Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park | |
---|---|
Location | Cobb County, Georgia, USA |
Nearest city | Marietta, GA |
Coordinates | 33°58′59″N84°34′41″W / 33.98306°N 84.57806°W |
Area | 2,913.63 acres (11.7910 km2) [1] |
Established | February 18, 1917 [2] |
Visitors | 1,005,510(in 2005) |
Governing body | National Park Service |
Website | Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park |
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park | |
Nearest city | Marietta, Georgia |
Area | 2,923 acres (1,182.9 ha) |
Built | 1933 |
Architect | Peter Valentine Kolb |
Architectural style | Federal, Moderne |
NRHP reference No. | 66000063 [3] |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Kennesaw Battlefield Park preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign, and also contains Kennesaw Mountain. It is located at 900 Kennesaw Mountain Drive, between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia. The name "Kennesaw" derives from the Cherokee Indian "Gah-nee-sah" meaning "cemetery" or burial ground. [4] The area was designated as a U.S. historic district on October 15, 1966.
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, fought here between Generals William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union army and Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederate army, took place between June 18, 1864, and July 2, 1864. Sherman's army consisted of 100,000 men, 254 cannons and 35,000 horses, while Johnston's army had only 50,000 men and 187 cannons. Johnston had successfully contrived to block Sherman's advance with another defensive position, and this time Sherman tried a direct frontal assault. Much of the battle took place not on Kennesaw Mountain itself, but on a spur of Little Kennesaw Mountain known now as Pigeon Hill, and the area to its south around Cheatham Hill. A total of 5,350 soldiers died during the battle, which was deemed a Confederate victory, but Johnston's army nonetheless retired.
Established as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Site on February 18, 1917, it was transferred from the War Department on August 10, 1933, and redesignated a national military park on June 26, 1935. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park is a 2,923-acre (11.8 km2) National Battlefield that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. There are three battlefield areas: In front of the Visitor Center, off Burnt Hickory Road and a major site at Cheatham Hill (commonly known as the Dead Angle). At the southern tip of the park, Peter Valentine Kolb's farm house, where a minor battle was fought, has been restored to its original condition. The Visitor Center contains an information desk, museum, and a theater which screens movies about the battle fought there. While walking some of the 17.3 miles (27.8 km) of interpretive hiking trails, historic earthworks, cannon emplacements, and various interpretive signs can be seen. There are three monuments representing some of the states who fought here - Illinois, Texas, and Georgia. Kennesaw Mountain is 1,808 feet (551.1 m) above sea level. It is approximately a 664-foot (202 m) gain in elevation from the Visitor Center to the mountain's summit. The hike up is approximately 1.4 miles (2.3 km) on the road and 1.1-mile (1.8 km) on the trail.
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield was authorized for protection by the U.S. War Department in 1917 and was transferred to the Department of the Interior as a unit of the National Park System in 1933. The 2,923-acre (11.8 km2) battlefield includes the site of some of the heaviest fighting of the Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War. The battlefield was set aside as an important cultural property dedicated to public inspiration and interpretation of the significant historic events that occurred here. [4]
With the expansion of urban sprawl from nearby Atlanta, Georgia, concerns have been raised that the preserved areas of the park may be in danger from overuse and/or misuse.
The Battle of Atlanta took place during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply hub of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John Bell Hood. Union Major General James B. McPherson was killed during the battle, the second-highest-ranking Union officer killed in action during the war. Despite the implication of finality in its name, the battle occurred midway through the Atlanta campaign, and the city did not fall until September 2, 1864, after a Union siege and various attempts to seize railroads and supply lines leading to Atlanta. After taking the city, Sherman's troops headed south-southeastward toward Milledgeville, the state capital, and on to Savannah with the March to the Sea.
Little Kennesaw Mountain is a mountain in Cobb County, Georgia, northwest of Marietta and south of Kennesaw. It is a sub-peak of Kennesaw Mountain, the site of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in the 1864 Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War.
The Battle of Resaca, from May 13 to 15, 1864, formed part of the Atlanta Campaign during the American Civil War, when a Union force under William Tecumseh Sherman engaged the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by Joseph E. Johnston. The battle was fought in Gordon and Whitfield Counties, Georgia, and is generally viewed as inconclusive.
The Atlanta campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May 1864, opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.
The Battle of Peachtree Creek was fought in Georgia on July 20, 1864, as part of the Atlanta Campaign in the American Civil War. It was the first major attack by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood since taking command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. The attack was against Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Union army, which was perched on the doorstep of Atlanta. The main armies in the conflict were the Union Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas and two corps of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought on June 27, 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The most significant frontal assault launched by Union Major General William T. Sherman against the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Joseph E. Johnston, it produced a tactical defeat for the Union forces but failed to deliver the result that the Confederacy desperately needed: a halt to Sherman's advance on Atlanta, Georgia.
Tupelo National Battlefield commemorates the Battle of Tupelo, also known as the Battle of Harrisburg, fought from July 14 to 15, 1864, near Tupelo, Mississippi during the American Civil War. The Union victory over Confederate forces in northeast Mississippi ensured the safety of Sherman's supply lines during the Atlanta Campaign.
Kennesaw Mountain is a mountain between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia in the United States with a summit elevation of 1,808 feet (551 m). It is the highest point in the core metro Atlanta area, and fifth after further-north exurban counties are considered. The local terrain averages roughly 1,000 feet AMSL.
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, located near Republic, Missouri, preserves the site of the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Fought on August 10, 1861, the battle was the first major American Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River. In the battle, a Confederate army commanded by Benjamin McCulloch and Sterling Price defeated a smaller Union army commanded by Nathaniel Lyon. However, the Confederates were unable to hold much of Missouri, and a Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge effectively solidified Union control of the state. Major features include a five-mile automobile tour loop, the restored 1852 Ray House, and "Bloody Hill", the site of the final stage of the battle. The site is located near Republic in southwestern Missouri just southwest of the city of Springfield. It has been a unit of the National Park Service since 1960, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
The Richmond National Battlefield Park commemorates 13 American Civil War sites around Richmond, Virginia, which served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for most of the war. The park connects certain features within the city with defensive fortifications and battle sites around it.
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He served in the Army of Tennessee, inflicting many casualties on Gen. Sherman at Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, but took the blame for General Schofield's escape at Spring Hill – a major factor in the Confederate defeat at Franklin, Tennessee in 1864. Later in life, he became a gold miner in California and a plantation owner in his home state of Tennessee.
The Battle of Rocky Face Ridge was fought May 7–13, 1864, in Whitfield County, Georgia, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The Union army was led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and the Confederate army by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. Confederates were forced to evacuate their strong position due to a Union flanking movement.
The Battle of Marietta was a series of military operations from June 9 through July 3, 1864, in Cobb County, Georgia, between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The Union forces, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, encountered the Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, entrenched near Marietta, Georgia.
The Battle of Kolb's Farm saw a Confederate corps under Lieutenant General John B. Hood attack parts of two Union corps under Major Generals Joseph Hooker and John Schofield. This action was part of the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War fought between the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General Joseph E. Johnston and Union forces commanded by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman. Hood believed that he had an opportunity to inflict a defeat on the Union forces in front of his corps and ordered an assault. However, Hooker's and Schofield's troops were deployed in good positions and they repulsed Hood's soldiers with serious losses.
Georgia was one of the original seven slave states that formed the Confederate States of America in February 1861, triggering the U.S. Civil War. The state governor, Democrat Joseph E. Brown, wanted locally raised troops to be used only for the defense of Georgia, in defiance of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, who wanted to deploy them on other battlefronts. When the Union blockade prevented Georgia from exporting its plentiful cotton in exchange for key imports, Brown ordered farmers to grow food instead, but the breakdown of transport systems led to desperate shortages.
Bentonville Battlefield, also known as the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site, is an American Civil War battlefield in Johnston County, North Carolina. It was the site of the 1865 battle of Bentonville, fought in the waning days of the Civil War. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996.
The Battle of Bentonville was fought in Johnston County, North Carolina, near the village of Bentonville, as part of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the western field armies of William T. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston.
Johnston's River Line, also called Johnston's Line, the Chattahoochee River Line or simply The River Line, is a historic American Civil War defensive line located in the communities of Mableton, Smyrna, and Vinings, Georgia that was used by the Confederate Army under General Joseph E. Johnston during the Atlanta Campaign in early July 1864. While no significant battles took place along the River Line, it remains one of the most impressive defensive fortifications ever constructed, often compared to the French Maginot Line built prior to World War II. Part of the River Line Historic Area and the Chattahoochee River Line Battlefield, the site today consists of the remains of Confederate earthwork battlements including unique fortifications called Shoupades, named after their designer, Confederate Brig. General Francis A. Shoup. The remains are spread across a six to seven mile stretch along the northwest side of the Chattahoochee River from a point just north of where Nickajack Creek joins the Chattahoochee in Mableton to north of S. Atlanta Road in Smyrna/Vinings. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1973. Although many of the remains are on private property, visitors can access the site off U.S. 78 in Mableton, and off S.R. 280 and S. Atlanta Rd in Smyrna/Vinings. The site's coordinates are 33°47′31″N84°31′23″W.
Hiram Bledsoe's Missouri Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Missouri State Guard and the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was formed when the Missouri State Guard was formed as a pro-secession state militia unit in response to the Camp Jackson affair. As part of the Missouri State Guard, the unit was engaged in the Engagement near Carthage and the Battle of Wilson's Creek during mid-1861, before fighting at the Battle of Dry Wood Creek and the Siege of Lexington later that year when Major General Sterling Price led the Guard northwards towards the Missouri River. After the Missouri State Guard retreated into Arkansas in early 1862, Bledsoe's Battery served during the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge in March. The battery, as part of the Army of the West, transferred across the Mississippi River into Tennessee in April, where it left the Guard to enter Confederate service on April 21.
The Illinois Monument is a public monument located in the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The monument honors the soldiers from Illinois who fought in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War. It is located on Cheatham Hill, the site of intense fighting during the battle, and was dedicated in 1914, on the 50th anniversary of the battle. It was designed by Mario Korbel and James Dibelka.