News Release

Football and the Civil War: How the Game Transcends Time

Date: August 19, 2021
Contact: Kim Coons, 706-866-9241, ext. 139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: On Saturday, September 4, at 2 pm, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites the public to participate in a special one-hour, ranger-led, program discussing the correlation between the Civil War and American football. This program will take place at the Recreation Field in Chickamauga Battlefield. Special program signs will direct visitors to the program site.

American football, or simply football here in the United States, has its origins from the sports of soccer and rugby. Its rise to popularity, even after the first game was played on November 6, 1869, is without question. The similarities between football and war are quite evident and football can be used as a metaphor for war. According to the historian Allen Guttmann, this type of rugged, viscous sport appealed to young men hoping to “demonstrate the manly courage that their fathers and older brothers had recently proved on the bloody battlefields of the Civil War.” Join us as we look deeper into the foundations of the sport that captivates us today and its link to the American Civil War.

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.