Civilian Conservation Corps, 4th Corps, District C Headquarters, Fort Oglethorpe, 1930s
About this Project
In August of 2023, this author was hired by the City of Fort Oglethorpe for the newly created position "Welcome Center and Exhibits Assistant." Two of these part-time positions were created to staff the new Welcome Center for the purposes of greeting the public, researching the city's history, and designing and curating exhibits. This was part of a larger initiative by the city to promote economic development and tourism. The city established a Welcome Center in the historic district of the city where the original Army post had been built, known locally as Barnhard Circle. The Welcome Center is housed in a repurposed building that was originally built as the city's first library in 1970. Because the position was only part-time, this author moved on to another full-time position in May of 2024, but the nine months spent intensively researching Fort Oglethorpe's history instilled in him a passion to make the post's history more well known. This website launched on December 16, 2024.
Welcome Center, photo credit Tom Bodkin
This project has to be understood within the context of the 6th Cavalry Museum. Opening in 1981, the museum carried the torch of Fort Oglethorpe history until it permanently closed in November of 2023. It was generally viewed as a "diamond in the rough" among tourists who were looking for "off the beaten path" attractions. The museum was situated on the Fort's parade/polo grounds in the historic district. Unfortunately, the historic district is one block west of the main road (Lafayette Road) into the Chickamauga Battlefield, so many thousands of park visitors missed the museum and the entire historic district of the Fort unless they saw the small signs on the Lafayette Road and were compelled to divert their visit from the Chickamauga Battlefield.
The 6th Cavalry Museum was housed in a modern, non-descript, two story building that had been Walker County's Health Department. Its primary mission was keeping alive the memory of the regiment, and a secondary mission was the history of Fort Oglethorpe. The fort's lifespan was from 1904 to 1946. The regiment's history at Fort Oglethorpe was from 1919 to 1942. The history of the 6th Cavalry is but one chapter of Fort Oglethorpe history. While the museum did some really great things in the community, this focus created some blinds spots in the city's overall history.
One such blind spot was the pre-WW1 era. The 6th Cavalry Regiment was transferred to the post after their return from WW1, arriving Thursday night, July 3, 1919. Thus, all the years of the post's history prior to WW1 received little attention in the museum. For example, the German prisoner sailors during WW1, the Street Car Strike, and the decade of service by the 11th Cavalry at the fort (1909-1919), which are all very instructive events to local and national history.
Another blind spot was the story of the why did the Army chose this place to build a fort, nine miles south of Chattanooga in the middle of nowhere. Many people think it was a fort built for the Civil War. The creation of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in 1890 (27 years after the Battle of Chickamauga), and military use of the park during the Spanish-American War (1898), caused the establishment of Camp Thomas, which launched a lucrative business relationship between the park, the Army, and the City of Chattanooga.
Incidentally, the 6th Cavalry came to Camp Thomas during the Spanish-American War (May 1898), but they were only here a few weeks before being transferred to the war zone. During that time, they were just one of numerous other regular army and state militia units at Camp Thomas. Fort Oglethorpe had not yet been built. ​
The 6th Cavalry's claim to fame at Fort Oglethorpe was that they were stationed here longer than any other combat unit- 23 years from 1919-1942. By comparison, the 11th Cavalry Regiment garrisoned the post for a decade from 1909-1919. The staff of the General Hospital No. 14 was present throughout the life of the post.
Photo from Raymond Evans, Camp Thomas (2008)
Bear in mind, these are not complaints about the museum, just an observation on which aspects of history the museum chose to shine their spotlight. While working in the new Welcome Center, it was frequent that the author heard local visitors say that they had never heard many of the stories that are now being uncovered, even among those who had previously visited the museum.
To remedy this, the author's research goal in this website is aimed at reconstructing the overall history of Fort Oglethorpe, and that includes any units ever stationed in or around the post, not just a particular unit. This goal will allow us to use the Fort's history to help us understand the national and international events of which these units played a part, thereby elevating the experience of Fort Oglethorpe from local history to one of global prominence.
The author wants to make very clear that this website has no connection whatsoever with the City of Fort Oglethorpe or the 501(c)(3) non-profit The Post (Preservation Of Stories and Times). The information in this website is solely the opinion and interpretations of the author. The author endeavors to remain unbiased, uninfluenced, and uncensored by any outside entity so that the integrity and fidelity of the information can remain independent. The author accepts full responsibility of the information contained herein.
About the Author
Tom Bodkin is a native Chattanoogan. He is an honorably discharged US Army veteran having served three years in Germany (1986-1989). He has earned a BA in anthropology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and an MA in anthropology from University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he specialized in forensic anthropology. Tom worked as a death investigator and autopsy assistant for the Hamilton County Medical Examiner Office for ten years, during which time he was adjunct faculty in anthropology at UTC. A notable case Tom worked was the recovery and analysis of a Civil War soldier's skeleton from the Battle of Missionary Ridge (April 2001). The skeleton was eventually reburied with full honors in the Citizen's Cemetery in Chattanooga. He has always been interested in local history, but holding this soldier's remains in his hands created a passionate connection with the past. He has one daughter, two cats, and is a 3-time Ironman triathlon finisher.
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The author is available for presentations. Visit the Contact page to request.
Resume of presentations:
October 2024 - Chattanooga Area Historical Association
March 2025 - Walker County African American Historical and Alumni Association
April 2025 - Catoosa County Historical Society
Coffee and history!
If you found the information on this website useful or interesting, please consider donating the cost of a cup of coffee. The author is paying for the website costs out of his own pocket. Every little bit helps keep this history alive and relevant to our lives today. The author is not a non-profit or a business, just a working American and veteran who has a passion for American and military history.
"If I have seen further than others,
it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."Â
Sir Issac Newton (1642-1727)
Sources
The author's research is currently at the primary level of building a timeline, learning who the significant actors were, what they experienced, where they experienced it, and tying these people and events to a location that we can see and walk on today.
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The greatest source for this level of primary research is newspapers. The author has spent many hours researching newspapers.com. We can be thankful today for the curious, detailed, and persistent reporters around the turn of last century who documented events in great detail. Admittedly, this source is not without bias. Journalists on occasion published conflicting details and may have embellished to sell more copies. They made mistakes but they also knew their readers would catch them, so it is assumed for the most part that the bulk of newspaper history is accurate.
People
The author is honored to have begun this journey with Mclain Stenland while working at the Fort Oglethorpe Welcome Center together. Mclain's curiosity and motivation helped uncover facts lost to history, and her creativity helped to design effective displays.
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The author would also like to thank Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden for his deep knowledge, subtle humor, and friendship over the years. He is a wealth of knowledge and a true historian.
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Thanks to the non-profit POST Board (Preservation of Stories and Times), specifically Greg Jackson, Bob Dial, Amanda Hearn, and Ann Sandlin for their enthusiasm and commitment in keeping alive Fort Oglethorpe history.
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Thanks to Taylor Hutwagner at the City of Fort Oglethorpe Department of Economic Development and Tourism for the opportunity to launch the Welcome Center in Barnhardt Circle.
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Respect goes out to the 6th Cavalry Museum, their director Chris McKeever, and staff. They were responsible for curating the artifacts and telling the stories up to this point.​