With the onset of the Civil War in April 1861, 700,000 soldiers would die on both sides in the next four years. It was not until 11 September before the War Department began to have commanding officers keep records of deceased soldiers. At the same time, the Quartermaster General became responsible for tending to the needs of soldiers in death. Each grave marked with a headboard. Not long after, the graves gained numbers on the headboards and recorded in a register.
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Flying from the west into Atlanta, looking out the window it is hard to miss the waves of mountains sprawling in long ranks southwest to northeast not unlike a series of geographically arranged ribs. Chattanooga, Tennessee lies smack dab in the middle of these ancient ripples. And flowing right through the middle of the long mountain spines is the Tennessee River looping back and forth onto itself as it brushes through the city. The long ridges, extending for vast distances from Birmingham. Alabama in the southwest all the way to the northeastern edge of Pennsylvania in the northeast, represents a vast area once an ancient seabed that underwent uplift. Eons have worn down the region, though Lookout Mountain still rises 1,500 feet above the city below.
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