FIRST - Military Park in U.S. - Chickamauga National Battlefield - Chickamauga, GA
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 34° 56.415 W 085° 15.597
16S E 658906 N 3867799
Inside the Visitors Center alongside a huge map of the entire battlefield.
Waymark Code: WM10RT9
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2019
Views: 1
County of sign: Catoosa County
Location of sign: Lafayette Hwy & Post Rd., Visitors Center Chickamauga National Battlefield
Sign erected by: National Park Service
Sign Text:
CREATING THE FIRST
________________
NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
The two battlefields of Chickamauga and Chattnooga became the Nation's first official military park. President Benjamin Harrison signed the documentation into law on August 19 -- five years before a similar status was conferred on Gettysburg, and 26 years before the National Park Service was established.
Civil War veterans, then at the apex of political power, had spearheaded the legislation through Congress. Inspired by fervent patriotism and a desire for commemoration, the bill exemplified reconciliation between North and South. It passed the House of Representatives in only 23 minutes and met no opposition in the Senate, whose members included seven veterans who had fought at Chickamauga.
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