Chattanooga National Cemetery
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Chattanooga National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located near the center of the city of Chattanooga in Hamilton County, Tennessee. It encompasses 120.9 acres, and as of the end of 2005, had 43,534 interments.
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[edit] History
The cemetery was established in 1863, by an order from Major General George Henry Thomas after the Civil War Battles of Chattanooga, as a place to inter Union soldiers who fell in combat. 75 acres of land was initially appropriated from two local land owners, but later purchased. It became a Chattanooga National Cemetery in 1867. By 1870 more than 12,000 interments had been made, most of whom were unknown. Many nearby battlefield cemeteries were also reinterred in Chattanooga, including nearly 1,500 burials from the Battle of Chickamauga.
During World War I several German prisoners of war who died while in captivity were buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. After the war, the German government paid to have other POWs disinterred from Hot Springs National Cemetery and moved to Chattanooga.
Chattanooga National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Due to space limitations new burials are expected to be closed by 2015.[1]
[edit] Notable monuments
- A 40' high memorial archway, constructed in 1868.
- The Andrew's Raiders Monument, erected in 1890. It is a bronze replica of the locomotive known as The General, the subject of the Great Locomotive Chase.
- German World War I prisoner of war monument, erected by the German government in 1935.
[edit] Notable interments
- Sergeant Marion A. Ross, Medal of Honor recipient for action in Andrew's Raid during the Civil War.
- Sergeant John M. Scott, Medal of Honor recipient for action in Andrew's Raid during the Civil War.
- Sergeant Samuel Slavens, Medal of Honor recipient for action in Andrew's Raid during the Civil War.
- Private Samuel Robertson, Medal of Honor recipient for action in Andrew's Raid during the Civil War.
- First Lieutenant William F. Zion, Medal of Honor recipient for action in the China Relief Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion.
- Master Sergeant Ray E. Duke, Medal of Honor recipient for action in the Korean War
- Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to become of a Medal of Honor recipient.
- 186 foreign prisoners of war from World War I and World War II.
