Atlanta

Atlanta is a fairly new city, considering that Georgia is one of the original thirteen colonies, albeit the last of them.  The history of Atlanta dates back to 1836, when Georgia decided to build a railroad to the midwest and a location was chosen to be the line's terminus and the city grew up around it.  Less than thirty years later, the city lay in ruins in the wake of attacks by Union General William T. Sherman, but more about that later.

These are some cool pillars along the highway.

Atlanta hosted the summer Olympics in 1996.

Claire crawled into the back of the van to get something and got stuck.

We saw the Cyclorama, a huge cylindrical painting that's 358 feet long and 42 feet high.  Visitors view the painting from the inside, entering through an entrance in the floor. After being seated, the central cylinder rotates slowly affording a view of the entire painting.  I wish I could show you the painting, but photos weren't allowed, so you'll just have to go see it for yourself!

This train has an interesting story behind it.  The Great Locomotive Chase was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. Andrews, commandeered a train and took it northward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, doing as much damage as possible to the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A) line from Atlanta to Chattanooga as they went. They were pursued by Confederate forces at first on foot, and later on a succession of locomotives.  Because the Union men had cut the telegraph wires, the Confederates could not send warnings ahead to forces along the railway, but in the end, the Confederates captured the raiders and executed some quickly as spies. 

Disney made a movie of the story that I'd like to see.  The Great Locomotive Chase

This is a view down the barrel of a rifled cannon - cool, huh?

We've been following along in reverse the path Sherman's forces took into Atlanta nearly 150 years ago.  The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Civil War throughout northwest Georgia during the summer of 1864.  Union Major General William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May 1864, opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.  Sherman was assigned the mission of defeating Johnston's army, capturing Atlanta, an important railroad and manufacturing center for the South, and striking through Georgia and the Confederate heartland.

The Atlanta Campaign followed the Union victory in the Battles for Chattanooga in November 1863.  Chattanooga was known as the "Gateway to the South" and it served as a base to supply the Yankees during their assault on Atlanta.  Johnston's Army of Tennessee withdrew toward Atlanta in the face of successive flanking maneuvers by Sherman's armies.  In July, Confederate President Davis replaced Johnston with the more aggressive John Bell Hood, who began challenging the Union Army in a series of damaging frontal assaults.  Hood's army was eventually besieged in Atlanta and the city fell on September 2, hastening the end of the war. (Adapted from Wikipedia)

The Battles:

 

Rocky Face Ridge (May 7–13, 1864)
Resaca (May 13–15)
Adairsville (May 17)
New Hope Church (May 25–26)
Dallas (May 26 – June 1)
Pickett's Mill (May 27)
Operations around Marietta (June 9 – July 3)
Kolb's Farm (June 22)
Kennesaw Mountain (June 27)
Battle of Pace's Ferry (July 5)
Battles: Sherman vs. Hood
Peachtree Creek (July 20)
Atlanta (July 22)
Ezra Church (July 28)
Utoy Creek (August 5–7)
Dalton (August 14–15)
Lovejoy's Station (August 20) 
Jonesborough (August 31 – September 1)

That's one devastating summer.