News Release

The Blue and Gray Gush

Date: November 1, 2022
Contact: Kim Coons, 706-866-9241, ext. 139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: On Saturday, November 12, at 11 am, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will provide a special 45-minute program about the national military park’s creation. The program will take place inside Lookout Mountain Battlefield’s Point Park, at the base of the New York Peace Monument.  

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was created out of a feeling of brotherhood and reconciliation after a long and bloody conflict between 1861 and 1865. However, not everyone who attended these events prescribed to the peacefulness pandered by many organizations. Edward C. Walthall, a sitting US senator from Mississippi and ex-Confederate general, wrote a friend prior to the dedication that he was to take “a rather conspicuous part in the Chattanooga Park dedication” and that he had “a poor hand at Blue and Gray gush, but the occasion will require a little of that.” What were some of the hurdles encountered during the park’s dedication on September 19 and 20, 1895, and can we continue assuming the park was created on the ideals of peace and reconciliation? 

There is a $10 per person entrance fee charged to enter Point Park for adults, ages 16 and older, while children 15 and younger enter for free. Participants are encouraged to dress appropriate for the weather and to bring folding chairs.

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.