Point Park
Lookout Mountain
and Chattanooga
Battlefields
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA
National Military Park
GEORGIA AND TENNESSEE
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
The National Park System, of which this area is a unit, is dedicated to conservingthe scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit andinspiration of its people.
Cover: Chattanooga and the winding Tennessee Riverfrom Point Park, Lookout Mountain.
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1961 0-618486 REPRINT 1961
Point Park, Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga Battlefields
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
The Battle of Chattanooga—a Unionvictory in November 1863 which securedthat important railroad centerand opened the way for the AtlantaCampaign
Chickamauga and Chattanooga NationalMilitary Park, oldest and largest of the nationalmilitary park areas, was established incommemoration of two important battles ofthe American Civil War. On these battlefieldsgallant soldiers of the North and the Southfought for control of Chattanooga, strategicrailroad center and gateway to the heart ofthe Confederate States. Here, thousands ofmen on both sides exemplified the true Americanqualities of independence, courage, andself-sacrifice, which constitute the enduringstrength of our democracy. At the dedicationof the park, a veteran of the battle said:“Here ... we and they, the living and thedead, Confederate and Federal, fought forthe right as each understood it, for the Constitutionas each construed it, and for theliberty as each interpreted it.”
The Campaign for Chattanooga
Chattanooga was an important railroadcenter at the time of the Civil War. Railroadlines radiated in the four principal directionsand provided connections with Nashville,Memphis, Atlanta, and Richmond. The locationof the city on the navigable TennesseeRiver where there were gaps in the mountainsadded to its strategic value. Its capture byUnion forces would be a severe blow to theSouth. It would check the east and west passageof men and supplies for the Southern2armies and provide a springboard for theinvasion of Georgia.
During the summer and early fall of 1863,by skillful maneuvers, the Union Army of theCumberland forced the Southern Army ofTennessee out of middle Tennessee and Chattanooga.On September 19 and 20, at ChickamaugaCreek in Georgia, the two armies metin one of the fiercest engagements of the war.While this battle ended in Confederatevictory, the Union forces succeeded in retreatingnorthward into Chattanooga.
The Confederates now settled down tosiege tactics and attempted to