Fort
Oglethorpe=
, Georgia
incorporated 1949
The Army Post at Fort Oglethorpe
was established on the site of Camp
Thomas, a training =
camp
installed in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. The Camp was placed in the Chickamauga National Battlefiel=
d
Park as a result of
Congressional action in 1896 which provided that military parks could be us=
ed
as fields for military training.
The use of the battlefield for military activities eventually led to
concern over the integrity of preserving the park and 814 acres just north =
of
the park were obtained for a permanent Army Post.
The permanent Army Po=
st - Fort Oglethorpe
was established and constructed 1902 – 1905 in the classic Renaissance
Revival style. In 1903, while=
Fort Oglethorpe
was under construction, President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Chickamauga National=
Military Park
to dedicate the Kentucky
monument and check on the Post’s progress. The Post continued its use of the =
Chickamauga National Military
Park during World W=
ar I
and World War II for training purposes and military maneuvers.
Fort Oglethorpe was a major military Post during World War I. By 1918, more than 1,600 buildings=
had
been constructed and 60,000 troops had been mobilized through the Post. Fo=
rt
Oglethorpe was home to the large=
st
Prisoner of War camp in the United
States during World War I. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a captain at=
the
time, taught trench warfare at one of the Post’s three training camps
prior to being sent overseas for World War I.
Traditionally, the Po=
st was
associated with a number of cavalry units and became the permanent home to =
the
6th Cavalry in 1919. General
of the Armies John “Jack Black” Pershing; who started his milit=
ary
career as a 6th Cavalryman, visited the Post in 1920. Many of the activities at the Post=
and
the accessory buildings were oriented to the use and care of horses. The parade grounds were the settin=
g for
polo matches on Sunday afternoons which were famous throughout the region.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> George S. Patton, a Lieutenant at =
the
time, made several trips to Fort
Oglethorpe to play =
polo,
once bringing a string of 26 polo ponies with him. Preparing for war in the late thir=
ties,
the 6th Cavalry was mechanized and tested the Bantam Car –
soon to be known the world over as the jeep. In 1942, the 6th Cavalr=
y was
transferred to South Carolina=
to prepare for their entrance into World War II. The horses were sent to New York and the last vestige of horse cavalry in <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">North Georgia was gone.
World War II was a ti=
me of
enlargement and diversification for the Post. An induction Center
and Provost Marshal School were established. Once again Fort
Oglethorpe was used as a Prisone=
r of
War Camp, the largest in the State of Georgia. From 1943 – 1945, The
Women’s Army Corps (WAC) Third
Training Center
was installed and was the largest in the country. It was during this time that the P=
ost at
Fort Oglethorpe again made military his=
tory in
April, 1944 with the country’s first ever female Post Commander, Major
Elizabeth Strayhorn. In July,=
1945
the WAC <=
st1:PlaceType
w:st=3D"on">Center was closed and the Post bec=
ame a
distribution center for processing returning soldiers.
After World War II, t=
he Post
was deemed too small to remain open and was officially closed on December 3=
1,
1947. The Post facilities were
declared surplus, and by 1948 most of the 100 buildings remaining had been =
sold
to private individuals. Given=
the
infra-structure left behind by the closing of the Post; water, sewer, utili=
ties
and roads as a “ready-made” town, the City of Fort Oglethorpe w=
as
incorporated in 1949, making it the first new city
in the State of Geor=
gia
in 25 years.