Chickamauga and Chattanooga Administrative History

Besides its importance in preserving and interpreting its Civil War battlefields, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park functioned as a training ground for the Army as specified in congressional legislation passed in 1896. As early as 1890 the lands at Glenn and Wilder fields were used for encampments by the Georgia State Militia. [1] Regular Army troops participated in the dedication exercises in 1895, when infantry and artillery units camped in the park for a month. [2] The concept of making the park lands a maneuvering ground for troops seems to have evolved from the earlier stated purpose of utilizing the battlefield as a classroom where the art of strategy and tactics could be studied. Major George W. Davis has been credited with devising the new plan. Representative Charles H. Grosvenor, a park founder and later Commission Chairman, submitted the bill embracing the maneuvers concept, which, as amended, affected not only Chickamauga and Chattanooga, but all national military parks. The rationale was to make all the military park lands available for the use of military students, such as West Point cadets, in helping them to gain familiarity with decisive battles. Similar instruction provided to the various state militias would increase their proficiency and capability of acting in concert with regular forces in an emergency. The bill passed Congress on May 11, 1896, and became law three days later. [3] The "maneuvering" legislation thereafter became interpreted as broadly as possible and caused a multitude of problems as conflicts arose over the initial park purposes of preservation and interpretation. An example was the 1897 stationing there of troops from New Orleans during an outbreak of yellow fever on the Gulf Coast. [4]

Early in 1898, as relations worsened with Spain and the inevitability of war became apparent, the use of the Chickamauga battlefield part of the military park came under consideration. Not only could Chickamauga offer an expansive concentration and training point for troops, the location was ideal in that it lay adjacent to railroad linkage to all parts of the country, especially the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts. By April of that year, largely because of the encouragement of Henry Boynton, the decision had been made, and preparations ensued for the reception of Regular Army troops there. Park officials gave all possible help to the enterprise, providing teams of horses for moving baggage and equipment until the various quartermasters could make arrangements. Park employees also drilled a large number of wells throughout the area for the use of the soldiers. Later, pipes and hydrants were installed while commissary and quartermaster storehouses were erected on park land. [5] Commissioner Boynton arrived from Washington to take charge of the preparations. The first unit to arrive at the park was the all-black Twenty-fifth infantry, which reached Chickamauga April 14 enroute to Florida from Montana. The regiment "will be the first to be sent to Cuba in case of war," reported a Chattanooga paper. [6] On April 21 Major General John R. Brooke arrived to command the new mobilization camp. He established his headquarters at Lytle Hill on April 25, the day war with Spain was declared. [7] More regular forces reached the park within the month, consisting of six more infantry regiments, six of cavalry, and ten batteries of artillery, until the total strength of the regulars reached 7,283. They encamped on the broad grassy fields near Wilder Tower. On April 23 the site was designated Camp George H. Thomas after the Civil War hero who had fought on the ground nearly thirty-five years earlier. [8] In May the first volunteer troops began arriving; their numbers swelled to at least 45,000 by the end of the month. When the regulars left about this time the state troops pitched their tents close together on wooded tracts in the eastern section of the park and used the now vacated fields to conduct their maneuvers. The soldiers from Indiana, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Kansas, New York, Montana, and many other states were organized into the First and Third Army Corps commanded, respectively, by Major Generals Brooke and James F. Wade. Many of the troops accompanied Brooke to Porto Rico in July leaving Wade in command at the park. Larger numbers were ordered home in August to be mustered out of service when Spain sued for peace. By September, 1898, only a small detachment remained at Camp George H. Thomas, now under the command of Major General James C. Breckinridge. [9]

The presence of troops at Chickamauga Park constituted the most activity seen there since the Civil War. A contemporary description of the town of Lytle, where the troops arrived, pointed up the massive confusion that typified the first days at Chickamauga Park:

Debarking from the train of the singletrack road which is the only railway connection between Chattanooga and the great camp, the visitor finds himself in the trampling turmoil of "Fake-town," as the boys have dubbed the aggregation of shanties and rude shelters comprising the town of Lytle. Fighting his way out of the crush of hurrying men, shying horses, tangled vehicles, piled-up army stores and shouting vendors, he winds to the top of the low hill beyond "Bloody Pond" and looks back upon the maelstrom which he has just escaped. There are no familiar features in the scene. The sleepy little hamlet has disappeared, and its place has been usurped by a busy railway yard with many tracks, the temporary town, the long lines of one-storied warehouses, huge corrals for stock, and heaped-up mountains of supplies for which there is yet no room in the warehouses. [10]

While Chattanooga benefited from the infusion of money each payday, [11] most of the soldiers' days were occupied by tedious routine and by field maneuvers conducted among the different commands. One such practice, held May 25, was governed by the following instructions:

The division commander directs that your command be in line tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. in the vicinity of its encampments, and that you move at that hour and form for attack so that your extreme right shall rest upon the northern boundary line of this reservation, your line extending in a southerly direction as far as will be necessary. Your object will be to secure the possession of the McFarland Gap road, which is held by a force in the vicinity of Snodgrass Hill. One battalion of your command will be detached to make a demonstration and turn the left flank of the enemy. There will be no firing at closer range than 100 yards and the opposing forces will not approach nearer than 50 yards of each other. Officers will see to it that no ball cartridges are in the hands of the men. [12]

Generally, the camp was warm and dry, and drew frequent compliments from inspecting officers. The water supply was pure and ample for the needs of the men, while the forested tracts provided protection against sunburn. [13] If there existed any overriding discomfiture it was dust; the ground became so dusty from repeated pulverization of the clayey soil that, said one observer, "the encampment can easily be distinguished from Lookout Mountain by a dense, yellow cloud which obscures it during the day. . . ." [14]

Carefully drawn rules prescribed methods of maintaining the healthy environment: water barrels should be covered, food carefully cooked, garbage removed, tents and bedding ventilated each day, and sinks filled daily. As the summer of 1898 wore on, however, complaints of sickness at Camp Thomas grew with frequency. Some of it was attributed to bad food and drink purveyed by hucksters who seemingly roamed through the camp at will selling "slop of every name and every deleterious nature." But much of it stemmed from lax discipline in matters of sanitation at the time Brooke's command left Chickamauga in haste, neglecting to fulfill even the simplest hygienic procedures. [15] In early July an epidemic of typhoid fever struck the camp. Five hundred cases of the disease were reported. Medical facilities and personnel at Camp Thomas were unequal to the situation and many soldiers were taken into private Chattanooga homes for treatment. During the course of the virulence 425 soldiers died at Camp Thomas, more than were killed in combat during the four months' war with Spain. [16]

At first Army authorities believed that poor diet caused the sickness and prohibited all sales of drinks, fruit, and food to the soldiers by merchants. Later inspections, however, showed that the camp water supply was partially polluted. Still further inquiry revealed that some of the state troops had been infected before coming to Chickamauga. In addition to typhoid fever, malaria soon made its appearance. [17] A special board convened to study the problem urged that the troops be removed to more salubrious climates "where proper sanitary measures can be inaugurated and carried out." [18] Uncovered sinks and poor drainage only aggravated the unhealthy conditions and caused a lingering stench to pervade the camp. To make matters worse, the soldiers lacked bathing facilities; those sent to Crawfish Springs to get drinking water drove their teams into the creeks, got out and bathed themselves, then filled their barrels. As the volunteers departed they left their campsites in disarray, with kitchen receptacles and overflowing sinks full of garbage, refuse, and excrement. Animal corrals were left uncleaned. Trash was thrown over the ground without constraint. Sewage from some camp facilities was drained into Chickamauga Creek. The presence of so much litter attracted millions of flies, causing "great annoyance to man and beast," and evidently contributing to the spread of typhoid fever. Sternberg Hospital and Leiter Hospital, consisting of wall tents and wooden barracks to accommodate the volunteer troops, seemingly practiced sanitary procedures in disposing of sewage. There disinfecting plants were established to cleanse soiled clothing, water was sterilized, and floors were scrubbed. Yet illness mounted. "The whole place reeks with foulness," said one reporter in recommending its abandonment. Soon the Army began sending convalescents home on furlough. [19]

Although the tepid, unpalatable water at Camp Thomas was suspected at the time of causing the pervasive sickness, probably the crowded conditions coupled with ignorance of proper sanitation methods was chiefly to blame. One examining board stated that flooring in the tents would have prevented much sickness, and that the soil, as well as the water, was polluted. [20] An Iowa private commented that the water his command had to drink was terrible. "We drink water as yellow as the thickest water in the Missouri," he complained. [21] Some regiments got around the suspected water by purchasing their supply from outside the park. [22]

By the middle of September all units except seven battalions of the Sixth and Eighth U.S. Volunteer Infantrys had departed. More than 72,000 troops had been in the camp. Boynton, who in June had been appointed brigadier general of volunteers, now assumed command of Camp Thomas. He ordered all nonmilitary trading establishments closed, including those along the infamous "Midway." [23]

Following the departure of the troops, Boynton began the rehabilitation of the park. A great many trees had been destroyed. Some were used for firewood, some cut for poles, while others were destroyed by cavalry horses and other livestock that ate the bark. Much damage of this nature occurred east of Lafayette Road opposite Brotherton Field and west of the road all the way to Snodgrass Hill. Extensive damage to trees occurred wherever cavalry and artillery horses were picketed. To reduce the cutting of saplings and trees, the park purchased an adjacent forested lot and made it available for military use. Other problems included the burning of trash which sometimes spread to the trees, and the destruction of the park roads by army vehicles. So real became the threat to park property that in August Boynton issued directives to protect the resources. Most of these rules were ignored. [24] Problems remaining when the troops left had to be dealt with using hired park laborers. More than 3,000 sinks were disinfected and filled, buildings dismantled, refuse burned, ditches obliterated, and manure from the corrals used to check erosion. [25] Resurfacing the roads and removing dead timber continued into the winter. [26] In 1899 the Park Commission gave permission for local civilians to salvage lumber from remaining unused army buildings. More work by park laborers went to replace historical markers broken during the occupation. In all, more than $25,000 was spent refurbishing the battlefields after the Spanish-American War. [27] Wrote Park Engineer Betts: "If the orders (for cleaning up the camp) . . . had been enforced the Government would have saved over $10,000 subsequently expended in cleaning up regimental camps, and the park force an immense amount of most disagreeable work which did not fall within the sphere of their duties." [28] Nevertheless, Boynton could pleasingly report that the military occupation resulted in no permanent damage.

It is a source of satisfaction to the commission to feel that both in its long occupation and in its continuing use for concentrating and storing the surplus supplies from the abandoned camps throughout the South, the park has proved and still is of great practical use to the War Department. . . . The extensive storehouses and repair shops, the wagon sheds, abundant stabling, and corrals of large area, all abundantly supplied with water, with railroad side trackage sufficient for all the requirements of a great post, constitute a plant which will be available as long as the Quartermaster's Department finds use for it, without in any way interfering with the interests of the park. [29]

The occupation of the park by troops during the Spanish-American War led to a long, active military presence in the park over the next fifty years. Almost immediately after the war there were calls for the establishment of a permanent post there. A bill introduced in Congress for that purpose failed in 1899, [30] possibly because of the recent concerns over healthful conditions at the park. In the meantime the quartermaster storehouses erected there continued in use as a field-supply station while the general cleanup of the park proceeded. [31] The matter of a post was revived in 1901 when preliminary examinations of several sites were made in a plan to establish "permanent camp grounds for the instruction of troops of the Regular Army and National Guard. . . ." In February, 1902, an Army board recommended that a site "in the vicinity of Chickamauga Park, Georgia" be selected. [32] During this period the park served as a field camp for units of the Seventh Cavalry and Third Artillery, as well as a transient assembly point for troops arriving home from overseas. In 1902, however, legislation passed Congress authorizing the purchase of some 813 acres outside the northeast corner of the park for a regiment-sized cavalry post. As the military presence grew it caused some concerns for park personnel; cavalry horses occasionally stampeded, posing a "menace to visitors," and target practice by the troops also proved dangerous. Yet the Commission, seeing the accrual of obvious financial benefits from having a military post adjacent to it, actively promoted further enlargement of the park to facilitate artillery and small-arms firing ranges. Construction lasted throughout 1903 and 1904, and in December, 1904, the post was dedicated as Fort Oglethorpe, after Edward Oglethorpe, first governor of Georgia. [33]

With the establishment of Fort Oglethorpe the park entered into an often difficult relationship with the military personnel stationed there. The Army made frequent and increasing use of park lands, so much so that the Commission had to seek the Secretary of War's assistance in protecting the battlefields and their monuments from the damage of gun fire and inadequate policing of littered terrain. Former campsites of Regular Army units had to be restored, and the park authorities also found themselves dealing with drunken, disorderly soldiers who sometimes threatened park property. [34] Some immediate concerns in 1904 and 1905 were the dumping of manure from the cavalry stables in the woods thereby killing many trees, and cluttered campgrounds strewn with trash around the monuments. The Army did help restore Snodgrass and McDonald Fields, filling in eroded washes to use them as drill grounds. [35]

Between July and September, 1906, the park was occupied by 2,000 regular troops. Men of the Twelfth Cavalry, Seventeenth Infantry, Third and Fourth light artillery batteries, a signal corps unit, two companies of engineers and two hospital units conducted large-scale maneuvers with militia infantry brigades that alternated on a weekly basis. The state troops came from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mississippi. Except for a few cases of typhoid, the camp, commanded by Brigadier General John W. Bubb, remained remarkably free of sickness. As one observer described it:

This year the troops have been quartered in the open, and on well drained ground; bedsacks and straw in abundance were provided. There were shower baths in abundance; the lattrines [sic] were boxed in and refuse carried away and buried every day. The kitchens, instead of being placed in the rear of Company quarters, where their accumulation of filth was obscured, and where swarms of flies from the lattrines covered the food in the sweltering sun before it was eaten, were placed between the quarters of the men and the line officer, where a careful watch could be constantly kept, insuring cleanliness at all times. [36]

While this camp was in progress, park crews were still restoring the grounds from the occupation of eight years before. Some of the old quartermaster buildings at Lytle were sold during the year, having been abandoned by the Seventh Cavalry when the regiment moved to Fort Oglethorpe. [37] By then, the post was under consideration for expansion into a brigade-size facility, a status it realized six year later. [38] In 1908 summer maneuvers were once again held in the park, with troops of the Twelfth Cavalry camping on the ridge between Snodgrass Hill and the Viniard House. Field exercises took place on the ground east of Wilder Tower and included participation by southern militia units. Commission Chairman Carman reported that no damage occurred to park property. At the next camp of instruction, held in June and July, 1910, most of the militia soldiers camped on the Fort Oglethorpe reservation, closer to a source of water, thereby saving the expense of running pipelines across the park. Members of the Eleventh Cavalry camped at nearby McDonald Field. [39] After lengthy rains, however, the state units were moved to Snodgrass Hill. [40]

The relationship between park authorities and the post command at Fort Oglethorpe continued much as in the past during the years leading up to World War I. Because both sides worked for the War Department, the situation produced many awkward moments. In 1912 the park registered complaints against the Army for erecting, without park approval, horse hurdles in fields where large monuments were located. Park authorities also protested as dangerous to the public the "crossing and re-crossing of the most frequently traveled roads of the park by thirty or forty horses at full speed. . . . " [41] Later, Superintendent Randolph complained loudly when troops felled more than 150 trees in building and repairing the hurdles. "Some beautiful water oaks were cut on Snodgrass Hill, . . . one of the most historic spots in the park. . . . " [42] In May, 1913, a camp of instruction for militia officers took place, followed by an assembly of boy scouts in July. [43] And in 1916 Fort Oglethorpe and the park served as a convalescent camp for troops returning from duty on the Mexican border. [44]

America's entry into World War I in 1917 brought an expanded occupation of Fort Oglethorpe and the adjoining battlefield. Over the next two years the historic ground became the scene of a complex of buildings and troops that was more massive than the concentration in 1898 had been. Operations began in May, 1917, with the directive of the Quartermaster General to erect sufficient structures to accommodate nine regiments of infantry, three of cavalry, six hundred officers for medical training, plus an ambulance company and a field hospital company. Layout of the buildings began immediately with considerations for drainage and prevailing winds foremost in mind. In May, two facilities opened. Camp Forrest, named for Confederate Cavalry leader Nathan Bedford Forrest, was a training camp for reserve officers. Camp Greenleaf, named for medical corps pioneer Brigadier General Charles R. Greenleaf, was established for the training of reserve medical officers. Situated on Snodgrass Field, Camp Greenleaf initially sheltered 1500 troops but later was expanded to include facilities previously occupied by combat personnel. By November, 1918, early 7,000 officers and 31,000 enlisted 45 men had been received for training at Camp Greenleaf. [45] In addition, an officer candidate school, Camp Warden McLean, was set up, besides a recruiting station and reception center for inductees. [46]

Cantonments for the various Army units were established through the park as follows:

The Eleventh, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Cavalry regiments, the medical officers' camp, and the hospital and ambulance units were also situated in the park. All of these military commands required construction of tents and wooden barracks buildings. There were, besides, at least a dozen buildings erected by the Young Men's Christian Association at the intersection of Lafayette and Saw Mill Fork roads, and a German prisoner-of-war camp was established on the Fort Oglethorpe reservation north of the post. As a primary Army medical facility there was much concern over maintaining good health as well as good discipline among the troops. Attempts were made to close several brothels that opened in the vicinity of the park. Avoiding the problems with the water supply that had tormented officials in 1898, Army authorities had the water mains connected to the Chattanooga water supply system. No wells were drilled in the park. For fire protection a large reservoir was built on a ridge of Snodgrass Hill. Sewer pipes connected to the cantonment areas provided drainage, and electric light and telephone service was installed. [48]

Only part of the barracks were ready to receive the first trainees in June, due partially to difficulties in draining and otherwise preparing the designated ground. Over the next year numerous schools were organized. At Camp Greenleaf the School of Applied Surgical Mechanics started instruction in November, 1917, and other schools dealing in dentistry, nutrition, anatomy, plastic and oral surgery, urology, opthalmology, psychology, surgery, neurosurgery, veterinary medicine, and roentgenology soon followed. The School of Gas Defense also opened in November; eventually the gas training apparatus was moved close to the Snodgrass Hill Road and new buildings were constructed. Still other instruction programs were devised for mechanics and drivers, cooks and bakers, and noncommissioned officers. A meteorological station was established early in 1918 at Camp Greenleaf. [49]

The presence of the large concentration of troops once more made park authorities seek assurances that the resources would not be harmed. Commanding officers were duly instructed against destroying timber and damaging markers and monuments. To insure compliance, Commission Chairman Joseph B. Cumming had published substantially the same regulations formulated in 1898 respecting use of the park. These included provisions against damage to trees by cavalry stock, indiscriminate cutting of timber, dumping of trash or manure on wooded tracts, and mutilation of memorials, markers, and gun carriages. [50]

Nonetheless, some damage occurred. In the spring of 1918 the infantrymen in the camp began training in trench warfare, excavating broad ditches in the woods near where the cantonment buildings were located. Fearing wholesale destruction of the timbered park land, Superintendent Randolph requested of the War Department that such entrenchments henceforth be confined to the open fields where restoration could be made. By mid-summer extensive trench works carved up the terrain on the north and south slopes of Snodgrass Hill. [51] When the medical camp was expanded into that area the trenches thereafter went unused. An Army inspector called for the restoration of the tract:

Owing to the action of the elements the longer these trenches remain the more unsightly the grounds will become, due to washouts and cave-ins and a resultant loss of material for back filling which it will be necessary to have to restore them. These trenches vary in depth from 8 to probably 10 or 12 feet, including rooms or bomb proofs. The slopes of Snodgrass Hill have been so disturbed that it is doubtful whether it will be possible to restore them to their original condition. [52]

As the medical camp increased in size it occupied cantonments in the south part of Chickamauga Park vacated by line personnel. A new hospital complex of fourteen buildings was constructed on McDonald Field below Fort Oglethorpe. This, together with the location of cantonments on park lands farther south, raised fears that the concentration might be permanent rather than temporary. [53] The troop camps were "in direct conflict with the historical value of the park . . .," wrote War Department inspector Robert E. Parker. [54] Parker penned a tremendously significant critique of the Army's use of the ground that went far beyond conventional inspection reports. To occupy the park, he wrote, "it was only necessary to ignore or subordinate the object of the park's establishment." Furthermore, he said, other land was available nearby that could have been used instead. [55] Not only had many trees been cut down, but the buildings of the various cantonments had been arranged without semblance of harmony or logic. "In other words, buildings have been 'plumped' down where ever available open space existed or could be obtained by slight cutting of timber."

From the prison barracks, at the north end of the Fort Oglethorpe Reservation, on the LaFayette road until the road emerges at the south end of the park there is an almost unbroken series of groups of unsightly one-story buildings with here and there a tent camp. In some sections it has been necessary to build the cantonments around the monuments or in such close proximity that these monuments have to be protected by rude fencing. In some cases groves have been whitewashed. . . . To date there have been 1,638 structures erected, including cantonents, hospitals, Y.M.C.A., K of C., and Red Cross buildings. [56]

Other threats to the park's integrity included the deterioration of its roads caused by the heavy Army trucks, the cutting of trails through fields and forests, and the disturbing of the battlefield terrain by altering the grades to conform with construction needs. If the park were to survive, concluded Parker, further construction would have to be stopped, all trench work eradicated "to the satisfaction of the Superintendent," and notions for continued occupation after the war must be abandoned. The park "should be preserved as one of our great national memorials of the Civil War in accordance with the purpose of its creation by Congress." [57]

The action of Congress in preserving this beautiful park and marking thereon the history of the three days struggle has been justified by the wide spread popular interest. Not only have the states made large appropriations for the erection of monuments, markers and tablets, but state historical commissions have been appointed and provision made for large delegations to visit the park. The public visits it in large numbers, being actuated by historic interest. Patriotic reasons alone should impel the Department to preserve the park in the integrity of its historic associations. After a careful survey of the conditions on the grounds, after a year's occupation as a cantonment site, it appears that the time has come when a hard and fast decision must be made to so preserve it. Any other course would mean its ultimate destruction without the warrant of military necessity. [58]

But the army still needed more land, and in September proposed to obtain a large tract south of the park for another cantonment. The War Labor Board eventually disapproved the project, [59] and the Armistice in November removed the need altogether. Meantime, Fort Oglethorpe and Chickamauga Park were hit by the influenza epidemic that struck the nation in September and October; influenza and pneumonia infected 3,553 soldiers at the cantonments. By late November, 1918, medical training activities at Camp Greenleaf were suspended, and by December the camp had been designated as a general demobilization center. [60] Likewise, Camp Warden McLean was closed and its buildings turned over as a medical annex to Camp Greenleaf. In the previous nineteen months over 60,000 troops had passed through the center. [61]

The aftermath of the World War I occupation was a period of reflection and restoration. Commission Chairman Cumming accused the War Department of having "adopted a course toward the Park unqualifiedly antagonistic to the reason of the Park's existence." [62] New roads and trails, he declared, now confused official records of the Civil War operations. Open trenches still abounded and trees had been felled. "In some instances buildings are almost in contact with monuments--the effect and the significance of the latter being lost thereby." [63] While during the war, Cumming stated, he felt constrained not to interfere, now "the Commission feels that it would be recreant to its trust" if it did not seek action "as will prevent the final defeat of the original purpose of the Park." [64] He pointedly called for removal of all military buildings from within the park, filling of trenches and regrading of the soil, obliteration of all new roads, repair of monuments, markers, and gun carriages, reforestation where required, and resodding of the fields. [65] Most of these rehabilitative elements occurred over time. For the moment, however, Camp Greenleaf remained functioning as a recruit station and detention camp, [66] much to the chagrin of park officials. In November, 1919, the War Department sold most of the cantonment buildings. Funds realized went to the Treasury, while the park submitted a request for an appropriation for $105,273 to cover the expense of restoration. Congress approved $65,000 for the work. [67] In 1920 the army cantonments were sold to the American House Wrecking Company of Chicago which proceeded to remove the buildings. Next year Cumming reported that substantial progress had been made in restoring the trench-scarred ground, but that much work remained in effacing the Army roads and trails. By then all buildings had been dismantled except for the hospital on McDonald Field, some warehouses near Bloody Pond, and a few cantonments in the area occupied by Camp McLean. [68] These were sold during the year. Restoration of the disfigured fields proceeded, and by July Superintendent Randolph reported "a marked improvement in the appearance of Chickamauga Park." [69]

Over the next few years rehabilitation of the battlefield continued. In 1926 Randolph reported substantial progress and noted that "nature is healing many of the scars left by the troops." [70] The military use of the park did not end, however, with its World War I occupation, and over the next two decades troops from Fort Oglethorpe took useful advantage of the proximity of the historic ground to the post. Snodgrass Field became a parade field where reviews and inspections were commonly held. Cavalrymen made frequent use of the grounds to practice training maneuvers, although they remained posted to Fort Oglethorpe. National Guard units from surrounding states annually used the park for maneuvers, and in 1933 an airstrip was built on Wilder Field for training of the Alabama Thirty-first National Guard Division Aviation Detachment. This development brought complaints from residents of Lookout Mountain about airplanes flying too close to their communities. Following the transfer of the park administration to the Department of the Interior, army officials feared their training privileges on the battlefield would be lost. Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes wrote the Secretary of War on August 14, 1933, to dispell the fear and assure the War Department that permission for using park lands for training purposes would continue. In addition, golf courses and polo fields located on park property continued in use as a matter of courtesy. [71]

But National Park Service administration of the park differed from that under the War Department and leaned away from the use of the ground for maneuvering purposes. The park service began limiting military bivouacs on the battlefields to one night as opposed to the two weeks formerly approved. This brought a barrage of criticism from national guard officers who complained that too much attention was being paid to beautifying the tract thereby destroying "its usefulness as a military training ground." Randolph adeptly defended his position, however, citing the original purpose of the park was as a memorial shrine rather than a training facility. [72] Military use nonetheless proceeded much as before, and in July, 1935, received further impetus when a War Department request for authority to use the park for "routine" training was approved by the National Park Service. By then the lands each summer were being extensively occupied by regulars, national guardsmen, reserve officers, Reserve Officers Training Corps trainees, and Citizens Military Training Camp trainees. [73] Perhaps the closest any of the training came to the ideal laid down in the 1896 legislation authorizing use of the park for purposes of instruction occurred in 1935 when a group of officers from the Army War College spent three days at the park studying the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga. [74] Other use of the park that year involved the customary reviews and inspections held on Snodgrass Field, and maneuvers and drills by regular troops, reserve officers, and national guardsmen. The use continued to pose problems of worn roads and trails and destruction of vegetation, all of which defied permanent resolution. work. [75]

When Army use of the land increased with the outbreak of war in Europe in the late 1930s, the park service was obliged to accommodate the situation as best it could. In 1940 a special interpretive program began, designed to instruct draftees from Fort Oglethorpe about the Civil War battles while instilling in them patriotic motives geared to the present day. This successful program was continued in 1941. [76] Horse trail systems were also developed, some along historical routes, for the use of maneuvering cavalry units within the park. [77] Motor vehicle traffic on park roads increased, causing rapid surface deterioration and necessitating short term repairs by park personnel. During 1940 and 1941 some 30,000 troops, mostly national guardsmen, bivouacked in the park, while the Sixth Cavalry, with approval of the National Park Service, conducted extensive training operations using horses, motorcycles, trucks, and trailers. [78] In October, 1941, Army officials surveyed Snodgrass Field in preparation of a design for a 7,000-man prison camp possibly intended to house prisoners-of-war. Park service authorities suggested that the McDonald and Mullis fields, already used by the Army for a golf course and horse show ring, be considered instead so as not to damage the wooded land between Snodgrass and Dyer fields. [79] In Chattanooga, meanwhile, the War Department obtained authorization to use part of the National Cemetery property along Bailey Avenue as a 500-man rest camp designated as the Chattanooga Recreational Area. This use lasted until August, 1944. [80]

In 1942 the Third Cavalry, also a horse unit, replaced the Sixth at Fort Oglethorpe. The regiment continued using the park as had its predecessor for drill and maneuver practice and various tactical exercises. The Army in that year decided against building a prison camp on the park, eventually erecting stockade facilities at Fort Oglethorpe. Instead, construction began at Barnhardt Circle, in an area soon known as South Park, of a group of buildings to be used as a Provost Marshal General's School Center. [81] This complex was completed in July, 1942. In August the Third Cavalry was transferred from Fort Oglethorpe; the Sixteenth Cavalry, an entirely mechanized armor unit, was assigned to Fort Oglethorpe. Additional school buildings were erected along the Snodgrass-Savannah Road, and some portable CCC structures were raised on McDonald Field for the Provost Marshal General's School. [82] Warehouses and a motor pool were constructed near the railroad siding in the west section of the park. Troop use of the grounds decreased in the autumn of 1942, except for transient units that occasionally bivouacked overnight at Wilder Field. In December the Provost Marshal General's Training School closed and its personnel moved to a new facility in Michigan. [83] Early in 1943 the buildings became used for a Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Training Center capable of housing more than 9,000 persons. The new function required the removal of the cavalry troops and medical units posted to Fort Oglethorpe. In February the Third WAAC training center officially opened with a live broadcast over the NBC Radio Network from Chickamauga Park. The WAAC center attracted much local and national notice. [84] Superintendent Dunn was grateful for the attention. "Our park is now receiving . . . much publicity. No doubt after the war is over many of the veteran WAACs will want to come back to the park and bring their relatives and friends with them. Many of the WAACs are showing an interest in the history of the area on which they are en camped." [85]

Military activity through most of 1943 was confined to WAAC training, although Wilder Field received thousands of transient troops for short-term bivouacs. Numerous general officers visited the WAAC Center, and in April, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt toured the complex and visited Lookout Mountain. In December Georgia Governor Ellis Arnall came to the park to participate in "Governor's Day" festivities which included a review of the troops and a seventeen-gun salute. [86] To aid in maintaining the Chattanooga National Cemetery German prisoners-of-war from Fort Oglethorpe were employed raking leaves, trimming trees, and landscaping, along with the regular park labor force. [87]

In June, 1945, the War Department announced its plans to close the WAC training center. According to Superintendent Dunn, the presence of the facility on park lands "has caused less material damage to the park than any of the other military uses permitted on the park since training activities for the present war began, although the WAC occupation has always been much larger than any of the other military units using the park." [88] Nearly 50,000 women had passed through the center since 1942.The complex of buildings was to be remodeled and designated a redistribution center for soldiers returning from overseas. In addition, the Chaplain's and Adjutant General's schools were to be moved to Fort Oglethorpe, and Army plans called for the post to be maintained after the war as a general administration school. [89] During Fort Oglethorpe's function as a discharge station and redistribution center, some 4,000 men passed through the post each week, partaking of such recreational activities as bowling, swimming, horseback riding, fishing, boating, and archery. A new golf course was constructed in the summer of 1945. [90]

By 1946, however, the days of military activity on park property were numbered. Early in the year the War Department launched an effort to permanently obtain the 270-acre tract called "South Post" and enlisted some support among Chattanoogans for the project. The area contemplated for acquisition embraced several historical sites, including the monuments erected by South Carolina and Minnesota, and a large number of mounted guns, interpretive markers, and shell memorials. Citing the "sacred trust" inherent in the administration of the national military parks by the National Park Service, Secretary of the Interior Julius A. Krug denied the War Department request and called for the removal of all army buildings from the concerned tract. [91] The Army, however, was slow to react. In October Secretary Krug wrote the War Department that the buildings on the park "constitute a major intrusion into the battlefield and . . . interfere with complete interpretive and commemorative use of the area." [92] The Park Service also opposed a recommendation by the Federal Public Housing Authority that the structures be converted into temporary housing for veterans. [93] Finally, in November the War Department announced that Fort Oglethorpe was to be abandoned in January, 1947, and that the reservation lands would be declared surplus. Park authorities located documents that showed the lands purchased in 1902 and 1903 belonged to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, but the effort was to no avail. [94] On abandonment of the post all structures were turned over to the Corps of Engineers, and later, to the War Assets Administration for disposal. The Department of the Interior issued a permit allowing the Federal Public Housing Authority to convert some of the Army barracks within the park into multiple family apartment units for the use of veterans subject to removal of the buildings in 1949. [95] Those not so utilized were dismantled beginning in December, 1947, and by late 1949 most all the vacant structures had been razed. [96] In November, 1948, several of the Fort Oglethorpe dwellings were transferred to the National Park Service for employee use and within two years they were occupied by park personnel and their families. [97]

Military activity thereafter all but ceased at the park. During the 1950s there was virtually no military presence. In 1962 the park allowed 400 army vehicles enroute from South Carolina to Kentucky to use its parking facilities and bivouac in the "old south post area," a courtesy extended again in following years. [98] In 1970 an ROTC unit from the University of Tennessee conducted some mountain environment exercises at Lookout Mountain, and in 1975 and 1976 area Army reserve troops, as a bicentennial project, aided the park in cleaning monuments, resurfacing trails, and placing trail signs. [99] Clearly, the military use of the park had entered a new day.