Since that time the various states having troops in the battles have erected hundreds of beautiful, expensive monuments and markers which show the exact regimental positions of their troops. The tablets mark the brigade and division positions and give a brief history of their activities. The blue tablets mark the Union positions, while the red tablets mark Confederate positions. Another interesting thing to know is that all of these tablets have been placed in such a manner that when you are facing them, you are facing the same direction which the troops were facing at that time and place. Therefore, if anyone cares to follow up the movements of any particular organization, it can be done very easily.
Every effort has been made to restore the battlefields to their original condition. Speaking of the shell pyramids, there are 14 of the square-base type which mark the headquarters sites of either an army corps or the field headquarters of the commanding general. There are 8 of the triangular-base pyramids which mark the exact spot where each of the brigade commanders lost their lives. All of these are located on the Chickamauga battlefield. On Missionary Ridge, a bronze cannon-ball monument has been substituted for a pyramid. This also marks the site where a brigade commander lost his life. One original house stands on the Chickamauga battlefield; also three replicas of the original.
This is the largest and oldest of the National Military Parks. It is probably the first one on which the high-ranking officers of the contending armies ever met to determine their exact locations during the battles. The park consists of approximately 8,584 acres, and embraces the battlefields of Chickamauga, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, all of which were very important in military operations around Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the fall of 1863. The Chickamauga battlefield alone covers 5,562 acres.
CHATTANOOGA AND ITS IMPORTANCE DURING THE CIVIL WAR
In 1863 Chattanooga was a very small town with a population of only 4,000. Notwithstanding the small population, it was the objective of both the Union and Confederate armies. Its importance was chiefly due to the railroads that intersected here. There were rail connections to the Mississippi River at Memphis; to the Ohio River via Nashville and Louisville; to the Atlantic at Savannah and Charleston via Atlanta, and to Richmond via Knoxville and Lynchburg. In addition to this, Chattanooga was located on the Tennessee River. Therefore, with every transportation facility possible, its possession was of vital importance. Union troops in possession of Chattanooga, meant a wedge through the Confederacy, because Chattanooga was the “key” to east Tennessee and northwest Georgia. Furthermore, it would discourage the forwarding of supplies and the transportation of troops back and forth from Richmond to the areas in west Tennessee and Mississippi. The section of east Tennessee in which Chattanooga is located is one of the most fertile sections in the entire South for the production of grain. Not only wheat, corn and hay, but plenty of beef, bacon, horses and mules. All of these were of vital importance in the support of an army. In fact, both Governments profited from the resources of this area.
