[4] Starting in 1890, during the decade, the Congress of the United States authorized the establishment of the first four national military parks: Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Shiloh, Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

The first and largest of these (5,300 acres or 2,145 ha), and the one upon which the establishment and development of most other national military and historical parks was based, was authorized in 1890 at Chickamauga, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

[5] It owes its existence chiefly to the efforts of Generals Henry V. Boynton and Ferdinand Van Derveer, both veterans of the Union Army of the Cumberland, who saw the need for a federal park to preserve and commemorate these battlefields.

[8] The newly created Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was used during the Spanish–American War as a major training center for troops in the southern states.

The park's proximity to the major rail hub at Chattanooga and its large tracts of land made it a logical marshalling area for troops being readied for service in Cuba and other points south.