Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Dedication Medal / SOLD
Souvenir medal commemorating the dedication of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. A scroll and laurel wreath accented bronze medal reads “DEDICATION / NATL. MILITARY PARK / CHICKAMAUGA CHATTANOOGA, TENN. SEPT. 18-20 1895.” The medal is suspended from a bronze pin bar marked “SOUVENIR.” The overall height of the piece is 2 ¼”.
Starting in 1890, during the decade, the Congress of the United States authorized the establishment of the first four national military parks: Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Shiloh, Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The first and largest of these, and the one upon which the establishment and development of most other national military and historical parks was based, was authorized in 1890 at Chickamauga, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was officially dedicated in September 1895. It owes its existence chiefly to the efforts of Generals Henry V. Boynton and Ferdinand Van Derveer, both veterans of the Union Army of the Cumberland, who saw the need for a federal park to preserve and commemorate these battlefields. Another early proponent and driving force behind the park's creation was Ohio General Henry M. Cist, who led the Chickamauga Memorial Society in 1888. Franklin Guest Smith, a former Union officer still on active duty, served as secretary and member of the board of commissioners from 1893 until his 1903 military retirement, and served in the same role as a civilian until 1908. Another former Union officer, Charles H. Grosvenor, was chairman of the park commission from 1910 until his death in 1917. During the Park's early years, it was managed by the War Department and used for military study as well as a memorial. The National Park Service took over site management in 1933.
Comes housed in a 5 x 7 inch display case with red velvet backing and descriptive card.