Title
Description of George H. Thomas G.A.R. Post #5 Monument
Description
Excerpt from Chicago Tribune with information on the George H. Thomas G.A.R. Post #5 Monument, also known as "The Rock of Chicamauga."
Source
"They Died in Glory," Chicago Tribune, May 26, 1895.
Date
May 26, 1895
Original Format
Newspaper
Text
The Hero of Chickamauga.
The monument, instead of being chiseled stone, is a vast, irregular rock-faced mass of granite, weighing 33,000 pounds, and left precisely in the shape in which it left the quarry, with the exception of a portion of one face, curved and polished in the shape of a shield bearing the inscription: “George H. Thomas, Post, No. 5, Department of Illinois, G.A.R.” The stone has been named “the Rock of Chickamauga,” in honor of Gen. Thomas.
Only five veterans have been buried in this lot, and the rule is to put no names on their graves, which are distinguished by numbers carved on small stones. The post has just had manufactured an elaborate bronze grave-mark. But it is not for use in this lot. The address at the dedication of the monument will be delivered by Gen. John C. Black. The George H. Thomas Post has been for several years the largest post in the Grand Army, its membership numbering 1,200. Among its members in years past have been Gens. P.H. Sheridan, Nelson A. Miles, A.I. Chetlain, John C. Black, W.C. Newberry, M.R. Hardin, and Joseph Stockton, and Cols. George R. Davis, Edgar D. Swain, C.R.E. Koch, and Henry L. Turner.
The monument, instead of being chiseled stone, is a vast, irregular rock-faced mass of granite, weighing 33,000 pounds, and left precisely in the shape in which it left the quarry, with the exception of a portion of one face, curved and polished in the shape of a shield bearing the inscription: “George H. Thomas, Post, No. 5, Department of Illinois, G.A.R.” The stone has been named “the Rock of Chickamauga,” in honor of Gen. Thomas.
Only five veterans have been buried in this lot, and the rule is to put no names on their graves, which are distinguished by numbers carved on small stones. The post has just had manufactured an elaborate bronze grave-mark. But it is not for use in this lot. The address at the dedication of the monument will be delivered by Gen. John C. Black. The George H. Thomas Post has been for several years the largest post in the Grand Army, its membership numbering 1,200. Among its members in years past have been Gens. P.H. Sheridan, Nelson A. Miles, A.I. Chetlain, John C. Black, W.C. Newberry, M.R. Hardin, and Joseph Stockton, and Cols. George R. Davis, Edgar D. Swain, C.R.E. Koch, and Henry L. Turner.