marking the lines-of
battle is to designate them both by mon
uments and historical tablets. The Gov
eminent erects the monuments to the
regular regiments and batteries and the
tablets. The erection Of monuments to
mark the positions of volunteer organi-
cations is left to the States. The histori-
cal tablets are Of iron with the lettering
cast as a part of the plate. They are
each four feet by three. They are Of
several classes-as, those for army
headquarters, corps, divisions, and bri-
gades. The first named show the corps
which make up the armies with their
commanders; the corps tablets show the
divisions and their commanders; the
division tablets show the brigades which
compose them and their commanders !;
while the brigade tablets carry the organ
ization to the individual regiments and
batteries and their commanders in the
battle. There are also staff tablets Of
uniform size with others giving the
names of the respective staff officers.
The historical tablets each present from
200 to 300 words of text setting forth
in condensed yet comprehensive form the
movements at the points where they are
erected. Both sides have equal atten-
ton in the erection of these tablets. The
only distinctive mark is the letter " y !"
for Union in the upper right-hand cor
ner, and the letter &C" for Confederate.