Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites the public to participate in a free torchlight tour of the Civil War section of the Chattanooga National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 26. The tour will begin at the old cemetery entrance arch in the southwest section of the cemetery at 8:45 p.m. The program will involve about a mile of walking over the rolling grass-covered grounds and will last approximately 90 minutes.
Chattanooga National Cemetery, one of the first national cemeteries in the United States, became the final resting place for thousands of Union soldiers who were killed in the struggle for Chattanooga in 1863. It is also the final resting place for soldiers who participated in the Atlanta Campaign down to the Oostanaula River in 1864, as well as thousands of men wounded in that latter campaign who subsequently died in hospitals in Chattanooga. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden will feature graves and stories of some of those men who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle that brought our nation’s bloody, tragic, but transformative Civil War to the shadow of Lookout Mountain and beyond Chattanooga to the very heart of Georgia.
Comfortable, supportive footwear, clothing appropriate for the weather, and water are recommended for this program. Additionally, flashlights to supplement light from the reproduction historical torches are advised.
For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, or visit the park website at www.nps.gov/chch.