As relations between Spain and the United States deteriorated in the spring of 1898, the leaders of the U.S. Army began to plan for its first large-scale campaign since the Civil War, which had ended more than 30 years previously.

On April 15, 1898, the regiments of the Regular Army were ordered to various assembly points in the South, with only a handful of units to remain at their peacetime posts.

The troops assembling at Camp Thomas, Georgia (in the Chickamauga Battlefield Park) were formed into a provisional field corps on April 23 under the command of Major General John R.

Miles and included troops led by generals Guy Vernon Henry and Theodore Schwan who commanded the First Divisions of the Fourth and Seventh corps.)

As hostilities concluded and conditions at Camp Thomas deteriorated, it was decided to break up the encampment and move the troops to healthier grounds.