When Germany signed the armistice at 11:11 a.m. (U.S. time) on Nov. 11, 1918, at Le Francport near Compiene, France, church bells across Europe rang in jubilee. The conflict that had ravaged the continent since the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had finally ended. Casualties totaled more than nine million military dead and 23 million wounded, almost eight million civilian lost, and more than 1.5 million mortalities in the Armenian genocide.
Following congressional approval of President Woodrow Wilson's request for a declaration of war against the Axis powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire), the United States had joined the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France and Russia) in April 1917. Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, led more than one million American troops in support of the French and British forces, worn down by more than three years of combat.
After the armistice was signed, the combatants met the following June and signed the final peace document in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, France. American citizens meanwhile celebrated the victory while mourning their casualties: 53,402 battle deaths and 63,114 noncombatants (porters, stevedores). By late spring 1919, most U.S. troops had returned home and rejoined family and friends.
In Chattanooga, city officials commemorated the Great War veterans' service by staging a Fourth of July "Victory-Peace Celebration." The Sunday, June 29 Chattanooga Daily Times invited "All Soldiers, Sailors and Marines of Chattanooga, Hamilton County and Rossville, Georgia" to "an elaborate program" including a parade, presentation of medals, lunch, pageant, evening barbecue and closing fireworks. The day began at 10 a.m. and ended with 9 p.m. illuminations that "represented the efforts of over 2,000 people who have given their unlimited time" to make the celebration "interesting and enjoyable."
The schedule and directions for participation were detailed in the Times article. The parade was to be formed at the Hamilton County Courthouse with military veterans "massing" by detachments — white and "colored" — and stepping off "down Sixth Street to Market, south on Market to the Western and Atlantic Crossing, then countermarch[ing] on Market to Seventh Street." At Seventh each detachment was assigned to a specific church for musical entertainment and luncheon. During the meal, the veterans were to be awarded medals for their service and tickets for the "drawing of prizes" later at Warner Park.
The victory-peace pageant was held at 3 p.m. at the park where "ten thousand new seats" had been installed. Veterans and their guests were admitted to special reserved seats by recognition of the medals presented at the luncheons. The tickets provided to each veteran during the luncheon made them eligible for prizes ranging from $100 in gold to scores of liberty bonds and other items provided by grateful citizens and businesses.
City leaders anticipated that most Chattanoogans would participate in some aspect of the celebration. Harry Miller, president of the Chattanooga Retail Merchants' Association, after meeting with business leaders, stepped forward and announced that all "stores, meat markets, offices, the market house, banks and brokers" would close their doors and join the homecoming celebration. Chattanooga Mayor Ed Bass and Hamilton County Judge Will Cummings jointly declared a holiday for City Hall and courthouse employees. J.L. Park, superintendent of the mails, took unprecedented action and "stated all branches of the post office except the special delivery department would close for the day." The Chattanooga Public Library, the reading respite for citizens, closed upon Miss Adelaide Rowel's direction. "Never in the history of the city had a holiday been so widely observed," it was said.
A barbecue dinner was served at 6 p.m. to attendees, with veterans and guests the "first in line." "White veterans" assembled at the "north end of Warner Park," and "colored veterans" were honored at Lincoln Park. During dinner and the early evening hours, each veteran had tickets for the amusement stands at "his" park, including duplicate roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, shooting galleries, skating rinks, fun houses, Ferris wheels, and games of chance.
The final phase of the celebration commenced with the raising of the colors by the Davis King Summers American Legion Post's color guard and culminated with the fireworks. After being assembled by city firefighters and staged at Third Street, the returning "heroes" reached Lincoln Park and Warner Park, where they saw an end to the evening with a 90-minute "heavenly display of red, white and blue."
Linda Moss Mines is the Chattanooga and Hamilton County historian. For more on local history, visit chattahistoricalassoc.org.