KENNESAW MOUNTAIN

NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

GEORGIA master of defensive strategy, but with his his army, caused by the constant maneuver­ attack. General Hood accepted the com­ the season, may be purchased for $1. All smaller army he could not prevent the flank­ ing, contributed to his decision. Also, he mand, and with it, the implied condition. fees are deposited in the U.S. Treasury and ing movements which threatened his line of realized that his rail supply line through In July, Hood attacked Sherman in three partially offset appropriations made for oper­ supplies and communications. He had to hostile territory was vulnerable. And the major battles. In each of them, Sherman, ating the park. protect this line by withdrawing from one campaign had dragged on now for over a the victor, inflicted heavy losses on the Con­ KENNESAW MOUNTAIN position to another. month. If his part in the war's grand strat­ federates. In a fourth battle Sherman cut About Your Visit Hence, Johnston was trading space for egy was to be fulfilled, Sherman had to seek the last railroad into Atlanta, and the Con­ NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK time, hoping to find a chink in Sherman's a decisive action. federate army evacuated the city. Sherman Come first to the visitor center. Here, a armor, and defeat his opponent in detail. There was, of course, much to be gained entered Atlanta on September 2. museum, library service, and general infor­ Sherman, using only a part of his force to by a successful direct assault. Sherman knew The occupation of Atlanta opened the mation are available. You will appreciate pin the Confederates in position, flanked that once Johnston's army was defeated, the way for Sherman's devastating sweep across more fully the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain Scene of a major engagement of the Atlanta Campaign—Gen. William with the remaining force. Thus he repeat­ capture and destruction of Atlanta would be Tecumseh Sherman's great flanking movement that split the heart of Georgia to Savannah—"The March to the if you take the walking tours of Big Kenne­ edly forced Johnston to retire, hoping to easy. In spite of the risk, he prepared for saw and Cheatham Hill illustrated in this the Confederacy in two during the summer of 1864. Sea." strike the Southern army while it was in action. folder. motion and vulnerable. Although Sherman This was to be no partial engagement. The truce during the Battle of Kennesaw From the top of Big Kennesaw you have a found no such opportunity, his tactics pressed Artillery bombardments, feints, and flanking The Park Mountain. sweeping view of the battlefield, and a num­ Johnston deeper and deeper into Georgia, movements, with two simultaneous attacks From a sketch by In 1899 a group of Union soldiers ac­ ber of exhibits there depict the major troop Kennesaw, the bold and striking twin mountain, hammer in this great coordinated campaign and closer to Atlanta. in force on the Confederate center—these lay before us, with a high range of chestnut hills A. R. Waud, famous quired 60 acres at Cheatham Hill and in 1917 movements and actions. In the Cheatham to crush the Confederacy and end the war. Gradually Sherman pushed the Confed­ tactics based on numerical superiority and trending off to the northeast. ... To our right Civil War artist. donated it to the U.S. Government as a bat­ Hill area you will see well-preserved earth­ The Confederate army was entrenched at erates back to the vicinity of Marietta to a coupled with surprise, were calculated to was a smaller hill, called Pine Mountain, and tlefield site. Since then, it has grown from works typical of those used in the entire Dalton, Ga., 25 miles southeast of Chat­ position on and around Kennesaw Moun­ overwhelm, disorganize, and destroy John­ beyond it in the distance, Lost Mountain. . . . a battlefield site of 60 acres to a battlefield Atlanta Campaign. tanooga, one-fifth the distance to Atlanta. tain. There, on June 5, Johnston entrenched ston's army. On each of these peaks the enemy had his signal park of 3,000 acres. The National Park Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the on a line 10 miles long between Lost, Pine, If you plan to visit in a group we suggest station, the summits were crowned with batteries, The frontal attacks on the Southern center Service has administered Kennesaw Moun­ Confederate forces at Dalton, prepared to and Brush Mountains. Sherman saw Ken­ you make advance arrangements with the and the spurs were alive with men busy in felling Sherman expected to be the decisive blows. tain National Battlefield Park since 1933. trees, digging pits, and preparing for the grand resist the expected advance of the Federals. nesaw, Pine, and Lost Mountains as a superintendent for special service. Gen. George H. Thomas' Army of the Cum­ The park includes the principal points of struggle impending. The scene was enchanting; On the 7th of May, Sherman with 100,000 triangle "... covering perfectly the town one part of the Confederate line could not be emy) . These obstacles, coupled with dogged berland was to make one assault at a point combat in the vicinity of Kennesaw Moun­ too beautiful to be disturbed by the harsh clamor troops moved against Johnston's 50,000 of Marietta, and the railroad back to the used to reinforce any other part of the line. resistance from Confederate infantrymen, in the Confederate center, a hill south of the tain. Many of the Federal and Confederate Administration of war; but the Chattahoochee lay beyond, and I Confederates. Chattahoochee." At 9 o'clock on the morning of June 27 whose rifles poured deadly fire into the ad­ Marietta-Dallas Road, defended by Gen. earthworks constructed during the battle are had to reach it. B. F. Cheatham. the Confederate defenders, alerted by the vancing Federals, stopped a breakthrough— Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield object of the furious attack. well preserved. Thus Sherman wrote of the natural barrier Campaign Strategy Gen. James B. McPherson's Army of the heaviest artillery fire they had experienced Park is administered by the National Park The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain By 11:30 a.m. the assault was over, and that arrested his progress toward Atlanta, the Tennessee was to assault the Confederate thus far, sprang for their weapons. All Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. A Sherman's troops were repulsed. goal of his summmer campaign in 1864. Sherman had to assume the offensive and No one knows exactly why Sherman de­ center at the south end of Little Kennesaw along the line the cannons pounded, and How To Reach the Park superintendent, whose address is Marietta, penetrate hostile territory. Superior forces, cided to risk this direct attack at Kennesaw Mountain. Both assaults were to be made at when they subsided the first blue line of On this battlefield Sherman failed to break Ga., is in immediate charge. The park is 2 miles north of Marietta, ample supplies, and a rail line for communi­ Mountain. No doubt unrest and fatigue in the same time, June 27, so that troops from Federal infantrymen began to move forward. the Confederate lines. Johnston's battlewise Events Leading to Atlanta Ga., and about 20 miles northwest of At­ cations favored the Federals. Sam Watkins of Company H, 1st Tennes­ troops halted the equally combat-tested Fed­ lanta. You may reach it by U.S. 41, follow­ Mission 66 But let us go back a year to the summer of Aware that he faced an opponent well see Regiment, defending Cheatham Hill, eral forces and demonstrated the awful ing Park Service signs to the visitor center 1863 and review the events that led Sherman schooled in military matters, Sherman care­ Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Courtesy Gen. Joseph Eggleston Johnston. Courtesy recalled that penalty exacted upon attackers when brave Mission 66 is a program designed to be located near the point where old U.S. 41 to this battle at Kennesaw Mountain, and fully tested the positions on which Johnston National Archives. National Archives. and experienced men fought from behind completed by 1966 which will assure the thence to Atlanta. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's offered battle. While he made assaults at ... all at once a hundred guns . . . opened trenches, barricades, and field fortifications. passes the northern tip of Big Kennesaw upon us, and for more than an hour they poured maximum protection of the scenic, scientific, capture of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, was both Resaca and New Hope, he did not Mountain. their solid and chain shot, grape and shrapnel Sherman lost 2,500 men and Johnston 800 wilderness, and historic resources of the the decisive action that gained for the North commit his entire force to an all-out attack. right upon this salient point, ... all of a sud­ in these attacks. Having learned that frontal In season (April to August) there is a National Park System in such ways and by complete control of the Mississippi River. Whenever reconnaissance or attacks demon­ den ... a solid line of blue coats came up the assaults would prove too costly, Sherman 50-cent fee for automobiles and motorcycles such means as will make them available for Late in November, Northern armies, based strated too much strength in the Southern hill. . . . resumed the flanking tactics that had served to use the road from the visitor center to the the use and enjoyment of present and future principally at Nashville, had won control of positions, Sherman flanked or bypassed them, Column after column of Federal soldiers were him so well. top of Big Kennesaw. A permit, good for generations. Tennessee in decisive actions around Chat­ rather than permit one strong point to halt crowded upon that line. ... It seemed impossible tanooga. Thus the Federals were ready to his entire force. to check the onslaught, but every man was true to Fall of Atlanta move southward into Georgia—the stage was Sherman aimed each flank movement at his trust, and seemed to think . . . the whole The National Park System, of which this park is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, set for the Atlanta Campaign. Atlanta, thus threatening to interpose his responsibility . . . rested upon his shoulders . . . When Sherman outflanked them, the Con­ above all, the roar of battle made it a perfect General Grant, now commanding all force between Johnston and his base. Each federates retired from their Kennesaw Moun­ and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people. pandemonium. Union armies, directed Sherman to start his one of his flanking moves caused the Con­ tain position to the vicinity of Atlanta. At drive on Atlanta in early May 1864. At the federates to retire to protect Atlanta. For 21/2 hours the Union troops tried to this critical moment, on July 17, Johnston same time, Grant would begin his advance Johnston, on the other hand, was outnum­ push up the mountainside and take the Con­ received a telegram which relieved him of UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR in Virginia. For the first time in the war, bered. He had to fight defensively, offering federate positions. They faced steep grades command and put Gen. J. B. Hood in his Fred A. Seaton, Secretary Federal forces in the East and in the West battle only when favorable terrain somewhat in front of the Confederate earthworks, bris­ place. Since Johnston's defensive campaign would be moving toward a common center. neutralized the advantage of Sherman's su­ tling with formidable abatis (felled trees had not pleased those in Richmond, the new NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • Conrad L. Wirth, Director Grant would be the anvil and Sherman the perior numbers. Johnston proved himself a witb their branches pointing toward the en­ commander, of course, would be expected to CREST OF KENNESAW MOUNTAIN KENNESAW MOUNTAIN

NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Sept 1959 NBP-KM-7007

CREST OF KENNESAW MOUNTAIN (Elevation 1,808 feet) CHEATHAM HILL AREA

Up the short trail from the parking area The armies fought their way to Kennesaw Sherman, hoping to crush the Confeder­ From the west, Harker's Brigade charged is an overlook where an exhibit (1) faces from the northwest; the panorama below ates at Kennesaw, aimed five brigades, 8,000 directly toward where you stand. Harker Marietta and Atlanta. makes this area a vivid map on which you strong, at Cheatham Hill. The hill was fell mortally wounded, and his brigade lost may readily imagine the scenes of engage­ named for its defender, Confederate Gen. heavily. A few men reached this area, but Marietta was Confederate headquarters ments that took place at Lost Mountain, Pine B. F. Cheatham. during the battle, and after Johnston's army Cheatham's line was never in danger. Mountain, Gilgal, and finally at Brush Moun­ retired south, Sherman used the city as his At the south end of the parking area is Farther along the trail an exhibit (3) is tain where Sherman entrenched to face base for operations in the Atlanta area. a registration desk. in front of the Illinois Monument. Kennesaw. McCook and Mitchell charged from the As you start up the foot trail toward the After you have registered and read the ridge on the west toward your position. crest you will note a marker (2) with a map Follow the trail to the beacon, turn right, marker, look back along the road to the high Southern gunfire dotted the wheatfield in on your right. and proceed downhill to the next exhibit {5 ). ground where Cleburne's Confederate Divi­ sion was entrenched. Kimball and Wagner front of you with casualties. McCook fell, This map describes the terrain from Chat­ Vistas here highlight Kolb Farm, Little bravely attacked him, suffering heavy losses, and his successor, Colonel Harmon, was hit. tanooga to Atlanta over which the Atlanta Kennesaw, Cheatham Hill, and adjoining but Cleburne held his line. Both sides Many Federals stopped and entrenched under Campaign was fought in 1864. Beside the areas where hard fighting cost Sherman agreed to a truce to rescue wounded from a the brow of the hill. You can see their map is a list of important events and dates 7,500 men and the Confederates 6,000. forest fire, then resumed fighting: One works nearby. This maneuver had some ad­ connected with the campaign. After his unsuccessful frontal attacks Sher­ minute saving life, the next, taking it. vantage, for another attack could have been launched from this point. But there was no farther up the trail is a Confederate artil­ man flanked to the south, and the Southern {Later, when you drive back toward State other gain at Cheatham Hill. Sherman lost lery pit, dug in 1864. A gun of the period army moved out to defend Atlanta, thus Route 120, on the high ground you will see 1,580 out of 8,000 men, while the Confed­ is mounted here (3). ending the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. a marker describing this incident.) erates lost 206 out of 8,000. Sherman re­ These guns commanded the road and rail­ Now, return to the beacon and view the The foot trail leads to the Southern sumed his flanking tactics and moved toward road below, forcing Sherman to stop and exhibit ( 6 ). trenches {1). Atlanta. engage the Confederates in a series of artil­ These works are typical of the well- This ends the tour of Cheatham Hill. lery duels. However, they proved more Atlanta, on the horizon, was Sherman's preserved earthworks in the park. The large map shows the way to the visitor spectacular than decisive, and at this point goal. He fought four hard battles to gain center and to major highivays in the Marietta Northern forces made no major attempt to the city, and his destruction of railroads and The trail continues on to a marker (2) area. storm and capture Kennesaw—the terrain factories there hastened the end of the war. erected in honor of Sgt. C. H. Coffey. was too unfavorable. This completes the first tour. Kolb Farm is another interesting area at the south end of the park. It is a 20-minute drive from If you continue up the trail and turn right {From the parking area there is a foot Cheatham Hill east on State Route 120 to Marietta, then south on State Route 5 to the farmhouse. There Cover: Federal attack at Cheatham Hill, June 27, 1864. From a painting by Sidney King. GEORGIA you will reach an exhibit (4). a special exhibit describes the fight of June 22. trail leading to the museum A) 1959 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1959—O-525007