Scars on the Land: Trenches and Preservation at Chickamauga, 1917

Date: June 1, 2017
Contact: Kim Coons, 423-752-5213 x139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: On June 10 & 11, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host a series of 100^th anniversary programs at Chickamauga Battlefield commemorating the opening of military training camps on the battlefield during World War I.

Living historians will be at Snodgrass Hill (Tour Stop 8), where they will conduct programs about the trenches dug on the battlefield during World War I. They will also discuss daily life in 1917. Programs will take place at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, and 3:30 pm. Additionally, there will be a 90 minute ranger-guided car caravan tour highlighting some of the areas on the battlefield where soldiers trained during World War I. This tour will begin at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 2 pm. There are no admission fees for these programs.

In the summer of 1917, Chickamauga Battlefield bustled with activity as the first soldiers began arriving at what became three large training depots in the park. By war’s end, miles of trenches and rifle pits crisscrossed the landscape, altering this hallowed ground set aside for preservation just a few years earlier. Join us as we explore the purpose and consequences of battlefield preservation at Chickamauga a century ago.