The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia

I can hear your sigh from here.  Another Civil War post.  Yep.  But given the blog title, consider yourself warned.

So we left off with Rufus and Peachtree Creek on Saturday afternoon.  After Peachtree, we continued driving because we read that the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield visitor's center was open until 8pm, and we figured a battlefield would make a lovely evening drive.  And it would have, too, except for the lack of one little sign.  The freeway exit said Kennesaw Mountain this exit.  The road sign said "this way to Kennesaw Mountain."  And then nothing.  They forgot to mention the turn.  So we didn't.  And we drove around several counties in Georgia for two hours looking for a 3,000+ acre battlefield.  (I still don't know how we didn't just bump into it.)  Finally I saw a police car and begged for assistance, and it turned out the battlefield was not far from where we'd stopped for dinner.  But no problem, because it was still only 7:30 and I figured we could grab the map from the visitor's center and drive around a bit.  Except that they closed the visitor's center early!

So on Sunday, we got up early and came before church, then came back again after church and finally got to see the battlefield.  The following pictures and story were totally not worth it.

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought on June 27, 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War. It was the most significant frontal assault launched by Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman against the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, ending in a tactical defeat for the Union forces.

Sherman's 1864 campaign against Atlanta, Georgia, was initially characterized by a series of flanking maneuvers against Johnston, each of which compelling the Confederate army to withdraw from heavily fortified positions with minimal casualties on either side. After two months and 70 miles of such maneuvering, Sherman's path was blocked by imposing fortifications on Kennesaw Mountain, near Marietta, Georgia, and the Union general chose to change his tactics and ordered a large-scale frontal assault on June 27, 1864. 

Sherman interrupted his string of successful flanking maneuvers for the logistical reasons mentioned earlier, but also so that he could keep Johnston guessing about the tactics he would employ in the future. In his report of the battle, Sherman wrote, "I perceived that the enemy and our officers had settled down into a conviction that I would not assault fortified lines. All looked to me to outflank. An army to be efficient, must not settle down to a single mode of offence, but must be prepared to execute any plan which promises success.

Sherman's armies suffered about 3,000 casualties in comparison to Johnston's 1,000.  Sherman mournfully wrote to his wife, "I begin to regard the death and mangling of couple thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash."

Kennesaw Mountain is usually considered a significant Union tactical defeat, but to no avail.  The opposing forces spent five days facing each other at close range, but on July 2, with good summer weather at hand, Sherman sent the Army of the Tennessee around the Confederate left flank and Johnston was forced to withdraw from Kennesaw Mountain toward Atlanta.  The last major geographic barrier to entering Atlanta had been overcome. Alarmed at the imminent danger posed to the city, and frustrated with the strategy of continual withdrawals, Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieved Johnston of command on July 17, replacing him with the aggressive John Bell Hood.

Here's a map of the battle.  Notice Loring in red (Confederate) at the right end of the line.  I'm guessing Rufus Lawless was there.  This was before the Battle of Peachtree Creek, since we're moving north and Sherman was moving south.

Confused?  Yeah, me too.  Battles are huge, complicated, spread-out affairs, and all the signage mentioning endless lists of divisions and brigades doesn't make it any clearer.  Much as I would like to have the story clear in my mind, it's like trying to study particle physics - makes my brain hurt.  So I prefer to focus on the small stories within each battle.  Here are a few.  

These are some original breastworks, preserved by a group of boy scouts, bless their hearts.

Here's a heartwarming story, rather like the "Angel of St. Marye's Heights" from the Battle of Fredericksburg I mentioned in an earlier post :

Did you notice the very bottom of the sign?  In gratitude, the Union officers presented Confederate Colonel Martin with a pair of Colt revolvers.  What did they think he would use them for?!

And these cannons were cool:

Here's the view from behind the cannons:

And here's the view from in front of them.  We took this picture from just where the Union soldiers would have emerged from the woods, right into point-blank cannon fire.

Here are some of the original trenches the soldiers dug.

This little fellow was sitting by the side of the road as we left the battlefield.

On to Chickamauga - another battlefield!