Ringgold is a city in and the county seat of Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,414 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Ringgold was founded in 1846 and incorporated as a city in 1847. It was named after Samuel Ringgold, a hero of the Battle of Palo Alto in the Mexican–American War. Ringgold is where The General locomotive stopped during the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862. Ringgold is also home to the historic Ringgold Depot, which still contains bullet marks from the Civil War. The Battle of Ringgold Gap took place on November 27, 1863. Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne with 4,100 men used the mountain pass known as the Ringgold Gap to stall the advance of Union Major General Joseph Hooker and his troops. Hooker's troops were over 12,000 strong. It was a Confederate victory because it allowed Confederate artillery and wagon trains to move safely through the Ringgold Gap unharmed while inflicting high Union casualties. On March 14, 2002, a sudden heavy fog played havoc with morning traffic and contributed to one of the worst traffic pileups in history; 125 vehicles crashed on Interstate 75 North and four people died. Tornado On April 27, 2011, an EF4 tornado touched down in Ringgold and Catoosa County, leaving a path of destruction. The tornado killed twenty people along a path across Catoosa County and over the state line in Hamilton and Bradley counties. Eight died in Ringgold, including an entire family of four, and at least thirty others were injured. Many homes, businesses, and schools were damaged or destroyed. Geography Ringgold is located near the center of Catoosa County at (34.917170, -85.115698). U.S. Routes 41 and 76 pass through the center of town as Nashville Street, leading northwest to downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, and southeast to Dalton, Georgia. Interstate 75 passes through the southern part of the city with access from 348; the highway leads northwest to Chattanooga and southeast to Atlanta. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.11%, is water. Topography Ringgold is situated in the Valley and Ridge geologic province of the Appalachian Mountains, characterized by long north-northeasterly trending ridges separated by valleys. The topography was formed by the erosion of alternating layers of hard and soft sedimentary rock that were folded