The Chickamauga battlefield will get national attention in September as the Civil War Preservation Trust's magazine rolls out its fall issue about the site.
Mary Koik, editor of Hallowed Ground magazine and a spokeswoman for the trust, said the historical action in and around the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as more contemporary preservation efforts, will be the "over-arching theme" of the issue that ships Sept. 7.
About 70,000 copies of the magazine are mailed out four times a year, and each edition usually is built around a battlefield or military park. Koik said she was surprised when the staff recently looked back at 11 years' worth of magazines and didn't find one focused on Chickamauga.
"It was more than time that we got to do something in depth on the park," she said.
The magazine will feature stories on cavalry action near Reeds Bridge, as well as pieces on McLemore's Cove, Gen. George H. Thomas and the creation of the park. There also will be contemporary and historic photos of Lee and Gordon's Mill, the first general store in Walker County, she said.
The magazine also contains an excerpt from "Failure in the Saddle," a book by David Powell about cavalry units at Chickamauga. The book is due to be published next month.
Sam Weddle, a spokesman for the park, said he's excited to hear about the publicity. He called the Civil War Preservation Trust a "wonderful organization" and "great partner."
Most people who subscribe to the magazine probably are well aware of Chickamauga, he said, but the publicity can't hurt.
"Those folks, we would hope if they would read that in the comfort of their own home would come out and explore the battlefield and stand where those soldiers were," Weddle said.
Koik said the magazine is not for sale on newsstands and hard copies are available only to trust members.
Membership information and some of the articles will be available after Labor Day on the trust's website at civilwar.org/hallowedground, she said.