News Release

To Provide a Proper Resting Place: Creating Chattanooga National Cemetery

Date: November 19, 2018
Contact: Kim Coons, 706-866-9241 x139

On Saturday, December 8, at 2 pm, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, in partnership with the Chattanooga National Cemetery, invites the public to participate in a special 1-hour program focusing on the creation of the national cemetery in 1863. This is a free program and will take place in the Chattanooga National Cemetery at the Andrews Raiders Monument in Section H. The cemetery is located at 1200 Baily Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404.   

The Chattanooga National Cemetery, overshadowed by Lookout Mountain, is breathtaking with its thousands of uniformly standing headstones, but many passersby have no idea about its origin.  It all began on Christmas Day 1863, when US General George Thomas created the first permanent national cemetery by military order. His order stated that “a National Cemetery be founded at this place, in commemoration of the battles at Chattanooga, fought November 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th, and to provide proper resting places for the remains of the brave men who fell upon the fields fought over upon those days, and for the remains of such as may hereafter give up their lives in this region in defending their country against treason and rebellion.” We hope you will join us as we explore the creation and administration of this hallowed site nestled in the low hills outside Chattanooga.

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.