4i6 
PARK AND CE/AETERY. 
MONUMENT TO BRIG. GENERAL 
JAMES DESHLER, C. S. A. 
Chattanooga=Chickamauga National Military Park. 
OMETHING over a 
year ago, “away down 
in Dixie” there occur- 
red an event that at- 
tracted universal at- 
tention throughout our 
land. It had 
been talk- 
ed of, writ- 
ten of and 
prep ared 
for in such 
E a way that 
interest was 
t r a nsform 
ed into en- 
thusiasm, and the little bustling “Mountain City,’’ 
lying in the Moccasin Bend of the Tennessee river 
and under the shadow of majestic old Lookout, was 
endued with a new importance. She was to be hos- 
tess at an event in American history, and a consci- 
ousness of the honor and responsibility of her pos- 
ition caused her to put forth her best energies in 
every direction, and the record shows a complete 
success. 
This event was the formal dedication of the bat- 
tlefield of Chickamauga as a national military park. 
What a time it was! “Yanks and Johnnies” met 
and clasped hands by the banks of the famous 
“Bloody Pond,” and in the many magnificent ora- 
tions delivered during the dedicatory ceremonies 
each tried to outdo the other in generous, noble, 
patriotic and laudatory expressions. Perhaps the 
most notable addresses delivered were those of Maj. 
McKinley, president elect, representing the one 
side, and the South’s matchless orator and gallant 
soldier, Gen. John B. Gordon. Each of these men 
received an ovation. 
Ohio was largely represented at the dedication, 
and Editor MacGowan, of the Chattanooga Times, 
commenting on the fact, said: “When you can find 
nobody else, you can find an Ohio man. He is 
made conspicuous by his presence in great numbers. 
Well, he ought to be. There was much of him here 
thirty years ago. Ohio is never behind on any oc- 
casion, be it a fight, a foot race or a race for a good, 
tat office!” He doubtless little thought when he 
penned those words that in one year, or a little more, 
the Ohioan who formally received the monu- 
ments of his state and in such graceful words ten- 
dered the Commission thanks, in the name of that 
state, for the able and highly satisfactory work done, 
would be the victor in the race for the biggest, fat- 
est office our country affords. 
So much has been written and said of Chicka- 
mauga from a historical standpoint that I will not 
attempt even to touch upon that phase of the sub- 
ject in my brief sketch. It is the park with which 
I have to deal, and that in itself is a most pregnant 
subject. 
One Sunday morning in June 1888, Gen. H. V. 
Boynton and Gen. Eerd. Van Derveer, who hap- 
pened to be together in Chattanooga, started out 
for a buggy ride. Both of these gentlemen had been 
engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, so they made 
it the object of their drive to visit and study the 
old battlefield. The trip proved to be so interest- 
ing to these two veterans that then and there the 
plan of converting the famous battlefield into a na- 
tional military park was conceived. 
To think was to act in this instance. 
Gen. Boynton was at the time Washington’s 
correspondent for the Cincinnati Commercial 
Gazette, and, upon his return to Washington, he 
wrote a very enthusiastic letter to that paper, set- 
ting forth in detail his idea with reference to Chicka- 
mauga, and urging the importance of preserving 
this battlefield, and marking by tablets and monu- 
ments, the positions of the troops, places where 
prominent officers fell, and other details essential 
to an accurate perpetuation of a historic place. It 
was, further, his idea for the veterans of both arm- 
ies to unite in this work, as 
here renown, in a military 
sense, was won by both. 
This letter was the begin- 
ning of the great movement. 
It was widely copied and 
commented on, and kept alive 
by continual discussion until 
it passed from an idea to a 
TOWER ON SNODGRASS HILL AND MON- 
UMENT TO 35TH. OHIO INFANTRY. 
prob ability 
and then to a 
certainty. In- 
terest was nev- 
er allowed to 
lag for one mo- 
ment and no 
time was lost 
i n organizing 
and setting a 
competen t 
committee t o 
work. It is im- 
possible, at this 
time, to follow 
up and report 
steps taken 
from time to 
time to advan- 
ce the cause; 
