Ini­tial­ly des­ig­nat­ed as a nation­al ceme­tery in com­mem­o­ra­tion of the Bat­tles of Chat­tanooga, George H. Thomas on Christ­mas Day of 1863. In addi­tion to Civ­il War vet­er­ans, there are 78 Ger­man pris­on­ers of war from the First World War and a num­ber of pris­on­ers of war from Ger­many and oth­er Axis coun­tries dat­ing from the Sec­ond World War, the largest num­ber of Ger­man (and oth­er Axis) POWs interred in the Unit­ed States. The 120 acre ceme­tery was list­ed in the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places in 1996 and it fea­tures one of five memo­r­i­al entrance arch­ways built in nation­al ceme­ter­ies. The arch­way approach­es 40 feet in height. A num­ber of oth­er mon­u­ments have been erect­ed through­out the ceme­tery.