Durango semi-weekly herald., 1903-04-27
William e. Curtis In Record.Herald., /,

government has purchased I 900 acre.
of land covering the battlefield o
Chickamauga, and has restored 1t al
nearly as possible To the condition II
which 1t was at the opening of tn,
tight on September 10 and 20, 1868
between the Union forces under Gen
eral Rosecrans and the confederate.
under General Bragg. The govern
ment has also purchased strip o
land running the entire length of Mis-
sionary Ridge. including the site of the
intrenchments which were captured
by assault by the Union troops on the
25th of November following. Eighty
miles of roads have been constructed
from Chattanooga through these parks
and other battlefields In the neighbor
hood OF the city. and the landscape has
been beautified as much as could be
done without effacing landmarks that
existed before the battles and altering
the topography. The movements OF
both armies have been traced with
great skill and fidelity throughout the
entire series of engagements, and the
location of important struggles and
other episodes have been marked by
monuments and iron tablets contain
ing historical notes and statistics.
More than 81 ,1O0,O 900 has thus been ex-
pended for the purpose of preserving
the scene of one of the most desper.
ate and heroic conflicts in human his.
tory and perpetuating the evidences of
bravery and devotion in both armies.
In similar manner the government
is now laying out the battlefields of
Shiloh and Vicksburg, and interesting
dedicatory ceremonies were held at
the former last week.
The Chickamauga battlefield, about
nine miles from this city, is reached
by trolley car starting from the cen
ter OF the business district every fif.
teen minutes. AT the end of the route
there is restaurant and waiting
place. with plenty of carriages which
can be hired at reasonable rates fixed
by the park commission, and the driv-
ers are sufficiently well posted to give
an intelligent description and expana-
ton of the battle and the monuments.
The battlefield of Shiloh is not so
easily reached. II is necessary to
drive twenty-three miles from Corinth.
the nearest railway station,
The Chickamauga Park commission.
consisting of General H. V. Boynton
of Washington. who commanded the
Thirty-flfth Ohio infantry in the battle
and was wounded in the assault upon
Missionary Ridge; Major General AL
exander p Stewart who commanded a
division in Beeckinridge's corps of
the confederate army, assisted by Il.
E. Belts, as engineer. and A. p. Smart.
a historian of Chattanooga have been
working for eleven years to ascertain
the truth and fix the exact locations of
each regiment engaged on either side
in the conflict. They have, of course,
been assisted by many of the officers
and soldiers engaged. but the enor-
nous labor they have performed can
scarcely be appreciated without per
sonal observation of the seven battle
fields in this vicinity, which are en-
barked in the park project extending
thirty miles from Chattanooga to
Ringgold, the scene Of the final battle
of the campaign for the control of
Chattanooga and the Tennessee river.
The old roads of the battlefield have
been reopened. the underbrush has
been cleared from $500 acres, upon
which the fighting took place. five
steel observation towers, each seventy
feet high. have been erected in order
that visitors may get bird's.eye
view of the field; 643 historical tablets
of iron containing explanatory descrip-
tions have been erected to mark the
movements of corps, divisions, bri-
gades and regiments Of both the ar
mics. and 3GS distance and locality
tablets have been placed as guides for
those who desire to follow them as
they moved forward and back in their
assaults and retreats. The old lines
of earthworks and fortihcations have
been restored exactly as they were at
the close of the battle. The position
each battery of artillery that partici-
pated has been marked with guns of
the same pattern and calibre of these
actually used. Fortythree Union bat
teries are represented by 107 guns and
forty confederate batteries by nine.
ty-six guns. Some OF the guns were
actually engaged in the battle, The
accuracy with which this work has
been done and the impartiality OF the
commissioners is commended by au
thorities on both sides, and the general
approval Of their work Is shown by
the fact that no protests are entered
and congress has never refused to ap
propriate any money asked for the
work.
Nine other monuments in the form
of pyramids of shells mark where five
Union and four confederate brigade
commanders fell, and similar pyramids
mark the positions occupied by four
teen army and corps commanders
The location of these spots has beer
a work of great interest as well ai
| painstaking labor. and there have beer
some curious experiences. For exam
| pie. some years ago Colonel Bishop o
the Second Minnesota, with one of hi
sergeants, came down to assist Colon
el Boynton to determine the position
occupied by that regiment, which hat
an important part In the engagement
They knew that IL was intrenched a
the top of a hill and that 1t repellet
several assaults by the enemy. Th'