A dedication ceremony held Saturday at Lee and Gordon’s Mills in Chickamauga, Ga. marked the inaugural start of the Medal of Honor Heritage Trail. The trail will eventually go through Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge.CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. — It all started here.
The nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, traces its roots back to the Civil War and specifically to the Chattanooga area — a legacy that local veterans are fighting to keep alive today.
In 1863, the first medal was given to surviving members of Andrews’ Raid, in which Union troops and civilian spy James Andrews rode a locomotive from Marietta, Ga., toward Chattanooga, setting fire to tracks and cutting telegraph wires along the way — drama that was celebrated in the 1956 Disney film, “The Great Locomotive Chase.” Confederate soldiers chased the 20 civilians and soldiers all the way to Ringgold, where they were captured. Eight of the Union men were tried, hanged and buried in Atlanta. Their bodies were later relocated to the Chattanooga National Cemetery.
In all, 33 Medals of Honor were given for Civil War action in the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, along with 19 medals handed out for members of Andrews’ Raid. Surgeon Mary Walker, who helped treat wounded soldiers in Chattanooga, remains the only woman to ever receive the award. Nearly 3,500 individuals have received the military honor, which is awarded by the president in the name of Congress. Among them, 1,522 were for action during the Civil War — more than from any other war.
“This is something that started right here,” said E. Raymond Evans, a local historian and author of a book on the subject.