[TD="width: 5%"]• [/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] Henry V. Boynton, 1835-1905, a regimental commander in the Army of the Cumberland during the Civil War and later a Washington journalist, conceived the idea for the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park which was established in 1890. He was a Brigadier General of volunteers in the Spanish American War. Boynton is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]• [/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"]The April 15, 1898
Nashville Banner
reported that Col. Burt of the 25th Inf. named his regimental camp in honor of Boynton who had helped with preparations for the camp. According to the paper, Camp Boynton was established “one-fourth of a mile east of the Widow Glenn’s house which was the headquarters of Gen. Rosecrans during the battle of Chickamauga.” The 25th Inf. was the first regiment to arrive at Chickamauga Park.[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]• [/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] The camp site of the 25th Inf. is shown on the map of Camp Thomas in
source
(13).[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]• [/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] In late August, 1898, Boynton was assigned to duty at the park to care for and protect the park and to restore it as troops were withdrawn. He was also there in early May, 1898 to “superintend preparations for the arrival of volunteer troops” according to the May 14, 1898
Army and Navy Journal
. I initially thought Camp Boynton may have been established as a base from which to carry out his care and protection duties.
Camp George H. Thomas, Chickamauga Park, GA (See Leiter and Sternberg General Hospitals)
[TD="width: 5%"]•[/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] Named after the “Rock” of Chickamauga on April 22, 1898.[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]•[/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] This camp was established April 14, 1898 on the grounds of the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park. This was the assembly point for at least 6 regiments of regular cavalry who were on their way to Tampa. Camp Thomas became the initial camp of the First and Third Corps. By mid-May, 1898, the regulars had departed and the volunteer units began arriving. By mid-September, 1898, the only volunteer unit remaining at Camp Thomas was the 6th U.S. Vol. Inf. The current map of the park can be overlaid on the 1898 map of the camp to identify where units were camped.[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]•[/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] Many souvenir booklets were published on this camp, including
Life Scenes in Camp Thomas
, no publisher identified, July, 1898;
The “Boys” in Camp Thomas
, published by Sidebottom & Kerr, June, 1898.[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]•[/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] The May 20, 1890
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
refers to the 1st Missouri camp at Camp Thomas as Camp Stephens. No other references to this camp name were found.[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]•[/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] See
source
(7) beginning at page 140.[/TD]
[TD="width: 5%"]•[/TD]
[TD="width: 50%"] The map of the camp in
source
(13) shows where all regular army and volunteer units were camped and the location of Sternberg General Hospital.[/TD]
[/TD]
