NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain r
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 14

attack on the Fort Sumter, signalling its intention to fight for its
independence. Following the surrender of Fort Sumter on April 13, 1861,
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas joined the Confederacy.”

At the outbreak of hostilities, the North enjoyed significant advantages in
population and economic resources. The North, with twenty-two million white
citizens to the South’s six million, had a larger pool of potential combatants.
The Confederacy’s 3,500,000 slaves supported southern armies with their labor,
but did not carry arms. The North possessed 90 percent of the nation’s
manufacturing capability, forcing the South to quickly develop factories and
import armaments from abroad. The North also had a more highly developed
railroad network, with two and one-half times more trackage than the
Confederate states. Railroads proved crucial in supplying and moving the large
armies that fought the Civil War. The South did possess some advantages.
Federal troops moving from one area to another would have to move in a wide arc
around che front, while the Confederacy could shift forces more quickly along
shorter, interior lines. The Confederates, for example, frequently shifted
troops between the Shenandoah Valley and Eastern Virginia as the need arose.
Additionally, many of the most talented active and inactive U.S. army officers
were southerners who rallied to the Confederacy when the war began."

The South’s military problem was in a sense simple; it had to keep the war @
going until the North acquiesced in Southern independence. Southern strategy
was defensive and consisted largely of maintaining its territorial integrity.
Wanting to maintain independence rather than conquer territory, the Confederacy
invaded northern states on only a few occasions. The South relied heavily on
the prospect of foreign recognition of the Confederacy and Northern
dissatisfaction with the human and material cost of a long war. The North, by
contrast, had to wage an aggressive war to subdue the rebellious states and
restore the Union. A strategic problem for the South was the question of
whether to scatter its forces to defend every inch of territory or to
concentrate to protect the areas of greatest strategic importance.

In the Spring of 1861, few on either side envisioned a long war. Many scoffed
at U.S. General-in-Chief Winfield Scott’s strategy of envelopment, which
implied a protracted conflict. Scott advised reliance on a Federal naval
blockade of southern ports and control of the Mississippi River to gradually
deprive the agricultural South of foreign supplies and markets for its cotton.
Envelopment was Federal policy from the start and received increasing emphasis
as naive hopes for a quick capture of the Confederate capital at Richmond,

‘James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1988), 223, 234-35, 271-74, 278-83.

"John D. Hicks, The Federal Union: A History of the United States to 1877

3a ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1957), 561-62; Samuel E. Morison, The
Oxford History of the American People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965)

615-19.


20 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

William T. Sherman in charge of all western armies. Grant ordered simultaneous
advances by the Army of the Potomac on Richmond and by three combined western
armies under Sherman’s personal command into Georgia. The Confederacy aimed
to hold off the northern armies until after the November election, in hopes that
Lincoln would be defeated by a Democrat sympathetic to southern independence.
The future of the administration and, hence, the war effort depended largely on the
success of Grant and Sherman.”

Aware that the large, well-equipped northern armies could tolerate casualties far
more readily than the Confederate armies, Grant waged a war of attrition in
Virginia. Where previous Federal commanders had retreated after being bloodied
by Lee’s army, Grant accepted his losses and relentlessly advanced. In May and
June 1864, the Army of the Potomac fought bloody battles at the Wilderness,
Spotsylvania, North Anna, and Cold Harbor. After absorbing 65,000 casualties on
these fields alone, Federal troops found themselves in mid-June bogged down in
trench warfare on the outskirts of Petersburg. Protected by breastworks, Lee’s
smaller army was able to repel repeated Federal assaults.”

In Georgia, Sherman moved south from the Chattanooga area in early May with
100,000 men of the Armies of the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Ohio.
Opposing him were approximately 65,000 men of the Confederate Army of
Tennessee, now commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.* Sherman’s objectives
were to defeat Johnston’s army and destroy the Confederacy’s war resources. A
considerable portion of those resources were in Atlanta, 125 miles southeast of
Chattanooga. The intervening terrain offered the Confederates numerous strong
defensive positions on ridges and mountains, including Kennesaw Mountain, 23
miles northwest of Atlanta. Atlanta was a crucial transportation hub, an
administrative center for the Confederate Army, and an important manufacturing city
that produced ammunition, railroad rails, uniforms, and other war matériel.
Additionally, Atlanta was at the center of a belt of Confederate manufacturing
communities, stretching from Augusta, Georgia, to central Alabama. If Atlanta fell,

McPherson, 718-22; Dennis Kelly, Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign (Atlanta:
Susan Hunter Publishing, 1990), 3.

?7McPherson, 742.
28Johnston had closer to 50,000 troops at the beginning of the campaign, but Lieutenant General

Leonidas Polk’s Army of Mississippi joined Johnston in mid-May 1864 (Thomas L. Connelly, Autumn
of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865 [Baton Rouge: University of Louisiana Press, 1971], 332).


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 45

operate the camps; and the National Park Service and the Forest Service would
create work programs and supervise work assignments.”

NPS. Director Horace M. Albright served on the Advisory Board and saw great
potential for the CCC within the national park system, especially in long-
ignored road- and trail-building projects. Albright quickly increased the
technical staff of the NPS in preparation for the land conservation work and
designed park development projects that the CCC would carry out. The NPS hired
hundreds of landscape architects, historians, foresters, and engineers to
design and supervise CCC operations. The propitious addition of the military
and historic parks, sites, and national monuments to the NPS in 1933
conveniently coincided with the newly created CCC.

The passage of the Federal Unemployment Relief Act (FURA) in March 1933
introduced a new role for the Federal government. Under this Act, Emergency
Conservation Work (ECW), later known as the CCC, was created. Congress
appropriated funds to the ECW Director, Robert Fechner, who in turn allocated
funds to participating Federal agencies. All work performed by ECW labor would
be performed on public lands and directed by Federal agencies. Between 1933
and 1935, Congress created numerous work relief programs under the National
Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of June 1933. In contrast to the ECW, programs
emanating from NIRA entitled states to Federal relief grants that would fund
public works projects. Two popular relief agencies emerging from the NIRA, the
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Public Works
Administration (PWA), allocated Federal funds to states and municipal
governments, provided these agencies contributed matching funds. In 1935, the
Works Progress Administration, which replaced the PWA, greatly expanded the
type of public works performed with Federal and state funding. Early New Deal
public works programs, like the PWA, concentrated solely on construction
projects. New Deal programs after 1935 also provided relief to unemployed
white-collar workers, professionals, and large numbers of unskilled women.

The CCC served several purposes, but its primary significance lay in creating
useful work for unemployed youths. In 1933, three years into the Depression,
national unemployment figures for youths spiked to 25 percent, and 30 percent
of those employed labored only part-time. Unemployment figures for the nation
nearly equalled the youthful rate. In 1930, one year after the stock market
crash, national unemployment rates reached 9 percent and continued to rise: to
16 percent in 1931, 24 percent in 1932, and to a zenith of more than 25 percent
in 1933. Depressed economic conditions had plagued agricultural areas for
nearly a decade, and careless husbandry combined with drought and pestilence

"paige, 10-11.
8,lpright, The Birth of the National Park Service, 289-90.

"paige, Appendix A, Selected Draft Legislation, Legislation, and Executive
orders Affecting the Civilian Conservation Corps, 162-78; Shannon, 177-80, 191-93.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024~0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 40

focused on common wartime experiences. Contacts between former Confederates
and former Federals steadily increased. National GAR encampments began to
invite ex-Confederates to participate. Reciprocal visits of individual
northern and southern veterans’ posts began in the early 1880s, and more formal
combined blue-gray reunions and joint ceremonies became increasingly common as
the decade wore on. A blue-gray reunion at Gettysburg in 1882 was followed by
others at Fredericksburg, Antietam, and Kennesaw Mountain. The emphasis was
shifting from which side was "right" to an appreciation of the valor and
sacrifice of the foe.”

The spirit of reconciliation manifested in the blue-gray reunions, coupled with
veterans’ growing interest in securing their place in history, helped advance
the cause of Civil War national military parks. Veterans urged the Federal
government to take over from states and army societies the responsibility of
protecting battlefield sites and marking unit positions. As early as 1880,
Congress appropriated funds to study and survey the Gettysburg battlefield.

The GAR lobbied for a national military park at Gettysburg, the Society of the
Army of the Cumberland pressed for one at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga
battlefields, and the Society of the Army of the Tennessee wanted a park at
Vicksburg. In 1890, Congress established the first Civil War national military
park at Chickamauga and Chattanooga under War Department administration. In
keeping with the growing spirit of national reconciliation, the legislation r
stipulated that all troop positions, Confederate and Federal, were to be
marked, National military parks followed at Shiloh (1894), Gettysburg (1895),
and Vicksburg (1899), along with a national battlefield site at Antietam in
1890.

Memorial Efforts at Kennesaw Mountain

Union veterans’ groups led the initial efforts to preserve and commemorate the
Kennesaw Mountain battlefields. In 1887, veterans held a blue-gray reunion at
Kennesaw Mountain.” After the war, veterans of the Third Brigade, Second
Division, of the XIV Federal Army Corps, which made the assault on Cheatham
Hill, formed the Colonel Dan McCook Brigade Association, named in honor of
their fallen commander. The association, which held its first reunion in
August 1900, resolved to purchase the land at Cheatham Hill where the brigade
attacked and Colonel McCook was mortally wounded. In December 1899, Lansing J.
Dawdy, a veteran of the 86th Illinois regiment, purchased a sixty-acre tract
that included the Federal and Confederate trenches at Cheatham Hill. In 1900,
Dawdy conveyed this tract to Martin Kingman and John McGinnis, who acted on

Bpavies, 226, 249; Paul H. Buck, The Road to Reunion 1865-1900 (Boston:
Little, Brown, 1937), 257-58; Foster, 67-68.

“John C. Paige and Jerome A. Greene, Administrative History of Chickamauga
and Chattanooga National Military Park (Denver: National Park Service, Denver
Service Center, 1983), 9-10; Davies, 228; Lee, 31-35.

Buck, 258.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN
NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY

March 1995

Robert W. Blythe
Maureen A. Carroll
Steven H. Moffson

Cultural Resources Planning Division
Southeast Regional Office
National Park Service, Department of the Interior


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain @
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia

county and State
Section 7 Page 10

Neighbour Marker, 1985, postdates period of significance (IDLCS 90140)

Georgia Monument, 1964, postdates period of significance (IDLCS 90144)

Texas Monument, 1964, postdates period of significance (IDLCS 90143)

ccc Camp Site, 1938-1942, lacks integrity

Maintenance Complex, 2 buildings, 1939-1940, not architecturally significant or
representative of NPS design traditions, altered 1974

Visitor Center, 1964, postdates period of significance

Park Quarters, 2 buildings, 1965, postdates period of significance


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 63

Kennesaw Mountain preceded enactment on February 8, 1917, of a law authorizing
the Secretary of War to accept title to the sixty-acre tract at Cheatham Hill from the
Kennesaw Memorial Association as a national battlefield site. Problems with the
chain of title delayed the conveyance of the tract to the War Department until
1928,'°!

In April 1926, Federal legislation established a three-man commission to inspect
Kennesaw Mountain and other Civil War battlefield sites in north Georgia. The
legislation entrusted this commission, composed of an officer of the Army Corps
of Engineers and one veteran each from the Union and Confederate armies, to
determine whether a national military park, which would represent the Atlanta
campaign, should be established. The commission considered Kennesaw Mountain
the most suitable battlefield for designation as a national military park, based on its
significance to the campaign, its intrinsic scenic value, and its accessibility.'”

Concurrent with the commission’s actions at Kennesaw, Congress passed
legislation on June 11, 1926, that established a comprehensive system of battlefield
classification, drafted by the War Department, which created standards for
determining the appropriate level of commemoration. In the post-World War I
period, private commemorative interests persuaded Congressmen to introduce
numerous bills to establish national military parks, most associated with Civil War
battlefields. Until 1926, Congress had appointed individual commissions to inspect
and recommend preservation alternatives for many Civil War sites. In that year
alone, the Committee on Military Affairs received twenty-eight bills requesting that
Congress establish fourteen national military parks and appropriate six million
dollars for the inspection of battlefield sites and the erection of markers and
tablets.'?

Prior to this national initiative, the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield survey
commission recommended the establishment of Kennesaw Mountain National
Military Park. Introduced in December 1926, the legislation to create a national
military park at Kennesaw did not pass, and repeated congressional efforts over the
next nine years to establish the park were unsuccessful. On June 10, 1933,
President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6166, transferring War
Department military and historical parks to the National Park Service. Among the
properties transferred was the sixty-acre tract at Kennesaw Mountain, known as

'\Capps, 6-7; Senate Bill S. 6391, 61st Congress, February 15, 1910; Senate Bill S. 7099, 62nd
Congress, June 11, 1912; Public Law 44 Stat. 588, February 8, 1917.

‘Capps, 6-7.

"Lee, 47.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

@ ni: States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 43

The June 1926 legislation made the War Department responsible for surveying all
of the nation’s battlefields. Using a classification system created by Lt.
Col. C. A. Bach, Chief, Historical Section, Army War College, in 1925, the
department, armed with survey data, would determine which sites should be
considered for national military park status (Class I); those that would be
designated by marking the lines of battle (Class IIa); and those that would
receive only a monument or marker from the U. S. government (Class IIb). The
War Department conducted the national survey between 1926 and 1932 and by 1929
had recommended the establishment of two Class I battlefields, nine Class Ila,
and fifty Class IIb sites.®

For the War Department, this classification system determined how large of an
area would be preserved and the extent of interpretive or commemorative
efforts. Most battlefields, especially Revolutionary War sites, received Class
IIb classifications, which recommended some type of monumentation to mark the
battlefield site. Class IIa battlefields, like Kennesaw, required the
acquisition and marking of the battle lines, clearly delineated at Kennesaw by
the miles of earthworks constructed by Union and Confederate forces. This
preservation tactic, popularly known as "the Antietam Plan," preserved the
smallest amount of land possible that enabled the War Department to interpret
the battle’s primary action. The Antietam Plan assumed that the countryside
adjacent to abandoned battlefields would remain rural without requiring War
Department ownership and responsibility for the land.*

The War Department accomplished very little at Kennesaw Mountain over the five
years it actively administered the site. Because the site was never designated
a national military park, no additional land acquisition occurred beyond the
original sixty acres. Between 1928 and 1932, the superintendent of Marietta
National Cemetery administered the battlefield, but few funds were available
for improvement or maintenance at Kennesaw. In 1932, a part-time caretaker
established residence on a farm near the site and witnessed the construction of
a three-quarter-mile entrance road from John Ward Road and the erection of some
boundary fencing. Despite plans for better fencing, roads, underbrush clearing
near the monument and trenches, and partial reconstruction of the earthworks,
no other work was completed by the War Department prior to the site’s transfer
to the Nps.®

The NPS approach to battlefield commemoration differed substantially from War
Department policies. In general, the War Department made sporadic efforts to
interpret or provide access to its battlefield sites, maintaining them largely

for use as study aids for succeeding generations of military men. The National
Park Service, established in 1916, was at first strongly oriented to the

Bree, 47-49.

“Lee, 39-40.

Scapps, 7-8.


74 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Monument. This road, covered with a fine stone gravel, replaced a War Department
road that approached Cheatham Hill from the northwest and cut across the open
field the Federals crossed when they assaulted the Confederate salient. The new
road passed several battery positions behind the Confederate forward earthworks and
deposited the visitor at Mebane’s Redoubt (photograph 14 and figure 5). A foot
trail directs the visitor to the Illinois Monument.

The CCC also helped improve the grounds within the park. Company 431 dug
drainage ditches along U.S. 41 and planted trees. Structures not consistent with the
battle period were razed. The CCC eliminated rock agricultural terraces in the
vicinity of Burnt Hickory Road. To improve public relations and prevent erosional
run-off that clogged Noses Creek and John Ward Creek, located within the park, the
CCC filled ditches on adjacent farmers’ lands. Local residents, at first reluctant to
accept the CCC camp, later praised its work, especially when the CCC worked to
control forest fires that threatened private property.!”

Photograph 14. Cheatham Hill Drive, looking south

2°Herman Allen, interview by Retha Stephens and Lynn McFarland, 19 December 1984;
“Superintendent Monthly Reports” (June 1939), RG 79, National Archives.


10 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

5

Photograph 3. Earthworks, Cheatham Hill


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

Ox States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
hame of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 19
a

offices in Atlanta included the Quartermaster, Commissary Department, the
Signal Corps, and the Railroad Transportation Office.”

Sherman had substantial resources to accomplish his mission. He commanded
100,000 soldiers at Chattanooga, divided among Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’s
Army of the Cumberland with 60,000 troops, Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson’s Army
of the Tennessee, 25,000 strong, and Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield’s 13,000-man
Army of the Ohio. Opposing the Federal force was the Army of Tennessee under
Gen. Joseph Johnston at Dalton, Georgia. Johnston received reinforcements in
May that brought his strength up to about 65,000. Johnston’s army had three
infantry corps, commanded by Lt. Gens. Leonidas Polk, William Hardee, and John
Bell Hood. Both sides depended for supplies on the single-track Western &
Atlantic Railroad. Sherman’s rail supply line extended north to Chattanooga
and Nashville, while Johnston’s ran south to Atlanta. The movements of both
commanders were influenced by the need to safeguard the supply lines behind the
armies. The numerous mountains and ridges of north Georgia offered the
Confederates strong natural defensive positions. Additionally, the advancing
Federals would have to cross three rivers, the Oostanaula, the Etowah, and the
Chattahoochee. South of Atlanta, the mountains ended, and the Confederates
would have fewer natural lines of defense.”

@:- Confederate Army of Tennessee, which Johnston had commanded only since late

December 1863, was handicapped by dissension among its top officers and poor
overall morale. The army could claim just one clear victory, Chickamauga, and
the Federals had routed the army, then commanded by.Gen. Braxton Bragg, at the
Battle of Missionary Ridge (November 25, 1863). Confederate President
Jefferson Davis doubted Johnston’s abilities and gave him command of the army
with reluctance. Personal animosity and a fundamental disagreement over
strategy marred Johnston’s relationship with Davis. Davis repeatedly urged
Johnston to take the offensive against Sherman, while Johnston felt his
inferior numbers dictated a defensive-offensive strategy. Johnston believed he
could attack only after he had won some defensive victories over the advancing
Federals. Johnston made his position more difficult by failing to fully
communicate his intentions to Confederate authorities in Richmond.
Additionally, Johnston’s three corps commanders, Polk, Hardee, and Hood,
mistrusted him. Johnston did much to restore the army’s morale, but its
command problems were never satisfactorily resolved.”

®Albert Castel, Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 (Lawrence:
University Press of Kansas, 1992), 69; B. H. Liddell-Hart, Sherman: Soldier,
Realist, American (New York: Praeger, 1958), 233-34; McMurry, "The Battle of
Kennesaw Mountain," 7; Thomas L. Connelly, Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee,
1862-1865 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 369-70.

McMurry, "The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain," 3-5; Liddell Hart, 234-35.

2¢onnelly, 288-93, 313.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 25

a,

toward the south and influenced his decision to attempt a penetration of the
Confederate line at Kennesaw.*

The field of the Battle of Kolb’s Farm lies partially within the southern
boundary of the park and partially on private property. The rehabilitated
four-room log house of Peter Kolb, built in the 1830s, stands on the south side
of Powder Springs Road within the park. Peter Valentine Kolb settled early in
Cobb County from South Carolina, likely between 1832 and 1838. Shortly
thereafter, Kolb built a rectangular log house composed of squarely hewn oak
logs with lime and mud chinking. Kolb operated a self-sufficient farm, with
ten slaves and approximately 600 acres of land. A blacksmith shop, north of
Powder Springs Road, and numerous farm outbuildings occupied the site. The
family cemetery lay west of the house. When the Federals approached the farm
along Powder Springs Road, the Kolb family fled to Madison, Georgia. Union
General Hooker used the house as his field headquarters until the Union armies
left Kennesaw. The Kolbs did not occupy the house again until the 1880s, and
during this lapse the house was damaged and several outbuildings were lost.”
At the time of the battle, the area north of Powder Springs Road across from
the house was mostly open pasture and cropland surrounded by swampy woods,
lying within the floodplain of John Ward Creek. The main Federal lines were
west of the Kolb house.

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

Thwarted in his attempt to maneuver beyond the Confederate left flank at Kolb’s
Farm, Sherman considered his options. His army was now within 20 miles of
Atlanta. To the rear of Johnston’s Kennesaw line, only one natural obstacle,
the Chattahoochee River, protected the city. Nearly constant skirmishing and
numerous medium-sized battles had marked the campaign, but neither army had
suffered major losses. The rain had finally stopped and the roads were drying,
facilitating army movements. Sherman felt that he could not prudently extend
his lines farther to his right away from his railroad supply line. Believing
that Johnston might have stretched his lines dangerously thin in extending his
left, Sherman decided to attack the entrenched Confederates, "a thing carefully
avoided up to that time."*? Sherman later justified his decision on the

grounds that troops lost their edge if kept out of combat for too long and his
fear that his flanking tactics were becoming too predictable. Sherman may
simply have grown impatient with the slow pace of his advance.“ .

8castel, 294-95; Kelly, 26-28; McMurry, "The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,"
55-62.

3B. Cc. Yates, "Historic Structures Report: The Kolb House, Part I" (Atlanta:
National Park Service, 1961), 5-7, 11, 13, 22, 30.

“Sherman, 530.

‘Icastel, 320-21; Liddell-Hart, 266-67; Kelly, 31.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 69

within national parks, and the number of camps in state natural and recreation areas
nearly doubled the NPS operation."

In essence, two separate agendas existed, both administered by the National Park
Service: the make-over of existing national parks—especially the newly acquired
battlefields, historic sites, and national monuments—and the establishment or
revitalization of state recreation and natural areas. For many years, conservationists
and preservationists agreed that increased visitation to national parks threatened the
integrity of these unique resources. Stephen T. Mather, the first director for the
NPS, consistently urged the development of state parks with natural recreational
areas that would act as buffers to the national parks.''? The CCC significantly
enlarged state park systems and improved the condition of new and existing national
parks.

Most CCC enrollees performed labor that improved national park infrastructures
through road and trail construction, reforestation, and soil erosion control. The
CCC program also greatly enlarged the professional staffs of the national parks.
Landscape architects, foresters, and engineers designed and supervised work projects,
within both state and national parks. Professional historians, supplemented by
college students in the summers, created interpretive programs and engaged in
numerous research projects. Conservation, preservation, historic interpretation, and
landscape design and planning became key goals for NPS professional staffs.
Eventually, funding for improvement projects in state and national parks required
drafting master plans developed by NPS technical staffs.’° In addition, the
administrative hierarchy of the NPS experienced growth and change. In 1933, the
ECW Advisory Board created four regional offices that administered the state parks
program. By 1936, Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes announced that the NPS also
would adopt a regional hierarchy to administer the ECW programs within the
national parks.'”!

'8pgige, 15-19, 21; Norman T. Newton, Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape
Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971), 540. For example, in Georgia alone,
the CCC constructed nine state parks as cited in Lucy Ann Lawliss, “The Civilian Conservation Corps
and the State Park: An Approach to the Management of the Designed Historic Landscape Resources
at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain, Georgia” (Master’s thesis, University of Georgia,
1992), 2.

"fn 1921, Mather sponsored a state park conference to encourage the development of state parks
and to reduce the wear and tear on federal holdings (Newton, 533).

paige, 45; Newton, 576, 578-80.

"Ipaige, 21, 45-52; Newton, 540, 576.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN

Chattanooga

Creek Gap
Lay's Ferry

Oostanaula River

Adairsville

Kingston
© Cassville
Cartersville

Etowah River

Big Shi
Pumpkin Vine Creek New Hope ig Shanty

Church
° Kennesaw
Dallas ‘Mountain

The Atlanta
Campaign

Railroad

10 miles
———
Jonesboro

Lovejoy's Station

Figure 2. The Atlanta Campaign

Reprinted, by permission, from Strayer and Baumgartner,
Echoes of Battle: The Atlanta Campaign, 8.




34 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

McPherson positioned his Army of the Tennessee on the left, Thomas’s Army
of the Cumberland held the middle, and Schofield’s Army of the Ohio was on the
right. On June 20, a Federal cavalry sortie across Noonday Creek east of the
railroad on the Confederate right flank was checked by three brigades of southern
cavalry. Simultaneously, Sherman ordered Schofield’s Army of the Ohio to
continue trying to envelop Johnston’s left flank by moving to the south. Johnston
learned that the Federals were pressing Hardee’s corps on the Confederate left and
threatening to seize the Powder Springs Road, an important route to the
Chattahoochee. To counter this southward shift of Federal forces, Johnston ordered
Hood to remove his corps from the right and march it behind the Confederate lines
to reinforce and extend the left on the night of June 21. Loring’s corps shifted to
the right, joining Confederate cavalry in manning the positions abandoned by
Hood’s troops.”

Cobb County in 1864

The Union and Confederate forces entering Cobb County disrupted a lightly settled
agricultural community composed largely of white farmer-landowners. Settlement
in the area grew after the 1829 discovery of gold in the north Georgia mountains,
near Dahlonega, and encouraged the Georgia legislature to establish Cobb County
in 1832. The 1836-1838 removal of the Cherokees from Georgia west to the Indian
Territory (present-day Oklahoma) allowed for the expansion of the county’s white
settlement. Enterprising land owners bought land lots, consisting of 160 acres, and
gold lots, with forty acres. The majority of the county was distributed in gold lots,
although gold discoveries proved insignificant and short-lived. In 1838, the state
legislature guaranteed the bonds for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, established
by Joseph E. Brown. This rail line, which connected Atlanta and Chattanooga, was
completed in 1850 and contributed to Marietta’s growth as a summer resort
community. At the same time, some industrial activity, particularly in the city
of Roswell, Georgia, identified Cobb County as a promising textile manufacturing
center.°? Despite this modest town development, most Cobb residents lived in the
rural countryside and operated small farms among the rolling hills, woods, and
lowlands.**

The county population in 1860 consisted of 10,000 whites and 4,000 blacks.
Nineteenth-century small farms surrounding Kennesaw Mountain reflected typical

Kelly, 24-26; Connelly, 358-59.
“Roswell was later made a part of Fulton County.

“Scott, 19-21.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

e@ United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 9 Page 55

Oe
Bibliography
Books, Journals, and Published and Unpublished Reports

Aikman, James L. "Kennesaw Sketches: A Collection of Descriptive Sketches and
Anecdotes Sidelighting the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain." Marietta, Ga.:
National Park Service, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1941.

Albright, Horace M. The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding
Years, 1913-33. Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1985.

Albright, Horace M. Origins of National Park Service Administration of
Historic Sites. Philadelphia: Eastern National Park & Monument
Association, 1971.

Bearss, Edwin C. "Kennesaw Mountain Troop Movement Maps." 1966.
Buck, Paul H. The Road to Reunion, 1865-1900. Boston: Little, Brown, 1937.

Capps, Michael A. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: An
Administrative History. Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast
e@ Region, Cultural Resources Planning Division, 1994.

Castel, Albert. Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Lawrence:
University Press of Kansas, 1992.

Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865. Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971.

Davies, Wallace E. Patriotism on Parade: The Story of Veterans’ and Hereditary
Organizations in America, 1783-1900. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1955.

Foote, Shelby. The Civil War, a Narrative: Red River to Appomattox. New
York: Random House, 1974.

Foster, Gaines M. Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the
Emergence of the New South, 1865 to 1913. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1987.

“General Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park." Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast
Regional Office, 1985.

Good, Albert H. Park and Recreation Structures. Boulder, Colorado: Graybooks,
1990.

Hicks, John D. The Federal Union: A History of the United States to 1877. 3a
ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1957.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 59

themselves Daughters of the Confederacy sprang up in the 1890s, and the United
Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) was founded in 1894 to coordinate activity
across the South. UDC chapters raised funds for monuments, promoted observance
of Confederate holidays (such as Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee’s
birthday), maintained Confederate museums, and promoted a southern interpretation
of the Civil War, emphasizing states’ rights. The UDC often cooperated with the
UCV but maintained its independence from the veterans’ group.”

The commemorative efforts of veterans’ groups changed over time. In the early
postwar period, various army societies urged the completion of statues and
monuments honoring generals. Reunions were always an important commemorative
activity and initially included only veterans who had fought on the same side. In
the 1880s, the bitterness of excombatants began to diminish, and veterans focused
on common wartime experiences. Contacts between former Confederates and
former Federals steadily increased. National GAR encampments began to invite ex-
Confederates to participate. Reciprocal visits of individual northern and southern
veterans’ posts began in the early 1880s, and more formal combined blue-gray
reunions and joint ceremonies became increasingly common as the decade wore on.
A blue-gray reunion at Gettysburg in 1882 was followed by others at
Fredericksburg, Antietam, and Kennesaw Mountain. The emphasis was shifting
from which side was “right” to an appreciation of the valor and sacrifice of the
foe.”

The spirit of reconciliation manifested in the blue-gray reunions, coupled with
veterans’ growing interest in securing their place in history, helped advance the
cause of Civil War national military parks. Veterans urged the Federal government
to take over from states and army societies the responsibility of protecting
battlefield sites and marking unit positions. As early as 1880, Congress
appropriated funds to study and survey the Gettysburg battlefield. The GAR
lobbied for a national military park at Gettysburg, the Society of the Army of the
Cumberland pressed for one at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga battlefields, and
the Society of the Army of the Tennessee wanted a park at Vicksburg. In 1890,
Congress established the first Civil War national military park at Chickamauga and
Chattanooga under War Department administration. In keeping with the growing
spirit of national reconciliation, the legislation stipulated that all troop positions,
Confederate and Federal, were to be marked. National military parks followed at

Foster, 172-73; Davies, 41-42.

“Davies, 226, 249; Paul H. Buck, The Road to Reunion 1865-1900 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1937),
257-58; Foster, 67-68.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 39
a

1886). Many individual companies and regiments also formed organizations. A
primary focus of most unit organizations was socializing at annual reunions,
but many erected battlefield monuments. Veterans’ groups successfully lobbied
state legislatures to appropriate funds for the erection of state monuments on
numerous fields.”

Pressing economic needs and the social and political upheavals of
Reconstruction hampered the formation of comparable Confederate veterans’
groups. Additionally, any Reconstruction-era regional organization of ex-
Confederates risked being charged with fomenting disloyalty. A few local
benevolent societies with substantial Confederate veteran membership appeared
in the 1860s. In May 1869 in New Orleans, prominent former Confederate
officers formed the Southern Historical Society (SHS). In 1870, an Association
of the Army of Northern Virginia (AANVA) was formed in Richmond, and an
Association of the Army of Tennessee appeared in 1877. The SHS and AANVA
focused on the erection of a monument to Robert E. Lee in Richmond.” In the
1880s, more Confederate army units held reunions, and some established
permanent organizations. The organization of local veterans’ posts into
statewide groups in Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia in 1887-1888 preceded the
formation of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) in June 1889. Employing an
organizational structure similar to the GAR’s, the UCV spread across the South
oe: the 1890s, with membership reaching approximately 80,000 by 1903.”

While in the North veterans usually led the way, in the South, women played a
prominent role in commemorative activities. Several local groups calling
themselves Daughters of the Confederacy sprang up in the 1890s, and the United
Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) was founded in 1894 to coordinate activity
across the South. UDC chapters raised funds for monuments, promoted observance
of Confederate holidays (such as Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee’s
birthday), maintained Confederate museums, and promoted a southern
interpretation of the Civil War, emphasizing states’ rights. The UDC often
cooperated with the UcV but maintained its independence from the veterans’
group.

The commemorative efforts of veterans’ groups changed over time. In the early
postwar period, various army societies urged the completion of statues and
monuments honoring generals. Reunions were always an important commemorative
activity and initially included only veterans who had fought on the same side.
In the 1880s, the bitterness of excombatants began to diminish, and veterans

“Davies, 29-30, 36-37.

More than 100,000 people participated in ceremonies marking the unveiling
of the Lee Monument on May 29, 1890 (Foster, 100-101).

"Foster, 50-53, 91, 104-7.

Poster, 172-73; Davies, 41-42.


30 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Photograph 4. View from behind Confederate earthworks on Pigeon Hill, showing log
revetments (U.S. Signal Corps photograph, National Archives)

meanwhile be reloading in the trench, waiting to take their turn on the firing line.
When time permitted, various obstacles were placed in front of the breastworks to
slow an attacking force. A front ditch was sometimes dug directly in front of the
parapet. Out beyond the parapet, trees and brush were felled, and their branches
interlaced to form obstacles known as abatis. Skirmishers from the attacking force
would clear a path, under fire, through the abatis. Infantrymen often dug their own
trenches, but Sherman’s army increasingly employed freed slaves to dig them, while
the Confederates often used gangs of slaves to prepare fall-back lines of defense out
of range of Federal artillery.

By late 1863, the tactical defensive possessed a clear advantage. An entrenched
position, defended by troops with rifle-muskets, was extremely difficult to overrun.
Officers, however, were slow to recognize the altered tactical realities and often had
few alternatives to a frontal assault. Many commanders looked for ways to envelop
the enemy’s flank, but the opposing general was unlikely to leave his flanks

“Castel, 228; William T. Sherman, Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman (New York: Library of
America, 1990), 525-26.


62 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Photograph 12. Illinois Monument

There is no indication that the vegetation management of the tract, including the
continuation of agricultural use by the caretaker, attempted to preserve or restore the
1864 landscape. Except for the erection of the monuments, the Kennesaw Memorial
Association’s alteration of the site did not include the design or implementation of
a commemorative landscape.

Federal Government Commemorative Activity at Kennesaw Mountain

The northern veterans who led the effort to erect a memorial at Kennesaw intended
from the start that a national park be created at the battlefield. Unsuccessful
congressional attempts in 1910 and 1912 to establish a national military park at


|
NPS Form 10-900 ' EIVE Dek 1
(Rev. 10-90) | REC D i f
United States Department of the Interior i
National Park Service MAR 3

i
|
H

i995

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES {
REGISTRATION FORM

INTERAGENCY RESOURCES DIVISION

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinatidfVI@NAL AARMSEAWIcmropenties and
districts. See instructions in How to Complete the Nat’ + i ic _Plgces
Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the
appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If any item does not apply to the
property being documented, enter "N/A" for “not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories
from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets
(NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.

1. Name of Property

historic name Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

other names/site number

2. Location

street & number Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (KEMO)
Kennesaw Mountain ridge roughly bounded by Old U.S. 41 on the
north and Powder Springs Road on the south
not for publication __
city or town Marietta vicinity _x_
state Georgia code GA county Cobb code 067

zip code 30061
3. State/Federal Agency Certification

As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of
1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for
determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering
properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural
and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the
property __ meets does not meet the National Register Criteria. I

recommend that this property be considered significant onally
sratenl’s locally. ( . See continuation sheet for additional comments.)

¢

| Bae dchixdé B/iA las
Signature of ceytifying official Date “

\ iT

APTN 64. FARK SERVICE

State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register
criteria. ( See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of commenting or other official Date

State or Federal agency and bureau


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 9 Page 58

Ol

Strayer, Larry M., and Richard A. Baumgartner, eds. Echoes of Battle: The
Atlanta Campaign. Huntington, W.Va.: Blue Acorn Press, 1991.

Temple, Sarah B. G. The First Hundred Years: A Short History of Cobb County,
Georgia. 6th ed. Athens, Ga.: A. G. Publishers, 1989.

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union
and Confederate Armies. 128 vols. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1864-1900.

Widener, Jr., Ralph W. Confederate Monuments: Enduring Symbols of the South
and the War Between the States. Washington, D.C.: Ralph W. Widener, Jr.,
1982.

Wirth, Conrad L. Parks, Politics, and the People. Norman, Okla.:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.

Yates, B. C. "Historic Structures Report: The Kolb House, Part I." Atlanta:
National Park Service, 1961.

Archival Sources

Records of Colonel Dan McCook Brigade Association and Vertical File on Kennesaw e@
Mountain Monument, Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield,
Illinois.

Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 79, National Archives,
Washington, D.C.

"Superintendent’s Monthly Reports"; "Camp Education Reports"; "Investigation
Reports," Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Cobb County,
Georgia.

Interviews by Retha Stephens and Lynn McFarland

Allen, Herman, 19 December 1984

Chambers, Rupert Jackson, 19 January 1985
Dunn, James Elder, 22 January 1985
English, Horace, 23 February 1987
Musarra, Elmer, M.D., 20 February 1985
Thompson, Joseph C., 9 January 1985


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 17

a

In the west in late 1862 and 1863, the Confederates attempted to retake
Tennessee, while the Federals sought to capture Vicksburg. The advance of the
Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg into Middle Tennessee
was repulsed at the Battle of Stones River (December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863)
by Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Federal Army of the
Cumberland. Rosecrans pushed the Confederates out of Middle Tennessee during
June and July, and captured Chattanooga in September. Rosecrans’s pursuit of
Bragg’s army was thwarted at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 18-20, 1863)
in northwest Georgia. Rosecrans retreated to Chattanooga, where the Federal
forces remained bottled up until November. Under Grant’s leadership, they
broke the Confederate stranglehold on the city with victories at Lookout
Mountain (November 24, 1863) and Missionary Ridge (November 25, 1863).

The long Federal siege of Vicksburg had ended on July 4, 1863, when Grant,
commanding the Army of the Tennessee, occupied the city. The loss of Vicksburg
and of Port Hudson on July 9, the last remaining Southern strongholds on the
Mississippi, was a serious blow to the Confederacy. With Vicksburg’s fall,
Texas, Arkansas, and most of Louisiana were cut off from the rest of the
Confederacy. Troops, provisions, and fresh horses from the Trans-Mississippi
region were no longer available to the main southern armies. Along with the
capture of Chattanooga and the defeat of Lee’s second invasion of the North at
the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1-3, 1863), the fall of Vicksburg
lifted Northern morale and strengthened the Republican Party in 1863’s state
and local elections. Republicans interpreted their election successes as an
endorsement of the administration’s policies, particularly emancipation.”

The presidential election year of 1864 brought the greatest test of Lincoln’s
leadership and northern commitment to the war. Federal control of the
Mississippi and an ever tighter blockade put severe strains on the Confederacy.
Confederate hopes for foreign recognition had dwindled following the failure of
Lee’s invasions in 1862 and 1863. However, northern casualties had been very
high, and important areas of the South remained untouched by war. Repeated
Federal campaigns had failed to capture Richmond. Hoping to hasten the war’s
end, Lincoln in March 1864 promoted Grant to the rank of lieutenant general and
placed him in command of all Federal armies.”

Strategic Situation in the Spring of 1864

Shortly after assuming overall command, Grant ordered a coordinated offensive
designed to destroy Confederate resistance and end the war. The major efforts
focused on eastern Virginia and north Georgia, while smaller Federal forces
moved toward Richmond from south of the James River, up the Shenandoah Valley,
and toward Texas and the Indian Territory by way of the Red River and Southwest
Arkansas. Grant accompanied Maj. Gen. George G. Meade and the Army of the

‘McPherson, 591-97, 600, 666, 687-88.

"McPherson, 718-22; Dennis Kelly, Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign
(Atlanta: Susan Hunter Publishing, 1990), 3.


40 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

vulnerable salient soon to become known as “The Dead Angle.”*° The Confederate
defenders on this portion of the front enjoyed a carefully prepared position. The
unusually deep trenches followed the contour of the ridge and were equipped with
firing platforms and traverses to provide protection from enfilade fire. One flaw
in the position was the siting of the salient on the topographic rather than the
military crest of the ridge. Artillery positions, concealed by brush, provided
flanking fire from each side of the salient. The right flank was covered by
Mebane’s Tennessee Battery, a two-gun emplacement within a square redoubt
(photograph 6). In places, abatis were supplemented by sharpened pine stakes set
four inches apart and by chevaux-de-frise, criss-crossed logs bristling with pointed
stakes. The ground to be covered by the Federals was partly occupied by a field,
but was rough and rocky in places, with thin forest and dense underbrush impeding
the formation of ranks. A small creek lay between the lines of the two armies.

Photograph 6. Redoubt occupied by Mebane’s Tennessee Battery

“Salients tend to draw focussed, attacking fire while fanning out less effective defensive fire.
Salients also limit the field of fire for flanking artillery.



82 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

earthworks are grouped into one LCS entry that broadly describes the resources, but
does not specifically describe features, location, or condition.

For the most part, the earthworks at Kennesaw are excluded from interpretive
programs. Some earthworks are located in heavily wooded areas away from
established trails. This dense vegetative cover protects the resources from erosion,
visitor traffic, and vandalism. However, many earthworks located adjacent to trails
lack even minimal vegetative cover which typically protects them. In addition,
these earthworks are not interpreted and visitors are unaware that they need
protection. For example, the artillery positions on the crest of Big Kennesaw are
subject to heavy visitation and frequent foot traffic. Without adequate vegetative
cover, these earthworks suffer from severe erosion and loss of historic fabric.
Although these earthworks will continue to sustain heavy use, signs that discourage
walking on the earthworks and possibly interpretive text that illustrates the effects
of erosion should be posted, especially in this high traffic area. The park should
also consider incorporating some earthwork educational material in the visitor center
exhibits. Some trail earthworks have been stabilized and are actively managed as
cultural resources, such as those at Cheatham Hill, Pigeon Hill, and atop Little
Kennesaw. Because earthworks are such a valuable resource, it is important that
a comprehensive plan to stabilize and preserve the earthworks be pursued. The
RMP should consider earthworks stabilization and preservation a top priority. Once
a plan is established, proposed treatment methods should be evaluated through the
Section 106 review process, properly implemented, and then monitored for results.
Stabilization and interpretive efforts should not jeopardize the historic material of
the earthworks.

Recreational use of the park is important to the surrounding urban community
and will continue to influence park management responsibilities. | However,
vandalism and intensive recreational use of the park jeopardize interpretive programs
and cultural resources and monopolize personnel. Cooperative efforts among the
park and its immediate neighbors could facilitate closer monitoring of park use and
possibly protect resources.

Protection of historic resources within and outside of the park’s boundaries is
also an important management consideration. Because of its location in a rapidly
urbanizing area, the park is continually threatened by development. Historic
features, especially transportation corridors, like roads and railroads, and adjacent
historic properties are not owned by the park, but decisions affecting their
preservation or alteration will significantly influence the historic resources the park
does manage. Incompatible development such as high density residential or
commercial construction could threaten scenic vistas important to interpreting the
battle’s significant events, and widening roads could introduce heavy and unsafe
traffic within the park’s boundary. In light of these considerations, the park should


INTRODUCTION

we

of the landscape” The NPS maintains approximately half of the open field below
Cheatham Hill, which Federal forces ascended in their doomed assault?

In recent years, the small farms that surrounded the park have been replaced by
residential and commercial development, reflecting the continued growth of Cobb
County and the northern suburbs of Atlanta. Within the bounds of the park, three
“islands” of private property exist. These densely settled areas, located at the north,
central, and south ends of the park, contain large single-family homes constructed
within the last twenty years. This recent development has contributed to increased
traffic in the park and increased recreational use of park facilities.

The park was established through the efforts of private individuals, memorial
associations, and a series of congressional acts. Federal legislation in 1917
authorized a national battlefield site at Kennesaw. In 1935, following nine
unsuccessful attempts, Federal legislation established the Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park “for the benefit and inspiration of the people. . . 24 The
park contains one of the largest surviving collections of Federal and Confederate
field fortifications, or earthworks, totaling approximately eleven miles. The
Confederates’ carefully prepared line, extending from the top of Big Kennesaw to
Powder Springs Road, illustrates the tactical defensive strategy, frequently employed
in the later stages of the war. These positions are situated along ridges and hills
and include structures ranging from infantry lines to more sophisticated artillery
positions. Early efforts to commemorate the battle and the establishment of the
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park contributed to the preservation of the
earthworks and other historic resources within the park boundary.

Big and Little Kennesaw, Cheatham Hill, Pigeon Hill, and the Kolb house
represent four historic sites within the park currently interpreted by the NPS. Ten
monuments and markers have been erected throughout the park, marking the
locations of particular units or significant events in the battle. Sixteen miles of park
trails and two-lane drives provide access to these areas, and small parking lots
accommodate motorists. The Visitor Center is located south of Stilesboro Road at
the foot of Big Kennesaw and contains a small museum and theater (photograph 1).

2tn 1935, Civil Works Administration laborers under the guidance of the NPS engaged in an
effort to rehabilitate overgrown and abandoned agricultural fields and establish meadows in the
Cheatham Hill vicinity; see Michael Capps, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: An
‘Administrative History (Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, 1994), 15-16. In
addition, the NPS assigns Special Use Permits to local agricultural concerns that raise hay in the open
fields.

3General Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park” (Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, 1985), 10.

‘Public Law 49 Stat. 423, June 26, 1935; Capps, 6-8.




NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 41

a

behalf of the Kennesaw Memorial Association, a nonprofit organization formally
incorporated under Illinois law in April 1901.”

The Kennesaw Memorial Association attempted to raise funds from Union veterans
to erect a monument at Cheatham Hill. Contributions from veterans proved
insufficient, and the association secured a $20,000 appropriation from the
state of Illinois in June 1913. Illinois Governor Charles S. Deneen appointed
three officers of the association, Dawdy, William A. Payton, and Dr. J. B.
Shawgo, to a commission charged with carrying out the work of erecting a
monument. The commission contracted with the McNeel Marble Company of Marietta
to erect a large monument to Illinois troops at the site of the attack on
Cheatham Hill. The $25,000 monument was unveiled on June 27, 1914, the
fiftieth anniversary of the battle. A large number of veterans, Governor
Edward Dunne of Illinois, and a contingent from the United Daughters of the
Confederacy attended the ceremony. The 25-foot-high monument of Georgia marble
features a square base and a tapering shaft. On the west side are seven-foot
bronze figures of a Union soldier flanked by two robed allegorical figures.
Several smaller battlefield markers were erected at Cheatham Hill in this
period. These included separate memorials to Captain Neighbour,. Captain
Fellows, and Sergeant Coffee, a marker at the McCook Brigade’s jumping off
point, and a stone arch marking the tunnel begun by Federal troops attempting
to undermine the Confederate trenches.”

Federal Government Commemorative Activity at Kennesaw Mountain

The northern veterans who led the effort to erect a memorial at Kennesaw
intended from the start that a national park be created at the battlefield.
Unsuccessful congressional attempts in 1910 and 1912 to establish a national
military park at Kennesaw Mountain preceded enactment on February 8, 1917, of a
law authorizing the Secretary of War to accept title to the sixty-acre tract at
Cheatham Hill from the Kennesaw Memorial Association as a national battlefield
site. Problems with the chain of title delayed the conveyance of the tract to

"program, First Reunion of the Third Brigade, 2d Division, 14th Army Corps";
“Minutes of Business Meeting, Colonel Dan McCook Brigade Association, May 15,
1901"; Capps, 5-6.

TMycNeel Marble Company aggressively solicited memorial business from United
Daughter of the Confederacy chapters and built many monuments across the South
(Foster, 167-68).

"Laws of the State of Illinois Enacted by the Forty-Eighth General Assembly
(Springfield, I1ll.: Illinois State Journal Co., 1913), 58-59; Chicago Daily
Tribune, June 28, 1914; Journal of the Illinois Historical Society 4 (Jan. 1912),
531; Capps, 5-6.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 37

chinking. Kolb operated a largely self-sufficient farm, with ten slaves and
approximately 600 acres of land. A blacksmith shop, north of Powder Springs
Road, and numerous farm outbuildings occupied the site. The family cemetery lay
west of the house. When the Federals approached the farm along Powder Springs
Road, the Kolb family fled to Madison, Georgia. Union General Hooker used the
house as his field headquarters until the Union armies left Kennesaw. The Kolbs
did not occupy the house again until the 1880s, and during this lapse the house was
damaged and several outbuildings were lost." At the time of the battle, the area
north of Powder Springs Road across from the house was mostly open pasture and
cropland surrounded by swampy woods, lying within the floodplain of John Ward
Creek. The main Federal lines were west of the Kolb house.

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

Thwarted in his attempt to maneuver beyond the Confederate left flank at Kolb’s
Farm, Sherman considered his options. Elements of his army were now within 20
miles of Atlanta. To the rear of Johnston’s Kennesaw line, only one natural
obstacle, the Chattahoochee River, protected the city. Nearly constant skirmishing
and numerous medium-sized battles had marked the campaign, but neither army had
suffered major losses. The rain had finally stopped and the roads were drying,
facilitating army movements. Sherman felt that he could not prudently extend his
lines farther to his right away from his railroad supply line. Believing that Johnston
might have stretched his lines dangerously thin in extending his left, Sherman
decided to attack the entrenched Confederates, “a thing carefully avoided up to that
time." Sherman later justified his decision on the grounds that troops lost their
edge if kept out of combat for too long and his fear that his flanking tactics were
becoming too predictable. Sherman may simply have grown impatient with the
slow pace of his advance.”

Sherman reasoned that an assault on the physically imposing center of the
Confederate line would be unexpected and ordered a two-pronged attack for the
morning of June 27. McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee and Thomas's Army of
the Cumberland would attempt to penetrate the Confederate line at points selected
by each army’s commander. McPherson directed Maj. Gen. John A. Logan’s XV
Corps to attack at the junction of Little Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill. That portion
of the Confederate line was defended by W. H. T. Walker’s division of Hardee's

°B. C. Yates, “Historic Structures Report: The Kolb House, Part [” (Atlanta: National Park
Service, 1961), 5-7, 11, 13, 22, 30.

“'Sherman, 530.

Castel, 320-21; Liddell-Hart, 266-67; Kelly, 31.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 52

efforts of Illinois veteran organizations to commemorate the participants of
the battle in the postwar period, between 1887 and 1917. The War Department
continued this commemorative theme, but did not construct any monuments or
enlarge the battlefield, and no historic resources are extant that relate to
this period, 1917-1933. The NPS also continued a commemorative tradition at
the battlefield by enlarging the park boundaries and significantly altering the
postbattle landscape. Both the Illinois Monument and Cheatham Hill Drive are
locally significant under Criterion C because they possess high artistic value
and embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction. The eight brick entrance signs are locally significant under
Criterion A because they represent the New Deal-era development of the park
with CCC labor.

2. Integrity/Criteria Considerations

The properties contributing to the historic district under the theme of
commemoration and park development exhibit virtually all aspects of integrity:
location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
Although the McCook Brigade Marker is located approximately 200 feet northwest
of its original location, it still retains integrity of setting, marking the
approximate location where McCook’s brigade began its assault on Cheatham Hill.

It is important that those resources related to park development retain a high
degree of integrity, especially in the areas of design, materials, setting,
workmanship, and association. The CCC completed hundreds of construction
projects in the national parks in the 1933-1942 period, mostly related to the
development of park infrastructures. These projects were designed by NPS
architects and landscape architects who subscribed to a well-defined design
philosophy. As a result, certain stylistic features often define structures
built during this era and reflect a park service design approach applied to
buildings, structures, and landscapes.’ Because the CCC ended in 1942,
Kennesaw was not comprehensively developed in accordance with an overall plan.
Few of the buildings and structures planned in the 1930s for the park were
erected; those that were completed remain as isolated units and do not convey a
coherent, recognizable design intent. Additionally, the maintenance area has
been altered by the 1974 L-shaped connection between the existing buildings.
Of the CCC-era work at Kennesaw, Cheatham Hill Drive represents the prevailing
NPS design philosophy and retains sufficient integrity to be considered
eligible for the National Register. The eight brick entrance signs are
unaltered, remain in their original locations, and retain all aspects of
integrity.

For a comprehensive discussion of this design ethic see Linda McClelland,
Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of the National Park Service,
1916 to 1942 (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1993).


68 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

five. Enrollees were paid $30 a month; $25 of their monthly salary was sent
directly to their needy families.

The CCC program established a unique relationship among the Army, the
National Park Service, and the United States Forest Service (USFS). NPS and
USFS Advisory Council representatives immediately recognized that their agencies
could not administer the camps. Therefore, the Army, with an established regimen
and considerable personnel, maintained camp life. Early camps resembled Army
field camps with canvas tents, reveille at 6:00 A.M., meals taken at the mess hall,
communal bathing facilities, and limited freedom outside of the camp. Junior Army
officers generally commanded the camps, and a military doctor often served several
camps in a large geographical vicinity.'’ Within a year, ready-to-assemble camp
buildings replaced the tents, and the temporary nature of camps lessened, although
these buildings were moveable. When camps were located in national parks, the
NPS park superintendent planned and directed work for the enrollees. Park
superintendents and state park directors could supplement their CCC labor pools
with skilled craftsmen, identified as local experienced men (LEMs); World War I
veterans, who generally did little manual labor because of their age; and, primarily
in the west, Native Americans.'© Many regular CCC enrollees had little experience
with manual labor or construction techniques, and LEMs proved valuable to the
program. Age and marital status requirements did not apply to LEMs and World
War I veterans, and some, if married, lived outside of camps.'””

CCC enrollments lasted six months and could be extended to a total of two
years of service. The enlistment goal for the second enroliment period, from
October 1933 to March 1934, was 300,000 enrollees, including 25,000 veterans and
an equal number of LEMs. In 1935, the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act
extended Emergency Conservation Work for two years to 1937, doubled its size to
600,000 men, and relaxed age requirements; enrollees could enlist at seventeen years
and remain until age twenty-eight. By October 1933, the NPS operated 102 camps

'5tnterviews with Kennesaw Mountain CCC enrollees, James Elder Dunn, 22 January 1985;
Rupert Jackson Chambers, 19 January 1985; Joseph C. Thompson, 9 January 1985; Herman Allen, 19
December 1984; Dr. Elmer Musarra, 20 February 1985; Horace English, 23 February 1987, Tms, by
Retha Stephens and Lynn McFarland; and CarolJo Rushin-Bell, 4 History of the Pocket Recreation
Area: Armuchee Ranger District, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests (Atlanta: U. S. Department
of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1984), 65-71.

'6john A. Salmond, The CCC, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study (Durham, North Carolina:
Duke University Press, 1967), 34. John Paige refers to the LEMs as locally employed men, but
Salmond’s term better describes the role these men played in the CCC organization.

‘Paige, 9-15.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 77

activity at the park. They meet Criterion Consideration F because of their age,
associated tradition, and symbolic importance. The Illinois Monument and the
associated markers at Cheatham Hill are significant at the state level because they
represent the efforts of Illinois veteran organizations to commemorate the
participants of the battle in the postwar period, between 1887 and 1917. The War
Department continued this commemorative theme, but did not construct any
monuments or enlarge the battlefield, and no structures are extant that relate to this
period, 1917-1933. The NPS also continued a commemorative tradition at the
battlefield by enlarging the park boundaries and providing improved automobile
access to Cheatham Hill via Cheatham Hill Drive. Both the Illinois Monument and
Cheatham Hill Drive are locally significant under Criterion C because they possess
high artistic value and embody distinctive. characteristics of a type, period, or
method of construction. The eight brick entrance signs are locally significant under
Criterion A because they represent the New Deal-era development of the park with
CCC labor.

The vegetation management activities and the resulting vegetation patterns
associated with the commemoration of the battlefield are not historically significant
because of an absence of a demonstrated intent, or implementation on a parkwide
scale of a plan designed to preserve/restore the 1864 landscape or to achieve a
designed commemorative landscape.

INTEGRITY OF HISTORIC RESOURCES

The properties contributing to the historic district under the theme of
commemoration and park development exhibit virtually all aspects of integrity:
location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Although
the McCook Brigade Marker is located approximately 200 feet northwest of its
original location, it still retains integrity of setting, marking the approximate location
where McCook’s brigade began its assault on Cheatham Hill (photograph 15).

It is important that those resources related to park development retain a high
degree of integrity, especially in the areas of design, materials, setting,
workmanship, and association. The CCC completed hundreds of construction
projects in the national parks in the 1933-1942 period, mostly related to the
development of park infrastructures. These projects were designed by NPS
architects and landscape architects who subscribed to a well-defined design
philosophy. As a result, certain stylistic features often define structures built during
this era and reflect a park service design approach applied to buildings, structures,
and landscapes. Because the CCC ended in 1942, Kennesaw was not
comprehensively developed in accordance with an overall plan. Few of the
buildings and structures planned in the 1930s for the park were erected; those that


@ KENNESAW MOUNTAIN
NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY

U.S; DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR * NATIONAL PaRK. SERVICE * SOUTHEAST REGION.



USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
e~ County, Georgia Page 5

.» Major Bibliographical References

(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one
or more continuation sheets.)

Previous documentation on file (NPS)

__ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been
requested.

_x_ previously listed in the National Register

previously determined eligible by the National Register

__. designated a National Historic Landmark

__.. recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # GA-1171; GA-1178-E;
GA~-2169

recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #

Primary Location of Additional Data

___. State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency

Federal agency

Local government

University

Other

Name of repository: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office;

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 2,884
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)

Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing

A 16 721000 3762070 D 16 722980 3755020
B 16 723140 3763900 F 16 721000 3753920
Cc 16 724930 3762390 F

See continuation sheet.

Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a
continuation sheet.)

Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a
continuation sheet.)


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 22

Johnston planned an attack on the Federals for May 19, when he suspected that
they would be strung out on two parallel roads between Adairsville and
Cassville. General Hood declined to press the attack when he detected a
potential threat to his rear, and the opportunity was lost. After a council of
war on the night of May 19, Johnston ordered another pullback across the Etowah
River to Allatoona Pass. Sherman bypassed this position and swung his forces
west away from the railroad and toward the town of Dallas. Johnston moved his
army west to counter this new threat. Federal attacks at New Hope Church (May
25) and Pickett’s Mill (May 27) were repulsed by the Confederates, and Sherman
began to move to his left back toward the railroad to the east. Believing that
Sherman’s right might be undermanned, Johnston ordered an attack at Dallas on
May 28. Here the Federals had the advantage of fighting from trenches, and
they decisively turned back the assault.”

Following these battles, a period of heavy skirmishing and maneuvering for
position lasted well into June. Heavy rainfall impeded the movements of both
armies. In the first week of June, Johnston’s army took up a position along a
ten-mile line approximately 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. The line ran from
northeast to southwest, with Brushy Mountain on the right, Pine Mountain in the
center, and Lost Mountain on the left. On June 14, a Federal artillery shell
killed Confederate General Polk on Pine Mountain. Johnston appointed Maj. Gen.
William W. Loring temporary commander of Polk’s army corps. Lt. Gen. A. P. @
Stewart assumed permanent command of the corps in the first week of July.

After additional fighting near Gilgal Church on June 15 and Lost Mountain on
June 16, the Confederates on the night of June 18-19 fell back southeast to a
prepared line anchored by Kennesaw Mountain, a few miles north of Marietta.
This new line had been carefully laid out in advance by Johnston’s chief
engineer, Lt. Col. S. W. Presstman.”

The Kennesaw Mountain Line

Colonel Presstman took a topographically strong defensive position at Kennesaw
Mountain and enhanced it. Kennesaw Mountain is a two-mile-long ridge extending
from Big Kennesaw on the northeast to Little Kennesaw on the southwest, with a
spur now known as Pigeon Hill extending south from Little Kennesaw.” Rising
nearly 700 feet above the surrounding landscape, Kennesaw Mountain was
described by Sherman as "the key to the whole country."! Johnston arrayed his
army in a convex, six-mile-long line. The Confederate line extended east to
protect the railroad and bent south along the Kennesaw Mountain ridge and
beyond to cover the roads leading into Marietta from the west. Hood’s corps

Kelly, 15-16; Connelly, 346-56; Sherman, 504-7, 512-15.
Kelly, 21-23; Connelly, 357-58, 421.

%pigeon Hill is a twentieth-century name; at the time of the battle, this
feature was called the Kennesaw Spur.

Sherman, 530.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 50

inadequate dirt roads traversing the park and eventually constructed a new. road
to Cheatham Hill.’

The result of these road improvements clearly established the boundaries of the
park through vegetation and signs. Within the park, CCC road improvements are
characterized by steep road cuts with grass cover fading into deep pine woods.
Although local stone was available—the CCC operated a stone quarry on the side
of Big Kennesaw for road construction—the corps used brick to build park
structures and incorporated modern, functional design elements into these
structures. The few structures built by the CCC at Kennesaw did not reflect
traditional rustic park architecture.

Most of the CCC work at Kennesaw proceeded without an approved Master Plan.
Between 1938 and 1942, the NPS Eastern Branch of Plans and Design developed
several layouts for general park development intended as parts of the Master
Plan. These plans incorporated NPS architectural design criteria—typically
functional and devoid of rustic stylistic detail by the late 1930s—and
standardized spacial relationships among visitor services, historic and scenic
areas, and functional park management buildings. Typically, the NPS designed
visitor service structures with easy access to roads; curvilinear park roads
following the land’s natural contours provided access to historic and scenic
areas; and park management structures such as employee residences and r )
maintenance facilities were built behind vegetative screens or in remote areas.
Although the Eastern Branch completed numerous drawings for headquarters
development, employees’ residences, interpretive exhibits, and internal park
tour roads, the NPS did not accomplish comprehensive park development at
Kennesaw before World War II evaporated the CCC labor force.

The Cheatham Hill road best represents the landscape design philosophy embodied
in NPS improvements at Kennesaw Mountain. Although access to the Illinois
Monument and the Confederate and Union earthworks at the Cheatham Hill site
existed from John Ward Road, this War Department road intruded upon the
battlefield and significantly damaged earthworks. In November 1939, the NPS
drafted road plans that snaked an access road south from Dallas Road among
earthworks on the Confederate line and terminated in a parking area just north
of the Illinois Monument. This road, covered with a fine stone gravel,
replaced a War Department road that approached Cheatham Hill from the northwest
and cut across the open field the Federals crossed when they assaulted the
Confederate salient. The new road passed several battery positions behind the
Confederate forward earthworks and deposited the visitor at Mebane’s Redoubt.

A foot trail directs the visitor to the Illinois Monument.

1GB. Cc. Yates, "Superintendent Monthly Reports" (October 1939), Records of the
National Park Service, RG 79, National Archives, copies of these reports,
collected by park staff, are available at the Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park library; Neil McL. Conley, Jr., “Investigative Report" (15
November 1938), RG 79, National Archives.


iii

Foreword

We are pleased to make available this historic resource study, part of our ongoing
effort to provide comprehensive documentation for the historic structures and
landscapes of National Park Service units in the Southeast Region. Following a field
survey of park resources and extensive research, the project team updated the park’s
List of Classified Structures, developed historic contexts, and prepared new National
Register of Historic Places documentation, which is included as an appendix to this
volume. Many individuals and institutions contributed to the successful completion
of this work. We would particularly like to thank Park Superintendent John Cissell,
Park Historian Dennis Kelly, and Park Ranger Retha Stephens for their help at every
stage of the project. Thanks are also due to Historical Landscape Architect Brian
Morris, who prepared three of the maps included in the study. We hope that this
study will prove valuable to park management and others in understanding and
interpreting the historical significance of the park’s cultural resources.

Kirk A. Cordell

Chief

Cultural Resources Planning Division
National Park Service Southeast Region
March 1995


USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Cobb County, Georgia e
Page 6
11. Form Prepared By
name/title Ro! W. 2 istorian; Ma’ en. arroll; Hi: ian;
Steven H. Moffson, Architectural Historian
organization National Park Service, Southeast Regional office
date October 24, 1994
street & number 75 Spring Street, S.W. telephone (404) 331-5988
city or town Atlanta state GA zip code 30303

Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:

Continuation Sheets

Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property’s location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage
or numerous resources.

Photographs

Representative black and white photographs of the property. r

Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)

Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)

name National Park Service

street & number P.O. Box 37127 telephone

city or town Washington : state DC zip code 20013-7127



CHAPTER 2

KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND
THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN, MAY-SEPTEMBER 1864

From May to September 1864, Federal and Confederate forces fought across north
Georgia from Dalton to Atlanta, which was abandoned by the Confederates on
September 1. Occasional fierce battles punctuated almost daily skirmishing and
maneuvering for position. Collectively, this activity is known as the Atlanta
Campaign. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864, occurred near the
middle of the campaign. The importance of the battle in the Civil War is described
in the previous chapter. This chapter will explore the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
and the Atlanta Campaign, focusing on the remaining Park resources.”

STRATEGIC SITUATION IN THE SPRING OF 1864

When Ulysses S. Grant assumed command of all Federal armies in March 1864, he
ordered a coordinated offensive to destroy Confederate resistance and end the war.
The major efforts focused on eastern Virginia and northwest Georgia, while smaller
Federal forces moved toward Richmond from south of the James River, up the

The best introduction to the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta campaign is Kennesaw
Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign by Dennis Kelly, the park’s historian. Albert Castel’s recently
published work, Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864, is a masterful analysis of the
campaign. Other important sources are The Army of Tennessee: A Military History by Stanley F. Horn,
Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865 by Thomas L. Connelly, War So Terrible:
Sherman and Atlanta by James L. McDonough and James P. Jones, and two Ph.D. dissertations done
at Emory University: “The Atlanta Campaign, December 23, 1863, to July 18, 1864” by Richard M.
McMurry and “The Atlanta Campaign, July 18-September 2, 1864” by Errol M. Clauss. McMurry’s
biography of Hood, John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence, is also useful. Sherman:
Soldier, Realist, American is a provocative study of Sherman’s strategic thinking by the British
historian B. H. Liddell-Hart. Sherman, Johnston, and Hood all published memoirs after the war's end.
Sherman’s work is Memoirs of W. T. Sherman, Johnston’s is Narrative of Military Operations, and
Hood’s Advance and Retreat.


84 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

cultural resource. Building files or cultural resource files containing complete e@
information regarding age, condition, alterations, and treatment should be compiled
for each LCS property.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 79

Contributing Properties

Illinois Monument (1914)

Union Tunnel Marker (ca. 1914)
McCook Brigade Marker (ca. 1914)
Coffey Marker (ca. 1914)

Fellows Marker (ca. 1914)
Cheatham Hill Drive (1939-1940)
Entrance Signs (eight) (1938-1942)

Noncontributing Properties

CCC Camp Site (1938-1942)
Maintenance Complex-Motor Repair Shop and Equipment Storage Garage (1940)

The CCC camp was dismantled shortly after the corps moved out. Nothing
remains of the original buildings except some concrete foundations that lack
architectural integrity. Originally, these foundations supported paneled walls bolted
together that formed the camp buildings. The camp site is not considered
contributing to this context because other examples of intact CCC architecture are
extant within the NPS, and as foundations the camp buildings lack architectural
integrity. The ruins represent only a small percentage of what was present at the
camp. Currently, the site is defined by a grassed, mown clearing.

The maintenance complex consists of two 1939-1940 buildings joined by a
recent corner addition, forming an ell-shaped plan that measures approximately 27
x 80 x 95 feet. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, they were known as the
Motor Repair Shop and Equipment Storage Building. Separately, they consisted of
a three-part building with two garage bays flanked by two toolrooms and another
building with eight garage bays. Each building has a side-gabled roof, covered with
asbestos shingles, red brick veneer, and an interior brick chimney. The buildings
do not possess significant architectural merit and do not embody the materials and
craftsmanship associated with other park-designed structures built during this period.

Mountain Road (1938-1942; 1950)

This road was graded, but not completed, by the CCC. The current road to the top
of the mountain was completed by NPS in 1950; the road’s overlook was dedicated
in 1964. Because the road was completed within the last fifty years, it is not a
contributing feature.


INTRODUCTION 7

to specific battle events. This would accomplish two purposes: it would provide
for a more accurate description of the condition and treatment of these resources for
inclusion in management documents, and it would allow management to limit the
scope of Section 106 reviews to specific cultural resources.

Because the park possesses so many earthwork features, a complete survey of
all earthworks could not be accomplished within the scope of this study. Instead,
a sample, consisting of six features, was surveyed and recorded on LCS forms.
Park management suggested that earthworks at Cheatham Hill, Pigeon Hill, and
Little Kennesaw be evaluated. The survey team also investigated Strahl’s Fort and
the Federal twenty-four-gun emplacement, two isolated features that provide a
contrast to earthworks located adjacent to trails or within walking distance of
parking facilities. The remaining earthworks, approximately eight to ten miles, are
grouped as one LCS entry. These earthworks were not field verified. The team
relied on several maps available at the park to record their length and location.’

Determination of Historic Contexts

This study evaluates the historic integrity and assesses the eligibility of the Park’s
historic resources within two historic contexts identified by the survey team. These
contexts correspond to historic themes identified by the National Park Service and
the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). The thematic framework
of the NPS is outlined in History and Prehistory in the National Park System and
the National Landmark Program. In addition to general historical themes like
“Military” and “Public Works,” the Georgia SHPO has identified twelve distinctive
“aspects” of Georgia history. These aspects are currently undeveloped but should
be considered when assembling state and local context studies.

The following two historic contexts have been developed for the current study:
1) The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign, May-September
1864 (chapter 2); and 2) Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: The
Commemoration of American Battlefields and National Park Development, 1887-
1942 (chapter 3).

The first context, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign,
May-September 1864,” relates to the NPS subthemes “War in the West” and
“Political and Diplomatic Scene” of Theme VI, “The Civil War.” The context also
relates to one aspect of Georgia history, “Major Theater for the Civil War.”
Chapter 2 examines the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain as one in a series of clashes

°Despite the desire to create separate entries for infantry lines and individual earthwork features.
accurate mapping that would verify commands and the identity of the field fortifications is not
available. Preliminary mapping which illustrated the location of existing earthworks was unreliable for
this level of detail because it lacked field verification and thus was not used by the survey team.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 49

Gilbert, Old John Ward, Stilesboro, Dallas, and Burnt Hickory Roads were all
present at the time of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Stilesboro, Dallas, and
Burnt Hickory Roads contribute to the national significance of the battlefield under
Criterion A, because they served as transportation corridors for the approaching
armies. Gilbert and Old John Ward Roads are locally significant under Criterion
A for their association with early Cobb County settlement.

Final determination of the significance of the existing vegetation awaits further
field and archival research. Additional research is needed to evaluate whether the
existing vegetation has the potential to increase our understanding of the role
vegetation played in defining the setting of the battle and its influence on the
conduct and strategies of the battle. Until this research is conducted the existing
vegetation remains unevaluated and should be considered potentially significant for
the information it may contribute to the recovery of the vegetation patterns of the
1864 battlefield.

INTEGRITY OF HISTORIC RESOURCES

Integrity is the ability of a property to convey its historic significance. The seven
aspects of integrity are location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling,
and association. These are applied to each contributing property and measured
against its level of significance and the criteria from which it derives its
significance. For example, a property that is significant under Criterion A for its
association with an event is not held to the same standard of integrity as one that
derives its significance from Criterion C, as an example of art or architecture. For
a property to contribute to the historic district, it must possess several, and usually
most, of the aspects of integrity.

Overall, the earthworks possess a high degree of integrity despite the loss of
historic fabric caused by development and erosion. Because of the great expansion
of agriculture after the war and the sheer extent of the earthworks erected by
Federal and Confederate forces, it is inevitable that some loss of historic fabric has
occurred. Most of the Federal earthworks, erected in open, low-lying areas suitable
for agriculture, have been destroyed. Quantitatively, the Confederate earthworks
retain the best integrity. However, all the extant earthworks retain integrity of
location, and most exhibit integrity of design, setting, materials, feeling, and
association. In the best cases, a front and rear ditch and a well-defined parapet wall
may be visible. Most of the earthworks are in stable condition, with grasses and
other benign understory growth checking erosion. In limited areas, the integrity of
the earthworks has been compromised, largely because of erosion or visitor impacts.
For example, on Kennesaw Mountain and its spur, trails pass through the earthworks
to provide access for visitors. In other areas, particularly among the artillery


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain @
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia

county and State
Additional Documentation Page 62

a
19. Georgia Monument, view from N.

20. Fellows Marker, view from E.

21. Neighbour Marker, view from E.

22. Union Tunnel and Stone Wall, view from W.

23. Grave of Unknown U.S. Soldier, view from E.

24. Texas Monument, view from SE.

25. Pigeon Hill, view from E.

26. CSX Railroad Corridor N of Old U.S. 41, view from S.

27. Dallas Road, view from W.

28. Cheatham Hill Drive, view from N.

29. Big Kennesaw Mountain Antebellum Road, view from W. e
30. Artillery Positions, Big Kennesaw Mountain, view from S.

31. Gilbert Road, view from S.

32. Stilesboro Road, view from W.

33. Burnt Hickory Road, view from E.

34. Powder Springs Road, view from NE.

35. Cheatham Hill Battery, view from S.

36. Old John Ward Road, view from N.


APPENDIX A
CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURES LIST

Earthworks: The park contains approximately eleven miles of infantry trenches,
batteries, forts, and gun positions, both earthen and stone, constructed by Federals
and Confederates. These fortifications are located on high ground and on slopes of
major topographical features and have helped define park boundaries. Currently,
the park interprets approximately one-third of the earthworks. Some of these works
have been stabilized with grass and tree removal, when feasible, and marked with
signs that direct the visitor to stay off the works. The remaining earthworks are
hidden from the visitor in wooded areas or are located adjacent to footpaths. Many
of these fortifications are covered with understory growth consisting of briars,
honeysuckle, and wild grasses, some large and small trees, mainly oak, pine, and
dogwood, as well as years of forest debris, such as leaves and fallen limbs. See
Appendix B for more complete descriptions of selected earthworks.

Kolb House: This is a one-and-one-half story, three bay, Georgian-plan log
house, constructed circa 1836. Its construction is characterized by square hewn logs
and square notching, concrete chinking, stone piers, and four brick and stone
chimneys. The side-gabled roof is covered with wood shingles and possesses gable
returns, a vergeboard, and weatherboard gable ends. The house has no front porch,
a full-facade rear shed porch, and a shed porch on the west facade. The front entry
is trabeated and appears to have been larger at one time, possibly an open
breezeway. The exterior of the house was rehabilitated in 1963, and most of the
existing oak logs were retained. However, soil cement chinking replaced original
mud chinking and appears to have dried out the logs. Window openings, door
openings, and porch configurations appear original. The front entry .possesses a
slate and concrete stoop that probably is not historically accurate. Because few
records were extant regarding the historic condition of the house, park staff relied
on information from similar houses in north Georgia and interviews of former
occupants. The interior of the house consists of four rooms linked by a central hall
with an open stair displaying a chamfered newel post. The interior walls had wood
paneling, using both beaded-board and plank materials, at the time of the
rehabilitation. Behind the paneling, the interior log walls had brick nogging and
mud chinking; these were left in place. However, the paneling was removed and
replaced with dry wall, both on the walls and the ceilings. The floors in the hall
and in three of the four rooms are original with four-inch pine boards. All
fireplaces, mantels, and stone or brick hearths were removed during the
rehabilitation and the interior openings sealed to accommodate a modern heating
system.

Kolb Cemetery: The cemetery is located east of the house and is the only
extant landscape feature or secondary structure surviving from the original
farmstead. The graveyard measures 48 x 50 feet and is enclosed by a raised


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park

name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia

county and State

Additional Documentation Page 61
_—————_——————=———————————

Photographs

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
Cobb County, Georgia

Photos: Maureen Carroll and Steven Moffson
Location of Negatives: NPS, SERO

Single gun emplacement at Federal Twenty-four-Gun Emplacement,
view from NW.

Fort McBride, Little Kennesaw Mountain, view from E.
Mebane’s Redoubt, Cheatham Hill, view from N.
Cheatham Hill, view from N. toward salient.

Strahl’s Fort, view from W.

Kolb House, view from NE.

Kolb House, view from S.

Kolb Cemetery, view from S.

New Salem Church Site, view from E.
Marietta-Cassville Road, view from S.

Illinois Monument (center) and Union Tunnel Marker (lower right),
view from NW.

Illinois Monument, view from W.
McCook Brigade Marker, view from W.
Coffey Marker, view from E.

Maintenance Complex, Equipment Storage Building (left) and
Motor Repair Shop (right), view from N.

Entrance Sign marking the park’s east boundary on the north side
of Burnt Hickory Road, view from E.

Parade Ground, CCC Camp Site with Big (right) and Little (left)
Kennesaw mountains in background, view from E.

Bath House ruins, CCC Camp Site, view from N.


70 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

The CCC program reached its largest enrollment in 1935, although funding from
Congress continued until 1942. In 1935, Roosevelt began efforts to reduce the
ECW program in order to convince Congress to permanently establish a
conservation work program for the state and national parks. The NPS reduced its
active camps from 446 to 340 in 1936 and converted some temporary technical
positions to permanent NPS employment. In 1937, Roosevelt asked Congress to
permanently establish the ECW program. Congress responded with a three-year
funding package that formally changed the name of the ECW to the Civilian
Conservation Corps and required camps to establish ten hours per week of general
education or vocational training classes for enrollees. Another attempt in 1939 to
establish a permanent CCC program failed. By 1940, the NPS had to reduce its
supervisory personnel without drastically altering work projects. The agency created
central service units within NPS regional offices to handle design and technical
matters and abolished these positions in the individual camps. By 1941, the NPS
discontinued many camps that could not maintain 165 men per camp, eliminating
135 camps between September and November 1941. When the United States
entered World War II in December 1941, NPS abolished all but 89 camps, which
directly related to the war effort. In 1942, Congress discontinued funding for the
CCC program and it was informally abolished.”

Creating a Park: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
Legislation enacted on June 26, 1935, established the Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park under the authority of the NPS. The act authorized expansion of
the park to include Big and Little Kennesaw Mountains and other significant
sections of the battlefield. An appropriation of $100,000 was included for land
acquisition and park development.'?> Between 1933 and 1938, the NPS relied on
labor and funding from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Public
Works Administration (PWA). These improvements occurred without the benefit
of a master plan for overall park development and largely were concentrated at
Cheatham Hill, which contained the sixty acres preserved by the Illinois veterans.
The early efforts of the CWA addressed the adverse effects of the preceding
years of private agricultural use of the battlefield. The abandonment of agriculture
following the battlefield’s acquisition by the NPS resulted in increased rates of
erosion and soil depletion. Corrective measures undertaken by the CWA included
the construction of stone and earthen dams and terraces and the channelling of
streams. Several of the abandoned fields were plowed, fertilized, and planted with

Paige, 21-36.

Public Law 49 Stat. 423, June 26, 1935.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 31

unprotected. Officers on both sides repeatedly ordered frontal assaults on
entrenched lines, frequently with disastrous results. In some encounters, attacking
forces suffered ten times the casualties of defenders. In the Atlanta campaign,
Sherman chose repeatedly to outflank the Confederates’ entrenched positions, rarely
ordering frontal attacks. Sherman’s three to two advantage in numbers allowed him
to use part of his force to keep the Confederate army in place while other units
were sent on turning maneuvers.**

THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN

When Sherman’s forces moved out from Chattanooga on May 7, 1864, the
Confederates held a strong defensive line around Dalton, Georgia. Sherman ordered
Thomas and Schofield to threaten an attack against the main body of Confederates,
while McPherson made a wide move to the right in the direction of Resaca, fifteen
miles south of Dalton (see figure 2). McPherson nearly got in Johnston’s rear, but
was deterred by a small force holding Resaca. This delay gave Johnston enough
time to retire from Dalton to a hastily prepared position around Resaca. The two
armies fought at Resaca May 13-15, while Sherman tried another flanking move,
sending a division of McPherson’s army to cross the Oostanaula River and get
behind the Confederates’ left. When Johnston learned of the successful river
crossing, he ordered a retreat, first to Adairsville and then on to Cassville.”

Johnston planned an attack on the Federals for May 19, when he suspected that
they would be strung out on two parallel roads between Adairsville and Cassville.
General Hood declined to press the attack when he detected a potential threat to his
rear, and the opportunity was lost. After a council of war on the night of May 19,
Johnston ordered another pullback across the Etowah River to Allatoona Pass.
Sherman bypassed this position and swung his forces west away from the railroad
and toward the town of Dallas. Johnston moved his army west to counter this new
threat. Federal attacks at New Hope Church (May 25) and Pickett’s Mill (May 27)
were repulsed by the Confederates, and Sherman began to move to his left back
toward the railroad to the east. Believing that Sherman's right might be
undermanned, Johnston ordered an attack at Dallas on May 28. Here the Federals
had the advantage of fighting from trenches, and they decisively turned back the
assault.”

“Connelly, 432; McPherson, 472-77.
“Connelly, 341-45; Kelly, 13-14; Sherman, 496-504.

“Kelly, 15-16; Connelly, 346-56; Sherman, 504-7, 512-15.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 43

miles of the Chattahoochee. In the days following the battle, Sherman ordered
McPherson to reinforce Schofield on the far right. Johnston was once again in
danger of being outflanked, and he ordered a withdrawal from the Kennesaw line
on the night of July 2. The Confederate army took up a new position around
Smyrna Station, four miles southeast of Marietta. In the end, the Confederates’
defensive victory at Kennesaw Mountain had little impact, because it only delayed,
but did not halt, Sherman’s advance.”!

Sherman continued to probe the Confederate left, and on the night of July 4
Johnston ordered another retreat, this time to a prepared line of defenses on the
north bank of the Chattahoochee. The Chattahoochee runs from the northeast to the
southwest in this area, and Johnston believed Sherman would again attempt to get
around his left flank. Sherman encouraged this belief by sending a decoy cavalry
detachment to the southwest to ostentatiously scout river crossings. Johnston
responded by dispatching the bulk of his cavalry to guard the downstream crossings.
Sherman meanwhile ordered Brig. Gen. Kenner Garrard’s cavalry and Schofield’s
infantry to cross upstream (northeast) of Johnston’s line. The Federals captured the
town of Roswell, destroying the cloth mills there, and crossed the river at several
upstream fords on July 8 and 9. With numerous Federals across the river and
threatening to get between him and Atlanta, Johnston ordered the abandonment of
his river line. On the night of July 9, the Confederates withdrew to the outer
defenses of Atlanta, on the south bank of Peachtree Creek and less than five miles
from the city’s center.”

Johnston’s continued withdrawals caused increasing concern in the Confederate
capital. On July 16, Jefferson Davis wired Johnston, asking for his plan of
operations. Johnston’s reply that his plan “must depend on that of the enemy”
failed to reassure Davis. On July 17, Davis relieved Johnston of command of the
Army of Tennessee and put Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood in his place. General
Cheatham assumed temporary command of Hood’s old army corps, which was
assigned to Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee on July 27. Just thirty-three, Hood had a
reputation for aggressiveness as a brigade and division commander, but lacked
experience in commanding an army. A leg lost at Chickamauga and a mangled left
arm limited Hood’s ability to ride a horse and personally supervise combat
operations. The change of commanders did not end dissension among the officers
of the Army of Tennessee. Many officers considered Hood a reckless gambler, and

Kelly, 41-42, 45.

Kelly, 45; Connelly, 392-98.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 7 Page 8

a

this road. Approximately two miles of this road lie within the park
boundaries. (IDLCS 90148; structure)

Big Kennesaw Antebellum Road: This steep, 10- to 15-foot-wide and
approximately 1500-foot-long unpaved road ascends the east face of Big Kennesaw
Mountain along the Confederate line of earthworks and is bisected by Mountain
Road. The road, which was used by the Confederate Army, is not maintained or
interpreted by the park and has deteriorated significantly near the crest of
Big Kennesaw and toward the toe of the slope where it diminishes into erosional
gullies. (IDLCS 90198; structure)

New Salem Church Site: This site consists of a stone foundation ruin, probably
granite, and a cemetery of unidentified and largely unmarked graves. A church
clearly existed on this site at the time of the battle because it appears on an
1864 manuscript map prepared by an unknown Confederate engineer. An oral
history interview conducted in the 1940s described the church as a frame
building with board siding. The ruin, which lies west of an abandoned roadbed,
consists of two geometric outlines that formed the foundation. One is
rectangular and the other is square-shaped, approximately twelve inches high.
The twenty-four graves noted are clustered mostly south of the foundation
ruins; some are marked by head and foot stones. No conclusive evidence e@
concerning the age of the graves has been discovered. Local tradition has it
that the church was used as a Confederate field hospital after the battle; the
church’s location behind the Confederate lines near the scene of action at
Pigeon Hill lends credence to the tradition. (site)

Illinois Monument: This monument, erected in 1914, consists of a twenty-five
foot battered marble shaft rising from an eight-foot-square base. The marble
is inscribed on three sides, with the west elevation dominated by three bronze
figures: a Union soldier flanked by two classical female figures. Situated on
the crest of Cheatham Hill, the monument overlooks a small plaza and two
flights of marble steps to the west. An eagle perched above the figures on the
west elevation was damaged by lightning in 1984. In 1991, the eagle was
restored atop the monument. (IDLCS 12177; previously listed; object)

Union Tunnel Marker: This is a 5- x 3-foot marble arch marking the tunnel
entrance Union troops excavated in an attempt to breach the Confederate works
at Cheatham Hill. The marker was erected circa 1914 and features an inscribed
keystone that describes the tunnel’s purpose. It is located at the foot of the
Illinois monument and is flanked by a dry-stack stone wall. (IDLCS 90142;
object)

McCook Brigade Marker: This is a 24- x 24- x 15-inch rectangular granite
marker located at the point where McCook’s Brigade began its assault, as
described on the marker’s beveled face. The marker, erected circa 1914, is
currently located north of a foot path, on a wooded knoll, but was moved to
this location from some point farther south, circa 1935-39. (IDLCS 90141;
previously listed; object)


48 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

National Register Criteria A, B, and D. The earthworks clearly indicate the areas
of combat during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, a crucial engagement in the
Atlanta Campaign, and were built at the orders of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman
and General Joseph E. Johnston. Although not nominated under Criterion D, the
earthworks may also possess information potential. The Kolb house contributes to
the national significance of the battlefield under Criterion A and is locally
significant as an example of an early farm house under Criterion C. It is the only
remaining park building that existed during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and
is a rare example from an early period of Cobb County settlement. A significant
military action, known as the Battle of Kolb’s Farm, occurred near the house.

The Kolb cemetery, located adjacent to the Kolb house, contributes to the
national significance of the battlefield and is locally significant under Criterion A
because it represents burial customs among early settlers (photograph 8). The New
Salem Church cemetery, which is associated with the ruins of New Salem Church,
is also locally significant under Criterion A for nineteenth- and early twentieth-
century burial practices. In addition, the New Salem Church site may
possess archeological potential, because the church possibly served as a Confederate
field hospital. The Kolb cemetery and possibly the New Salem Church cemetery
are among the few remaining resources that existed during the Battle of Kennesaw
Mountain.

Photograph 8. Kolb cemetery


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

Quix States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 29

a

victory at Kennesaw Mountain had little impact, because it only delayed, but
did not halt, Sherman’s advance.”

Sherman continued to probe the Confederate left, and on the night of July 4
Johnston ordered another retreat, this time to a prepared line of defenses on
the north bank of the Chattahoochee. The Chattahoochee runs from the northeast
to the southwest in this area, and Johnston believed Sherman would again
attempt to get around his left flank. Sherman encouraged this belief by
sending a decoy cavalry detachment to the southwest to ostentatiously scout
river crossings. Johnston responded by dispatching the bulk of his cavalry to
guard the downstream crossings. Sherman meanwhile ordered Brig. Gen. Kenner
Garrard’s cavalry and Schofield’s infantry to cross upstream (northeast) of
Johnston’s line. The Federals captured the town of Roswell, destroying its
cloth mills, and crossed the river at several upstream fords on July 8 and 9.
With numerous Federals across the river and threatening to get between him and
Atlanta, Johnston ordered the abandonment of his river line. On the night of
July 9, the Confederates withdrew to the outer defenses of Atlanta, on the
south bank of Peachtree Creek and less than five miles from the city’s

center.

Johnston’s continued withdrawals caused increasing concern in the Confederate
capital. on July 16, Jefferson Davis wired Johnston, asking for his plan of
operations. Johnston’s reply that his plan "must depend on that of the enemy"
failed to reassure Davis. On July 17, Davis relieved Johnston of command of
the Army of Tennessee and put Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood in his place. General
Cheatham assumed temporary command of Hood’s old army corps, which was assigned
to Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee on July 27. Just thirty-three, Hood had a
reputation for aggressiveness as a brigade and division commander, but lacked
experience in commanding an army. A leg lost at Chickamauga and a mangled left
arm limited Hood’s ability to ride a horse and personally supervise combat
operations. The change of commanders did not end dissension among the officers
of the Army of Tennessee. Many officers considered Hood a reckless gambler,
and General Hardee’s dissatisfaction at being passed over probably affected his
performance in the subsequent battles for Atlanta.”

The Fall of Atlanta

When all of his forces had crossed the Chattahoochee, Sherman advanced on
Atlanta in a wheeling movement. Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland served as the
pivot, moving on the city from the north, while Schofield’s Army of the Ohio
and McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee swung around to the east. On July 19,
McPherson was in Decatur, six miles east of Atlanta, marching slowly west along

Kelly, 41-42, 45.
‘Kelly, 45; Connelly, 392-98.

2connelly, 430-32, 450-51; Shelby Foote, The Civil War, a Narrative: Red
River to Appomattox (New York: Random House, 1974), 472-73.


44 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

General Hardee’s dissatisfaction at being passed over probably affected his
performance in the subsequent battles for Atlanta.”

The Fall of Atlanta

When all of his forces had crossed the Chattahoochee, Sherman advanced on Atlanta
in a wheeling movement. Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland served as the pivot,
moving on the city from the north, while Schofield’s Army of the Ohio and
McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee swung around to the east. On July 19,
McPherson was in Decatur, six miles east of Atlanta, marching slowly west along
the Georgia Railroad, tearing up track along the way. Schofield was near Decatur
advancing on a road parallel to the railroad, and Thomas was beginning to cross
Peachtree Creek on a six-mile front. Hoping to capitalize on the division of the
Federal forces, Hood ordered Cheatham’s corps and Georgia militia under Maj. Gen.
G. W. Smith to hold Schofield and McPherson in place while Stewart and Hardee
surprised Thomas astride Peachtree Creek. The attack, scheduled to begin at 1:00
P.M. on July 20, fell victim to delay and confusion. Hood remained at his
headquarters in Atlanta after issuing his orders, and Hardee and Cheatham were
unable to coordinate their assaults. When the attack began, Thomas had virtually
all of his troops on the south bank of the creek and held off the disorganized
Confederates in the Battle of Peachtree Creek.”

Undaunted, Hood ordered an attack on McPherson’s army for the 22nd.
Hardee’s corps was sent on a fifteen-mile night march to get in position on
McPherson’s left flank and rear. With simultaneous attacks by Cheatham’s corps
from the west and Hardee’s from the south and east, Hood hoped to roll up
McPherson’s left. The Confederates nearly succeeded in winning the Battle of
Atlanta, despite rushed preparations and inadequate coordination. Hardee was
hampered by densely wooded terrain and poor reconnaissance and was unable to get
all of his divisions engaged until late in the afternoon. Hood inexplicably delayed
the attack on Cheatham’s front until two hours after Hardee’s began. General
McPherson was killed in the battle, but the Federal lines held after some early
wavering.”°

Sherman was determined to capture the two rail lines—the Macon & Western
and the Atlanta & West Point—still in Confederate hands. The Macon & Western
ran south from Atlanta; at the town of East Point five miles away, the Atlanta &

Connelly, 430-32, 450-51; Foote, 472-73.
TMConnelly, 439-44; Kelly, 46.

Connelly, 444-50; Kelly, 48-50.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 2B

directly through major areas of conflict associated with the Battle of Kennesaw
Mountain and also received some shoulder and ditch improvements. The CCC
opened a quarry in October 1939 and purchased a rock crusher to produce materials
to grade the inadequate dirt roads traversing the park and eventually constructed a
new road to Cheatham Hill.'8

The result of these road improvements clearly established the boundaries of the
park through vegetation and signs. Within the park, CCC road improvements are
characterized by steep road cuts with grass cover fading into deep pine woods.
Although local stone was available—the CCC operated a stone quarry on the side
of Big Kennesaw for road construction—the corps used brick to build park
structures and incorporated modern, functional design elements into these structures.
The few structures built by the CCC at Kennesaw did not reflect traditional rustic
park architecture.

Most of the CCC work at Kennesaw proceeded without an approved Master
Plan. Between 1938 and 1942, the NPS Eastern Branch of Plans and Design
developed several layouts for general park development intended as parts of the
Master Plan. These plans incorporated NPS architectural design criteria—typically
functional and devoid of rustic stylistic detail by the late 1930s—and standardized
spatial relationships among visitor services, historic and scenic areas, and functional
park management buildings. Typically, the NPS designed visitor service structures
with easy access to roads; curvilinear park roads following the land’s natural
contours provided access to historic and scenic areas; and park management
structures such as employee residences and maintenance facilities were built behind
vegetative screens or in remote areas. Although the Eastern Branch completed
numerous drawings for headquarters development, employees’ residences,
interpretive exhibits, and internal park tour roads, the NPS did not accomplish
comprehensive park development at Kennesaw before World War II evaporated the
CCC labor force.

The Cheatham Hill road best represents the design philosophy embodied in NPS
improvements at Kennesaw Mountain. Although access to the Illinois Monument
and the Confederate and Union earthworks at the Cheatham Hill site existed from
John Ward Road, this War Department road intruded upon the battlefield and
significantly damaged earthworks. In November 1939, the NPS drafted road plans
that snaked an access road south from Dallas Road among earthworks on the
Confederate line and terminated in a parking area just north of the Illinois

"288. C. Yates, “Superintendent Monthly Reports” (October 1939), Records of the National Park
Service, RG 79, National Archives, copies of these reports, collected by park staff, are available at the
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park library; Neil McL. Conley, Jr., “Investigative Report”
(15 November 1938), RG 79, National Archives.


MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 83

pursue alternatives to development within and adjacent to park boundaries through
cooperation with state, local, and private interests and the State Historic Preservation
Office. The park may want to pursue National Register nomination for adjacent
historic properties also in cooperation with local or state preservation groups.

Currently, the park identifies several cultural sites significant to the battle
landscape of 1864. Although most of these sites appear to have been historically
verified by archival research, archeological investigations are needed. In particular,
the Kolb Farm landscape, the New Salem Church site, and several mid-nineteenth-
century house sites could yield significant information relevant to military actions
in the area. For example, local tradition suggests that the Confederates used the
New Salem Church as a field hospital. An archeological investigation could test
that hypothesis and contribute to interpretive exhibits at the site.

Although not addressed in this Historic Resource Study, at least sixty stone
mounds are present within the park boundaries. A preliminary survey performed
by the Southeast Archeological Center in 1992 following a vandalism incident
proved inconclusive concerning the mounds’ cultural origin or function. The SEAC
investigator recommended further archeological study. Until the cultural origin of
these mounds is determined, park prosecution of vandals cannot proceed, and
repeated vandalism could severely impair their integrity.

Further research and evaluation of the vegetation at KEMO is needed in order
to understand the potential historical significance of this resource in the context of
the battle action and as it defined the historic setting. A Cultural Landscape Report
(CLR), is the primary landscape treatment document and could be the vehicle by
which vegetation management alternatives for recapturing the historic setting are
explored. An in-depth analysis of historical vegetation patterns would require
overlaying the troop movement map (1993) with baseline data on existing park
vegetation in order to evaluate whether the extant vegetation could yield information
on historical agricultural field patterns since these fields have been released to
natural succession. This process should consider the management of earthworks and
the role vegetation plays in their current preservation and interpretation.

More archival research is needed to better interpret the role veterans’ groups,
notably, the Colonel Dan McCook Brigade Association and Kennesaw Memorial
Association, played in spearheading early preservation and commemoration efforts
at the park. Because Georgia collections on these groups are thin, further research
in Illinois, where these associations were organized, would be valuable for
interpreting commemorative efforts at the park.

Finally, information pertaining to park maintenance and treatment methods of
cultural resources was not readily available. Although some files are kept by the
administrative staff and within maintenance, they do not provide a cohesive account
of preservation treatments, routine maintenance, or cyclic maintenance for each


38 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

corps and Samuel G. French’s division of Loring’s corps. The second, larger
Federal effort would occur about one mile south. General Thomas chose Brig. Gen.
John A. Newton’s Second Division of the IV Corps and Brig. Gen. Jefferson C.
Davis’s Second Division of the XIV Corps to make the attack. The objective was
a low ridge defended by the divisions of Maj. Gens. Patrick R. Cleburne and
Benjamin F. Cheatham of Hardee’s corps (see figure 3). Other portions of the
Federal force would feign an attack on the right and left flanks to prevent Johnston
from reinforcing his center. As in many Civil War battles, only a fraction,
approximately 20 percent, of the available Federal force was committed to the June
27 assault. The remaining troops were held in reserve to follow up any successes.
Most of the Federal troops involved were Midwesterners, with the great majority
coming from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana.

After a fifteen-minute artillery barrage on the morning of the 27th, Federal
troops facing Big Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill moved forward from their works at
8:15 A.M. The diversion at Big Kennesaw Mountain and Bell’s Ferry Road on the
Confederate right was easily repulsed. At Pigeon Hill, 5,500 Federals in three
brigadesTM moved toward the Confederate lines through dense underbrush and abatis
on both sides of the Burnt Hickory Road to confront the heavily fortified
Confederate line. The western crest of Pigeon Hill was lined with earthworks, some
built atop vertical rock faces, and provided the Confederates with a commanding
view of Federal movements below. At the junction of Little Kennesaw and Pigeon
Hill is a steep gorge, where the northerners struggled through dense underbrush.
Part of this attack’s front was within range of Confederate batteries on Little
Kennesaw, which supported the defenders. A few Federals came within yards of
the breastworks but could not breach the Confederate line. The attack collapsed
within two hours.*°

On Thomas’s front south of Dallas Road, 9,000 Federals in Newton’s and
Davis’s divisions formed in open fields behind the Federal lines. Their 9:00 A.M.
assault was nearly an hour late. Thomas and his subordinates chose to assail this
area because there the Federal lines were closest to the Confederate position. This
shorter distance lessened the time that the attacking Federals would be exposed to
Confederate fire. Additionally, a bend in the Confederate line created a potentially

®Kelly, 31; McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,” 69-71.

“The brigades were commanded by Brig. Gen. Giles A. Smith, Brig. Gen. A. J. Lightburn, and
Col. Charles Walcutt.

“Kelly, 32-36; Castel, 307-11.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 20

a

By contrast, Sherman and Grant had cooperated closely while both fought in the
Western theater and enjoyed each other’s confidence. Grant gave Sherman broad
strategic objectives and relied on him to devise tactics to accomplish them.
Sherman was an energetic commander who realized early that a Northern victory
would require not just battlefield successes but destruction of the
Confederates’ ability to make war. Sherman targeted the South’s economic and
military resources equally.

Civil War Tactics

When the Atlarta campaign opened, tactical considerations were radically
altered from te early days of the war. At the war’s beginning, officers
emphasized the tactical offensive, in which assaulting troops advanced in
lines, firing volleys on command. As the enemy line was approached, troops
would run the last several yards and break the line with a bayonet charge.
These linear tactics dated to seventeenth-century European wars. They had been
successful in the Mexican War (1846-1848) and were stressed at the U.S.
Military Academ: at West Point. Changes in weaponry during the war decreased
the effectiveness of linear tactics. Rifle-muskets of superior range and
accuracy, used only by elite units of the old regular army, were in general use
on both sides by 1863. The combination of rifle-muskets and the nearly
universal use of field entrenchments by late 1863 greatly compromised the
effectiveness of the tactical offensive.” e@

Rifle-muskets had an effective range of 300-400 yards, four times greater than
the range of the smoothbore muskets used early in the war. By 1863, attacking
troops could no longer expect to advance to within a few dozen yards of the
enemy, fire a volley, and make a double-time charge while defenders were
reloading. Defenders could devastate the ranks of attacking troops well before
they were close enough to form for a bayonet charge. When defenders were
protected by field entrenchments, their advantage was magnified. By 1864,
whenever troops halted near the enemy, they quickly entrenched to have some
protection against attack. The Confederates, fighting a largely defensive war,
often constructed elaborate systems of trenches, laid out in advance by field
engineers to exploit advantages of terrain. Engineers distinguished between
the topographic crest and the military crest of a hill. The military crest was
often a position slightly downslope of the topographic crest. From the
military crest, defenders had a clear field of fire over the ground in front of
them without exposing their silhouettes to enemy fire.”

Entrenchments on both sides followed the same pattern. Trenches were dug, and
the earth from them piled up ‘to form a protective parapet, also known as
breastworks. Troops could dig a three-foot deep rifle pit with an earthen
parapet in about an hour. In more permanent positions, trenches might be
deeper, and log retaining walls, known as revetments, were used to back the

2McPherson, 472-73.

4McPherson, 473-75.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 7 Page 4
el

largely unaltered. Six of the nine roads that pass within the park—Stilesboro,
Gilbert, Old John Ward, Dallas, Burnt Hickory, and Powder Springs Roads—existed
prior to the battle and, though improved, most still follow the course of their
historic road beds. Smaller, unpaved roads that date to the middle of the
nineteenth century, such as the Marietta-Cassville and Old Mill Roads, can
still be found within the park, but have been considerably altered. The
Western & Atlantic Railroad, now the CSX Railroad, follows its original path
along the park’s northern boundary. Nearly twenty buildings, including
dwellings, churches, and mills, existed within the present park boundary in
1864. Only the Kolb House, which has been rehabilitated to represent its
historic exterior appearance, survives.

Descriptions of Selected Earthworks

Among the many miles of earthworks are several features that are sophisticated
examples of earthwork technology. The Federal twenty-four-gun emplacement and
the Confederate fieldworks at Little Kennesaw Mountain, Pigeon Hill, Cheatham
Hill, and Strahl’s Fort typify earthen fortifications employed throughout the
Atlanta Campaign. The historic integrity of these fieldworks provides a
visible link with the events that necessitated their creation.

The Federal twenty-four-gun emplacement is located on a small, wooded rise
south of Stilesboro Road and faces Little Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill. It
accommodates four batteries, each containing six gun positions. The gun
emplacements are spaced between eight and fourteen feet apart within each
battery and consist of rear pits with a surrounding horseshoe-shaped, earthen
parapet. A cannon opening, or embrasure, is centered on the parapet wall, and
the sides or wings of the parapets taper toward the ends. These emplacements
measure between approximately fifteen and twenty-five feet across the front and
between twenty and thirty feet along the wings. The northernmost battery
resembles an infantry line with each emplacement set side by side, sharing
common wings and a single linear parapet. The four batteries are approximately
seventy-five to 150 feet apart.

The earthworks at Little Kennesaw include both Confederate infantry and
artillery positions. The infantry line along the western crest of Big Kennesaw
continues south across the declivity between Big and Little Kennesaw and along
the northwest face of Little Kennesaw, below the crest. At the crest, the
thick woods covering the mountainsides thin, allowing views of the battlefield
and the surrounding area. The line consists of a continuous parapet, between
two and four feet high, a rear ditch, and traverses placed intermittently along
the line. Along the south and southwest faces, earthen parapets were either
constructed atop rock outcroppings or abandoned when these outcroppings alone
were.sufficient. Loose rock was also used to construct defensive positions,
including gun emplacements. Five artillery emplacements are located on the
western crest, above the infantry lines. Three consist of single-gun
emplacements with horseshoe-shaped parapets. The remaining two emplacements
contained two and three guns each and are collectively known as Fort McBride,


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

mited States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

jational Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 13

Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign, focusing on the remaining park
resources.”

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and its Place in the Civil War

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864) was one of a number of civil
War clashes between Federal and Confederate forces in northwest Georgia in the
spring and summer of 1864. Kennesaw Mountain was a physical barrier standing
between a large Federal force commanded by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and
Atlanta, an important Confederate railroad and manufacturing center. The war
was in its fourth year, and the November 1864 presidential election would soon
provide a referendum on Abraham Lincoln’s war leadership. Lincoln’s reelection
depended heavily on the progress of Sherman’s army in Georgia and Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant’s in Virginia. Although it was not a critical turning point
in the war, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was an important act ina
complicated national drama of bitter military combat and politics played out in
the summer of 1864. Additionally, the battle illustrated the decided advantage
the tactical defensive had over the tactical offensive in the later stages of
the war.

In the decade prior to the outbreak of war, sectional divisions over the
extension of slavery, a protective tariff, and internal improvements racked the
@u= States. The Democrat party split over the issue of slavery, and four
[candidates contested the 1860 presidential election. Illinois Republican
Abraham Lincoln was elected president by carrying the northern states.
Believing the Republican Party hostile to southern interests, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas seceded from the
Union before Lincoln’s inauguration and established the Confederate States of
America. Upon assuming office on March 4, 1861, Lincoln decided to assert the
Federal government’s sovereignty by resupplying the besieged U.S. army
garrisons at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, and Fort
Pickens in Pensacola Harbor, Florida. The Confederate government ordered an

°The best introduction to the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta
campaign is Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign by Dennis Kelly, the park’s
historian. Albert Castel’s recently published work, Decision in the West: The
Atlanta Campaign of 1864, is a masterful analysis of the campaign. Other
important sources are The Army of Tennessee: A Military History by Stanley F
Horn; Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865 by Thomas L. Connelly; War
So Terrible: Sherman and Atlanta by James L. McDonough and James P. Jones; and two
Ph.D. dissertations done at Emory University: "The Atlanta Campaign, December 23,
1863, to July 18, 1864" by Richard M. McMurry and "The Atlanta Campaign, July 18-
September 2, 1864" by Errol M. Clauss. McMurry’s biography of Hood, John Bell
Hood and the War for Southern Independence, is also useful. Sherman: Soldier,
Realist, American is a provocative study of Sherman’s strategic thinking by the
British historian B. H. Liddell-Hart. Sherman, Johnston, and Hood all published
memoirs after the war’s end. Sherman’s work is Memoirs of W. T. Sherman,
Johnston’s is Narrative of Military Operations, and Hood’s Advance and Retreat.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain @
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 18

Potomac in Virginia, aiming to finally defeat Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of
Northern Virginia. Grant placed Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman in command of
three Federal armies concentrated near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Grant ordered
Sherman to "move against [Confederate Gen. Joseph] Johnston’s army, to break it
up, and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can,
inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources." If
Confederate resistance persisted, Grant contemplated combining his army with
Sherman’s forces in the Lower South. The Confederacy planned to hold off the
northern armies until after the November election, in hopes that Lincoln would
be defeated by a Democrat sympathetic to southern independence. The future of
the administration and, hence, the war effort depended largely on the success
of Grant and Sherman.

Aware that the large, well-equipped northern armies could tolerate casualties

far more readily than the Confederate armies, Grant waged a war of attrition in
virginia. Where previous Federal commanders had retreated after being bloodied

by Lee’s army, Grant accepted his. losses and relentlessly advanced. In May and
June 1864, the Army of the Potomac fought bloody battles at the Wilderness,
Spotsylvania, North Anna, and Cold Harbor. After absorbing 65,000 casualties

on these fields alone, Federal troops found themselves in mid-June bogged down

in trench warfare on the outskirts of Petersburg. Protected by breastworks,

Lee’s smaller army was able to repel repeated Federal assaults.” r

While Grant’s objective was the destruction of Lee’s army, Sherman focused on
the war-making capacity of the Confederacy, which remained formidable after
three years of combat. In the spring of 1864, the Federals controlled the
Mississippi River, and the Confederates had been expelled from most of
Tennessee and much of Mississippi. Still, the heartland of the Confederacy,
stretching from Alabama through Georgia to the Carolinas, was virtually
untouched by the war. Atlanta, 125 miles southeast of Chattanooga, was an
important Confederate rail junction, a significant manufacturing city, and the
center of a belt of important manufacturing communities extending from Augusta,
Georgia, to Selma, Alabama. Four railroads met at Atlanta, linking the
southern Atlantic seaboard states with the western Confederacy. The Western &
Atlantic ran northwest to Chattanooga and was the axis along which the Atlanta
Campaign was fought. The Georgia Railroad ran east to Augusta, where it
connected with lines to Charleston, Raleigh, and Richmond. The Macon & Western
ran southeast, with connections to Savannah. Just south of Atlanta at East
Point, the Atlanta & West Point, which extended west into Alabama, diverged
from the Macon line. Atlanta’s factories produced iron, armor plate, railroad
rails, ammunition, pistols, uniforms, flour, and meat. Confederate government

"McPherson, 722.

McPherson, 742.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 42

the War Department until 1928. In the interim, the Kennesaw Memorial
Association hired the Reverend J. A. Jones as resident caretaker.”

In April 1926, Federal legislation established a three-man commission to
inspect Kennesaw Mountain and other Civil War battlefield sites in north
Georgia. The legislation entrusted this commission, composed of an officer of
the Army Corps of Engineers and one veteran each from the Union and Confederate
armies, to determine whether a national military park, which would represent
the Atlanta campaign, should be established. The commission considered
Kennesaw Mountain the most suitable battlefield for designation as a national
military park, based on its significance to the campaign, its intrinsic scenic
value, and its accessibility.”

Concurrent with the commission’s actions at Kennesaw, Congress passed
legislation on June 11, 1926, that established a comprehensive system of
battlefield classification, drafted by the War Department, which created
standards for determining the appropriate level of commemoration. In the post-
World War I period, private commemorative interests persuaded Congressmen to
introduce numerous bills to establish national military parks, most associated
with Civil War battlefields. Until 1926, Congress had appointed individual
commissions to inspect and recommend preservation alternatives for many Civil
War sites. In that year alone, the Committee on Military Affairs received @
twenty-eight bills requesting that Congress establish fourteen national
military parks and appropriate six million dollars for the inspection of
battlefield sites and the erection of markers and tablets."

Prior to this national initiative, the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield survey
commission recommended the establishment of Kennesaw Mountain National Military
Park. Introduced in December 1926, the legislation to create a national
military park at Kennesaw did not pass, and repeated congressional efforts over
the next nine years to establish the park were unsuccessful. On June 10, 1933,
President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6166, transferring War
Department military and historical parks to the National Park Service. Among
the properties transferred was the sixty-acre tract at Kennesaw Mountain, known
as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Site, which still constituted the
only property administered by the Federal government at the battlefield. a

?capps, 6-7; Senate Bill S. 6391, 61st Congress, February 15, 1910; Senate
Bill Ss. 7099, 62nd Congress, June 11, 1912; Public Law 44 Stat. 588, February 8,
1917.

Capps, 6-7.
"Lee, 47.
2capps, 7-8; Horace M. Albright, Origins of National Park Service

Administration of Historic Sites (Philadelphia: Eastern National Park & Monument
Association, 1971), 21-22.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 46

slashed rural production capacity. The cities, especially industrial bases,
also witnessed deflated production and massive unemployment.” Roosevelt
introduced the Emergency Conservation Work Act to Congress within two months of
his inauguration, and it was eagerly passed. Although hardly a panacea for
unemployment, it foreshadowed the many New Deal economic and employment relief
initiatives to follow.

Initially, CCC enrollees were inducted from urban areas, where unemployment was
highest, especially among the unskilled. Roosevelt envisioned the program
operating on three levels: 1) as a direct relief program, through grants to
states; 2) as a large-scale public works project and; 3) as a program to
prevent mismanagement of land, specifically addressing soil erosion and forest
conservation. The first three camps established in the east were in Shenandoah
National Park and Colonial National Monument in May 1933, drawing enrollees
from eastern seaboard cities where unemployment was the greatest.*' Camps

were established first in national parks and later in state parks. The Army
administered camps composed of approximately two hundred single men between the
ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Enrollees were paid $30 a month; $25 of
their monthly salary was sent directly to their needy families.

The CCC program established a unique relationship among the Army, the National
Park Service, and the United States Forest Service (USFS). NPS and USFS
Advisory Council representatives immediately recognized that their agencies
could not administer the camps. Therefore, the Army, with an established
regimen and considerable personnel, maintained camp life. Early camps
resembled Army field camps with canvas tents, reveille at 6:00 A.M., meals
taken at the mess hall, communal bathing facilities, and limited freedom
outside of the camp. Junior Army officers generally commanded the camps, and a
military doctor often served several camps in a large geographical vicinity.”
Within a year, ready-to-assemble camp buildings replaced the tents, and the
temporary nature of camps lessened, although these buildings were moveable.
When camps were located in national parks, the NPS park superintendent planned
and directed work for the enrollees. Park superintendents and state park
directors could supplement their CCC labor pools with skilled craftsmen,
identified as local experienced men (LEMs); World War I veterans, who generally

®pavid A. Shannon, Twentieth Century America: The Twenties and Thirties,
vol. 2 (Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing Company, 1974), 150-52.

‘paige, 7, 15.

°Interviews with Kennesaw Mountain CCC enrollees, James Elder Dunn, 22
January 1985; Rupert Jackson Chambers, 19 January 1985; Joseph C. Thompson, 9
January 1985; Herman Allen, 19 December 1984; Dr. Elmer Musarra, 20 February 1985;
Horace English, 23 February 1987, TMs, by Retha Stephens and Lynn McFarland; and
CarolJo Rushin-Bell, A History of the Pocket Recreation Area: Armuchee Ranger
District, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests (Atlanta: U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, 1984), 65-71.


On the cover: Illinois Monument, photographed in 1961 by Jack Boucher, National
Park Service.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
hame of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 36

nl

B. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: The Commemoration of
American Battlefields and National Park Development, 1887-1942

The nucleus of today’s Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was a sixty-
acre tract at Cheatham Hill acquired and preserved through the efforts of Union
veterans. The history of the park’s development properly begins with the
broader theme of Civil War memorial activity. An examination of privately
sponsored memorial activity at Kennesaw Mountain follows and leads into the
history of Federal involvement at Kennesaw. The War Department administered
the park from 1928 to 1933. National Park Service administration began in 1933
and included development work performed by Civilian Conservation Corps Camp
431, located in the park from 1938 to 1942.

Early Battlefield Commemoration: Civil War Memorial Activity and the
Establishment of Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park, 1887-1933

The Civil War was a watershed event in American history and a signal event in
the lives of all who participated in it. Of the 2.75 million Americans who saw
action in the war, 621,000 died and 470,000 were wounded. Efforts to
memorialize the fallen and recognize and aid veterans and their survivors began
even before combat ceased. The creation of the first Civil War national
military parks in the 1890s was preceded by twenty-five years of private and
state memorial efforts. Commemorative efforts began in the mid-1860s with the
formation of local memorial associations in the South, the creation of Union
soldiers’ cemeteries at Gettysburg and Antietam, the preservation of land at
Gettysburg, the establishment of national cemeteries by the Federal government,
and the creation of veterans’ groups, mostly in the North. In the early
postwar years, commemoration took different forms in the North and the South.
In the 1880s and 1890s, as the veteran population aged, commemorative activity
expanded, and contact between ex-Confederates and ex-Federals increased. Blue-
gray reunions, often held on the battlefields, became common. The interaction
at reunions, a spirit of sectional reconciliation and commemoration of the
sacrifice of both sides, and an increased appreciation of the nation’s past all
contributed to the successful movement to establish national battlefield parks.

In the South, independent, local memorial associations sprang up rapidly during
and after the war. Many originated in women’s wartime groups organized to do
hospital and relief work. The new groups often took the name of Ladies’
Memorial Associations (LMAs), but men provided crucial, especially financial,
support. The proper burial of the Confederate dead was the immediate concern
of the LMAs, and the individual groups established many cemeteries across the
South. Most cemeteries were located in towns, although a few were established
at battle sites. After the cemeteries were laid out, the LMAs turned their
attention to memorials. In the first twenty years after the war, these
memorials, which typically took the form of stone obelisks, were commonly


USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Cobb County, Georgia

6. Function or Use

Historic Functions

(Enter categories from instructions)
Defense: battle site, fortification
Domestic: single dwelling

Agriculture: agricultural field
Recreation and Culture: monument/

Page 3

Current Functions

(Enter categories from instructions)

Ot! : National Battlefield P

Recreation and Culture: monument/
marker, outdoor recreation

Agriculture: agricultural field

marker

7. Description

Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions)

Other: Civil War earthworks
Early Republic: Federal
Modern Movement: Modernistic

Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)

foundation: stone, concrete

walls: log, weatherboard, brick
roof: shingle, asphalt

other: earth, granite

marble

Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the
property on one or more continuation sheets.)

8. Statement of Significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the
criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing)

Property is associated with events that have made a significant

contribution to the broad patterns of our history.

x A
x B

our past.
x Cc

Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in

Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type,

period, or method of construction or represents the work of a
master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a
significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack

individual distinction.

in prehistory or history.

D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 61

The Kennesaw Memorial Association attempted to raise funds from Union
veterans to erect a monument at Cheatham Hill. Contributions from veterans proved
insufficient, and the association secured a $20,000 appropriation from the state of
Illinois in June 1913. Illinois Governor Charles S. Deneen appointed three officers
of the association, Dawdy, William A. Payton, and Dr. J. B. Shawgo, to a
commission charged with carrying out the work of erecting a monument. The
commission contracted with the McNeel Marble Company of Marietta to erect a
large monument to Illinois troops at the site of the attack on Cheatham Hill.’ The
$25,000 monument was unveiled on June 27, 1914, the fiftieth anniversary of the
battle. A large number of veterans, Governor Edward Dunne of Illinois, and a
contingent from the United Daughters of the Confederacy attended the ceremony.
The 25-foot-high monument of Georgia marble features a square base and a tapering
shaft. On the west side are seven-foot bronze figures of a Union soldier flanked
by two robed allegorical figures (photograph 12). Several smaller battlefield
markers were erected at Cheatham Hill in this period. These included separate
memorials to Captain Neighbour, Captain Fellows, and Sergeant Coffee, a marker
at the McCook Brigade’s jumping off point, and a stone arch marking the tunnel
begun by Federal troops attempting to undermine the Confederate trenches.”

In the early years of the Kennesaw Memorial Association’s ownership of the
tract, local citizens volunteered to care for the area.” In 1922, the Association
appointed the Reverend J. A. Jones resident caretaker of the site. His duties were
to maintain the monuments and the immediately surrounding grounds “in a
presentable condition at all times.” In return for his services he was allowed to
“occupy the buildings of the place, cultivating such parts of the reservation that
[would] not interfere with access to the monuments." Jones resigned his position
in 1926, and no caretaker was employed until after the tract’s transfer to the War
Department.

°7\McNeel Marble Company aggressively solicited memorial business from United Daughters of
the Confederacy chapters and built many monuments across the South (Foster, 167-68).

"Laws of the State of Illinois Enacted by the Forty-Eighth General Assembly (Springfield, I:
Illinois State Journal Co., 1913), 58-59; Chicago Daily Tribune, June 28, 1914; Journal of the Illinois
Historical Society 4 (Jan. 1912), 531; Capps, 6.

Capps, 8; B. C. Yates, “Origin and Expansion of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
Park” (Kennesaw Mountain, Ga.: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1941), 8.

"George Florence, Adjutant General of Ohio, to Rev. J. A. Jones, TL, June 1922, found in
Yates, 1941, 9.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 47

Together, the increase in population density and the corresponding decrease in the
size of the average farmstead resulted in substantial alteration of the landscape.*°

A map prepared in 1935 depicts the appearance of the battlefield at the close
of the period of private ownership and before the period of NPS development and
rehabilitation of the battlefield.*’ A comparison of the 1935 map with the troop
movement map of the 1864 landscape reveals substantial changes to the broad scale
patterns of land use of the battlefield in the intervening seventy-one years of private
ownership. The vegetation patterns depicted on the two maps are substantially
different, reflecting the countywide trend toward denser and more extensive
settlement and cultivation. Compared to the troop movement map of the 1864
battlefield, the 1935 landscape shows an increase in the number and size of cleared
fields and a corresponding decline in the area of woodland. Entire woodlots of the
1864 landscape are shown under cultivation by 1935. Sections of the Federal
earthworks under the cover of woodland in 1864 are exposed in open fields by
1935. The location and configuration of the extant earthworks in 1935 is similar
to today’s, suggesting that the obliteration of sections of the fortifications occurred
prior to their acquisition by the NPS. While the 1935 map indicates that some of
the structures depicted on the troop movement map remained, others had been
removed. Both maps show an overall increase in the number of buildings on the
battlefield by 1935. The 1935 circulation system also shows a similar increase in
density and partial retention of elements dating to the period of the battle.

SIGNIFICANCE

Today Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park preserves the locations of and
commemorates the major events associated with the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.
It is the only National Park Service property that commemorates the Atlanta
Campaign. This campaign had important military and political significance in the
final phases of the Civil War. The surviving elements of the battlefield setting,
including the natural landforms, earthworks, structures, and roads, are tangible links
to the Atlanta campaign. The role of the battle in the Atlanta Campaign, the grand
strategy of the war, and Civil War battlefield tactics are represented by these
resources.

The historic resources dating to the time of the battle have varying levels of
significance. The entire eleven miles of earthworks are nationally significant under

Scott, 5-6, 22-26; Sarah B. G. Temple, The First Hundred Years: A Short History of Cobb
County in Georgia, 6th ed. (Athens, Ga.: A. G. Publishers, 1989), 7.

®'National Park Service, “Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (Proposed), Land Status
Map,” NPS Map Number NBP-KM-6005-2, 3 Sheets, (Kennesaw Mountain, Ga.: Kennesaw Mountain
NBP, 1935).




B-2 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

emplacements, consisting of loose rock and earth parapets, are incorporated into the
right and left ends of the infantry line. Two, single-gun emplacements constructed
of loose rock and earth are located on the crest of the hill, with the Federal twenty-
four gun emplacement within the field of fire.

The Confederate line resumes east of the Hardage House site, south of Burnt
Hickory Road. Between Burnt Hickory and Dallas Roads, the earthen parapet,
broken in places, straddles the Old Mill Road. South of Dallas Road, the
earthworks follow the contour of a ridge known as Cheatham Hill, and contain
some of the most elaborate earthworks constructed at Kennesaw. A forward earthen
parapet lines the crest of the hill forming a salient. The parapet and transverses
measure between three and five feet high. Two interior lines meander across the
top of the hill, which is thinly wooded with no undergrowth, creating a labyrinth
of trenches, transverses, dug-outs, and parapets that overlook a large, open field.
The left flank of the salient was anchored by a two-battery artillery position. The
right flank was protected by a square redoubt located in a clearing, south of the
visitor parking area. The redoubt is shaped by four parapet walls, approximately
sixty feet long and four feet high, that completely enclose the two-gun battery.

Repulsed by the Confederates at the salient, the Federals hastily constructed two
lines in a declivity that protected them from Confederate fire. The forward line
features a parapet that rises only one to two feet and the mouth of the tunnel where
Federal troops attempted to tunnel beneath the Confederate lines and destroy them
with explosives. The second Federal line contains a smaller parapet and lies at the
edge of an old road bed.

As the Confederate infantry line continues south, across John Ward Creek, it
forms a cluster of earthen parapets known as Strahl’s Fort. Located on a wooded
rise, Strahl’s Fort is an eight-gun emplacement with an L-shaped parapet constructed
along the rear and right flank. A C-shaped parapet covers the front of the fort, just
below the crest of the hill. At the center of this arrangement is a C-shaped, four-
gun emplacement, approximately thirty feet across with parapets measuring between
three and six feet high. The front wall contains three embrasures with the fourth
embrasure located on east or rear wall. The open, right flank of this emplacement
is covered by a second, four-gun emplacement located approximately 250 feet to the
south. This L-shaped emplacement consists of a two-gun, west-facing parapet and
a second, two-gun parapet facing south, with three embrasures for a wider field of
fire. An infantry trench lies south and west of this position, meandering along the
sloping contours of the hill. This line features outstanding examples of parapets and
transverses, some measuring between five and seven feet high.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE CIVIL WAR 21

these cities and the rich agricultural heartland of Georgia would lie open to northern
attack.”

Sherman conducted a campaign of maneuver in north Georgia, often using a
portion of his superior force to hold the southern army in place, while deploying
his remaining troops in turning maneuvers. In late May, the Confederates repulsed
two Federal attempts to penetrate their lines. By late June 1864, Sherman had
advanced to within 25 miles of Atlanta without fighting a major battle. The
Confederate army was entrenched along an eight-mile line, anchored by Kennesaw
Mountain. By 1864, both sides recognized the advantage of fighting from the
protection of entrenchments. Armed with accurate rifle-muskets, an entrenched
army could concentrate a devastating fire on an attacking force from relative safety.
Commanding officers were slow to modify standard tactics, which emphasized
frontal assaults by infantry. Futile assaults on entrenched positions were ordered
on many fields before officers adapted to the new realities. Sherman preferred to
advance by outflanking the enemy when he could. In a departure from his
customary approach, Sherman on June 27 attempted a frontal assault on entrenched
Confederate forces in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. The attack was easily
repulsed, at the cost of more than 3,000 Federal casualties, compared to less than
1,000 for the southern army.” The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain is described in
detail in chapter 2 below.

In addition to emphasizing the advantages of an entrenched defensive position,
the Confederate victory at Kennesaw briefly boosted southern morale. Soon,
however, Sherman resumed his flanking tactics, and Johnston was forced to retreat.
Johnston withdrew across the Chattahoochee River on July 9, 1864, to a line a few
miles outside of Atlanta. Impatient with Johnston’s lack of aggressiveness, the
Confederate government on July 17 gave newly promoted Gen. John B. Hood
command of the Army of Tennessee.*' Hood quickly took the offensive. A series
of battles in late July failed to compel Sherman to retreat but did check his advance.
By early August, the northern armies had settled in for a siege of Atlanta.

With the two main Federal armies seemingly bogged down within sight of their
primary objectives, pessimism gripped the North. Antiwar sentiment mounted,
exacerbated by 90,000 northern casualties in three months and a July 18, 1864, call

Connelly, 369-71; Richard M. McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Georgia
Campaign of 1864” (Master’s thesis, Emory University, 1964), 3-5

3°McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Georgia Campaign of 1864,” 69-89;
Kelly, 31-41.

Richard M. McMurry, John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence (Lexington:
University Press of Kentucky, 1982), 121-22.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE CIVIL WAR 17

from the start and received increasing emphasis as naive hopes for a quick capture
of the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, were dashed. As the war
progressed, northern advantages in manpower, industrial might, naval force, and
organization increasingly turned the tide against the South.

The natural barrier of the Appalachian Mountains dictated a division of
hostilities between eastern and western theaters. Military activity in the eastern
theater focused on limited areas of Virginia: the area between Washington, D.C.,
and Fredericksburg; around Richmond; and the Shenandoah Valley. The western
theater, by contrast, was immense, stretching from the Alleghenies to the first tier
of states west of the Mississippi. Important western theater battles occurred in
Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and
Georgia. Although public attention often focused on the major battles in Virginia,
the struggle for control of the rivers and railroads in the West was of immense
importance to the war’s outcome.

As president of a republic in war time, Lincoln had as many political concerns
as strategic ones. Lincoln had to employ considerable political skill to maintain
popular support for the war, in the face of often disastrous defeats for Federal
armies and mounting casualties. Only seven years old in 1861, the Republican
Party was an uneasy coalition of often competing interests that Lincoln had to unify.
Outside the party, Democrat office holders and powerful newspaper editors such as
Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune frequently criticized the administration.
Lincoln’s political stock rose and fell with the fortunes of Federal armies in the
field. Whenever the Federal military effort appeared to stagnate, opposition to the
administration’s conduct of the war increased. In the South, Confederate victories
fed false hopes that Great Britain and France would recognize the Confederacy and
that the North would give up the struggle.

Lincoln faced opposition inside and outside the Republican Party. To hold his
party’s factions together, Lincoln appointed several Republican rivals to his cabinet.
Lincoln tolerated considerable dissension and even disloyalty in the cabinet, but
outmaneuvered his opponents in the end. Northern Democrats varied in their
commitment to the war effort. Some “War Democrats” joined the Republican Party,
while others supported a war for the Union but vigorously opposed emancipation.
In 1862, “Peace Democrats,” who urged an immediate armistice and a negotiated
settlement of sectional differences, became a significant force. Many Peace
Democrats mistakenly believed that the South would rejoin the Union if slavery
were guaranteed; others were covert supporters of southern independence.”!

The first two years of war brought stalemate in Virginia, but Federal armies
made important gains in the West. In February 1862, a joint army-navy expedition

*1McPherson, 506.


USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield park

Cobb County, Georgia Page 2

. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:

entered in the National Register
__. See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register

__. See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the
National Register

removed from the National Register

ut -
x other (explain): gelbhoe(

Axtaunuttebr pn CCl Otel » Gratin Popes ahi fos
’ fen Signature of Keepey Date of Action

5. Classification

Ownership of Property Category of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply) (Check only one box)
_ private building(s)
___. public-local district

___. public-State —_— site
_x public-Federal ___ structure
_— object

Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed properties in the count)

Contributing Noncontributing

ie) 5 buildings
2 6 sites
wl 2. structures
10 3 objects
19 Total

Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National
Register 6

Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part
of a multiple property listing.) N/A



NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 53

a

Most of the properties that contribute to the significance of the historic
district under Context B also meet Criteria Consideration F. Commemorative
activities at Kennesaw Mountain began in the late nineteenth century with a
blue-gray reunion. In the years that followed, numerous monuments and markers
were erected on the battlefield that reflect the efforts of veterans groups to
honor their fallen comrades and recognize the places where they fought. This
associated tradition and its symbolic value has invested the commemorative
resources at Kennesaw with their own historical significance.

3. Contributing Properties

Illinois Monument (1914)

Union Tunnel Marker (ca. 1914)
McCook Brigade Marker (ca. 1914)
Coffey Marker (ca. 1914)

Fellows Marker (ca. 1914)

Cheatham Hill Drive (1939-1940
Entrance Signs (eight) (1938-1942)

4. Noncontributing properties

ccc Camp Site (1938-1942)
Maintenance Complex, two buildings (1939-1940)

The ccc camp was dismantled shortly after the corps moved out. Nothing remains
of the original buildings except some concrete foundations that lack
architectural integrity. Originally, these foundations supported paneled walls
bolted together that formed the camp buildings. The camp site is not
considered contributing to this context because other examples of intact ccc
architecture are extant within the NPS, and as foundations the camp buildings
jack architectural integrity. As a cultural landscape the camp site does not
possess integrity. The remaining ruins represent only a small percentage of
buildings once present. Currently, the site is defined by a grassed, mown
clearing. Vegetation during the CCC’s occupation consisted of formerly
cultivated fields with primary growth pines and no parade ground vegetation.

The maintenance complex consists of two 1939-1940 buildings joined by a 1970s
corner addition, forming an ell-shaped plan that measures approximately 27 x 80
x 95 feet. A planned third building that would have formed a U-shaped court
was never constructed. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the completed
buildings were known as the Motor Repair Shop and Equipment Storage Building.
Separately, they consisted of a three-part building with two garage bays
flanked by two toolrooms and another building with eight garage bays. Each has
a side-gabled roof covered with asbestos, shingles, red brick veneer, and an
interior brick chimney. Utilitarian in character, the buildings do not possess
architectural merit and do not represent the prevailing NPS rustic design
philosophy of the period. The maintenance buildings also do not form part of


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 9 Page 56

History of the Confederated Memorial Associations of the South. New Orleans:
Confederated Southern Memorial Association, 1904.

Hosmer, Charles B. Presence of the Past: A History of the Preservation
Movement in the United States Before Williamsburg. New York: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1965.

Journal of the Illinois Historical Society 4 (Jan. 1912): 531.

Kelly, Dennis. Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign. Atlanta: Susan
Hunter Publishing, 1990.

Lawliss, Lucy Ann. "The Civilian Conservation Corps and the State Park: An
Approach to the Management of the Designed Historic Landscape Resources at
Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain, Georgia." Master’s
thesis, University of Georgia, 1992.

Laws of the State of Illinois Enacted by the Forty-Eighth General Assembly.
Springfield, Ill.: Illinois State Journal Co., 1913.

Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, Office of Park Historic

Lee, Ronald F. The Origin and Evolution of the National Military Park Idea.
Preservation, 1973. @

Liddell-Hart, B. H. Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American. New York: Praeger,
1958.

“Marietta National Cemetery." Washington, D.C.: Veterans Administration, 1976.

"Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta, Georgia." Marietta, Ga.: Department of
the Army, Office of the Quartermaster General, n.d.

McClelland, Linda Flint. Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of
the National Park Service, 1916-1942. Washington, D.C.: National Park
Service, 1993.

McConnell, Stuart. Glorious Contentment: The Grand Army of the Republic, 1865-
1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.

McMurry, Richard M. "The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Georgia Campaign
of 1864." Master’s thesis, Emory University, 1964.

McMurry, Richard M. John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence.
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1982.

McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1988.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 10 Page 60

a

the historic significance of this resource and others in the immediate vicinity
of the park and will encourage state, local, and private efforts to ensure
their preservation.

In addition, the CSX railroad corridor, which passes through the park between
Old U.S. 41 and Stilesboro Road, creates a discontiguous element at the north
end of the park. This approximately 110-acre area features earthworks and
potential archeological resources associated with the Battle of Kennesaw
Mountain. The area is not interpreted and not easily accessible to visitors;
however, the significance of the resources in this area merits its listing in
the National Register as a discontiguous element of the Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 29

CiviL War TACTICS

When the Atlanta campaign opened, tactical considerations were radically altered
from the early days of the war. At the war’s beginning, officers emphasized the
tactical offensive, in which assaulting troops advanced in lines, firing volleys on
command. As the enemy line was approached, troops would run the last several
yards and break the line with a bayonet charge. These linear tactics dated to
seventeenth-century European wars. They had been successful in the Mexican War
(1846-1848) and were stressed at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Changes in weaponry during the war decreased the effectiveness of linear tactics.
Rifle-muskets of superior range and accuracy, used only by elite units of the old
regular army, were in general use on both sides by 1863. The combination of rifle-
muskets and the nearly universal use of field entrenchments by late 1863 greatly
compromised the effectiveness of the tactical offensive.”

Rifle-muskets had an effective range of 300 to 400 yards, four times greater
than the range of the smoothbore muskets used early in the war. By 1863,
attacking troops could no longer expect to advance to within a few dozen yards of
the enemy, fire a volley, and make a double-time charge while defenders were
reloading. Defenders could devastate the ranks of attacking troops well before they
were close enough to form for a bayonet charge. When defenders were protected
by field entrenchments, their advantage was magnified. By 1864, whenever troops
halted near the enemy, they quickly entrenched to have some protection against
attack. The Confederates, fighting a largely defensive war, often constructed
elaborate systems of trenches, laid out in advance by field engineers to exploit
advantages of terrain. Engineers distinguished between the topographic crest and
the military crest of a hill. The military crest was often a position slightly
downslope of the topographic crest. From the military crest, defenders had a clear
field of fire over the ground in front of them without exposing their silhouettes to
enemy fire.*?

Entrenchments on both sides followed the same pattern. Trenches were dug,
and the earth from them piled up to form a protective parapet, also known as
breastworks. Troops could dig a three-foot-deep rifle pit with an earthen parapet
in about an hour. In more permanent positions, trenches might be deeper, and log
retaining walls, known as revetments, were used to back the earthen parapets
(photograph 4). A tree trunk, known as a head-log and held in place by skid logs,
was placed atop the parapet. Riflemen stood in the trench or on a firing step and
fired through the narrow gap between the head-log and parapet. Other troops would

McPherson, 472-73.

“McPherson, 473-75.


LEGEND

An 1864 — Open Fields EY Park Boundary

=| 1993 — Open Fields Private Property

Sources: Kelly, 1993; 1993 Aerial Photography

4,000 ft.

ai

Vegetation Map

Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park

Cobb County, Georgia

National Park Service
United States Department of the Interior
Southeast Regional Office, 1994

Map Compiled by Office of Cultural Resources Planning

Drawing No. 352/80014—1


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 7 Page 6

front of the fort, just below the crest of the hill. At the center of this
arrangement is a C-shaped, four-gun emplacement, approximately thirty feet
across with parapets measuring between three and six feet high. The front wall
contains three embrasures with the fourth embrasure located on the east or rear
wall. The open, right flank of this emplacement is covered by a second, four-
gun emplacement located approximately 250 feet to the south. This L-shaped
emplacement consists of a two-gun, west-facing parapet and a second, two-gun
parapet facing south, with three embrasures for a wider field of fire. An
infantry trench lies south and west of this position, meandering along the
sloping contours of the hill. This line features outstanding examples of
parapets and traverses, some measuring between five and seven feet high.

Descriptions of Contributing Properties

Earthworks: The park contains approximately eleven miles of infantry trenches,
batteries, forts, and gun positions, both earthen and stone, constructed by
Federals and Confederates. These fortifications are located on high ground and
on slopes of major topographical features and have helped define park
boundaries. Currently, the park interprets approximately one-third of the
earthworks. Some of these works have been stabilized with grass and tree
removal, when feasible, and marked with signs that direct the visitor to stay
off the works. The remaining earthworks are hidden from the visitor in wooded
areas or are located adjacent to footpaths. Many of these fortifications are
covered with understory growth consisting of briars, honeysuckle, and wild
grasses, some large and small trees, mainly oak, pine, and dogwood, as well as
years of forest debris, such as leaves and fallen limbs. (IDLCS 12176, 90133,
90134, 90135, 90136, 90137, 90138; previously listed; structures)

Kolb House: This is a one-and-one-half story, three-bay, Georgian-plan log
house, constructed circa 1836. Its construction is characterized by square
hewn logs and square notching, concrete chinking, stone piers, and four brick
and stone chimneys. The side-gabled roof is covered with wood shingles and
possesses gable returns, a vergeboard, and weatherboard gable ends. The house
has no front porch, a full-facade rear shed porch, and a shed porch on the west
facade. The front entry is trabeated and appears to have been larger at one
time, possibly an open breezeway. The exterior of the house was rehabilitated
in 1963, and most of the existing oak logs were retained. However, soil cement
chinking replaced original mud chinking and appears to have dried out the logs.
Window openings, door openings, and porch configurations appear original. The
front entry possesses a slate and concrete stoop that probably is not
historically accurate. Because few records were extant regarding the historic
condition of the house, park staff relied on information from similar houses in
north Georgia and interviews of former occupants. The interior of the house
consists of four rooms linked by a central hall with an open stair displaying a
chamfered newel post. The interior walls had wood paneling, using both beaded-
board and plank materials, at the time of the rehabilitation. Behind the
paneling, the interior log walls had brick nogging and mud chinking; these were
left in place. However, the paneling was removed and replaced with dry wall,


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 27

a

line created a potentially vulnerable salient soon to become known as "The Dead
Angle." The Confederate defenders on this portion of the front enjoyed a
carefully prepared position. The unusually deep trenches followed the contour
of the ridge and were equipped with firing platforms and traverses to provide
protection from enfilade fire. One flaw in the position was the siting of the
salient on the topographic rather than the military crest of the ridge.
Artillery positions, concealed by brush, provided flanking fire from each side
of the salient. The right flank was covered by Mebane’s Tennessee Battery, a
two-gun emplacement within a square redoubt. In places, abatis were
supplemented by sharpened pine stakes set four inches apart and by chevaux-de-
frise, criss-crossed logs bristling with pointed stakes. The ground to be
covered by the Federals was partly occupied by a field, but was rough and rocky
in places, with thin forest and dense underbrush impeding the formation of
ranks. A small creek lay between the lines of the two armies.

Newton’s three brigades attacked a westward-facing section of the Confederate
line just north of the salient. The Confederate trenches in this area were
protected by especially heavy abatis and a deep front ditch. The brigades of
Brig. Gen. Charles Harker on the right and Brig. Gen. George D. Wagner on the
left made the initial assault. To increase the chances of a breakthrough, the
attack was in dense columns with individual regiments lined up one behind the
other. When the Federals emerged from the last stand of light trees, the
Confederates opened a devastating fire. Infantry fire was supplemented by
shell and canister from Confederate artillery batteries. Both Federal brigades
were easily repulsed, and only a few attackers penetrated the abatis to the
foot of the Confederate breastworks. Harker, the only general to go into this
battle mounted, was killed trying to rally his men for a renewed attack.
Newton then ordered Brig. Gen. Nathan Kimball’s brigade, deployed on Wagner’s
left, to advance. A handful of Kimball’s men reached the parapet, where they
were killed or captured.

Just south of Newton’s attack, two brigades of Davis’s division led by Cols.
Daniel McCook and John G. Mitchell assaulted the Dead Angle. McCook’s four
regiments, formed in line of battle, ran across an open field toward the
salient, hitting the toe in successive waves. Mitchell’s regiments, similarly
aligned, advanced and then wheeled to their left to attack the salient’s
southern flank. As soon as the Federals entered the wheat field in front of
the Confederate position, they came under infantry fire. The defensive fire
became intense as the assault force neared the breastworks. The Confederate
battery south of the Dead Angle suddenly caught Mitchell’s men in deadly
enfilade fire. Some of the Federals reached the Confederate trenches and
briefly fought hand-to-hand before being killed or captured. Colonel McCook
was mortally wounded on the parapet near the toe of the salient. His

Ssalients tend to draw focussed attacking fire while fanning out less
effective defensive fire. Salients also limit the field of fire for flanking
artillery.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 53

Ballenger House Site
Tierce House Site

There are no standing structures on these sites and their potential eligibility has not
been evaluated through archeological investigation (only Ballenger has been
surveyed).*? The park has placed interpretive signs at these locations, and as sites
they provide continuity to the historic landscape.

Marietta-Cassville Road
Powder Springs Road

Both of these roads have been altered and do not meet integrity requirements.
Powder Springs Road is currently five lanes of asphalt with curb and gutter in some
places and has been straightened. The Marietta-Cassville Road, within and outside
of the park, has been fragmented and no longer maintains integrity of setting,
feeling, or association.

“William R. Bowen, “An Archeological Survey for the Proposed Dallas Road/S.R. 120
Widening, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Cobb County, Georgia,” Georgia Department
of Transportation, October 1987.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 7 Page 3

a

several outbuildings, including barns and smokehouses. Dirt roads and smaller
dirt lanes meandered throughout the area.

In June 1864, Confederate and Union forces transformed this landscape into a
line of battle more than eight miles long. The lines ran east to west for a
short distance from a point east of Big Kennesaw and then curved around the
west face of the mountain and ran south to a point beyond the Powder Springs
Road. The Confederates, who chose the site, had more time to construct their
field fortifications than did the advancing Union army. The substantial nature
of these works reflects their importance in the Confederates’ defensive
strategy. Placed along high ground, these earthworks consisted of essentially
a single infantry line punctuated with artillery positions at key points. In
some areas, notably Cheatham Hill, secondary lines were erected for support,
and artillery pieces were sited on the crests of Big and Little Kennesaw. The
Federal forces constructed defenses composed of a series of overlapping lines
supported with artillery emplacements, rather than a continuous line. Both
sides had rifle pits for skirmishers in advance of their main entrenchments.
Vast numbers of trees were cut to clear paths of fire and to construct the
earthworks. The forested ridges provided material for head logs, revetments,
and obstacles that slowed the enemy advance. The hilltops were thinned or
cleared to provide artillery with a wider field of fire.

Stands of pine soon replaced the hardwoods that were removed along the Kennesaw
ridge in 1864, and for approximately one hundred years following the battle,
much of the surrounding area was intensely cultivated. In the decades
following the battle, farmers terraced their fields and expanded them as
agricultural technology improved, leading to the destruction of earthworks.
Other fortifications pass through wooded areas that were open during the
battle. Most of the earthworks within the park bounds remain intact, with
nearly the entire Confederate line and fragments of the Federal line
preserved.® Wood elements, such as head logs and revetments, have long since
disappeared. Currently, the earthworks are defined by an earthen parapet, rear
and sometimes front ditches, and in the case of some gun emplacements,
embrasures. In most areas, trees have taken root in the earthworks, creating
holes in the parapet walls as the dead trunks and root systems rot away. Ina
few places, grasses and other benign undergrowth cover the earthworks.

Although land-use patterns have changed over time, many of the components that
convey the historic significance of the landscape remain intact. Within park
bounds, the contours of the land and the locations of streams have been left

‘This assessment is based on a reconnaissance-level survey of earthworks at
various locations throughout the park. Emmet A. Nichol’s, "Historic Ground Cover
— June 1864," is the most complete study of earthworks at Kennesaw. It features
measured drawings of artillery positions roughly scaled depicting infantry lines.
The author provided no text to describe his survey methodology or mapping
technique and as a result, the "Historic Ground Cover" map is used cautiously.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 71

legumes or grasses to expedite their recovery and stabilization. The planting of
native and nonnative species of trees, shrubs, and ground covers augmented the
recovery of other areas. By 1935, an extension of CWA projects administered by
the NPS expanded their physical improvements to accommodate basic visitor access
and service needs at the park. Future work plans included the construction of a
custodian’s residence, a utility building, a water and sewer system, a north-south
highway, an administration building, and a new road to Big Kennesaw.'*

The CCC, which established a camp at Kennesaw Mountain on June 3, 1938,
continued the work begun by the CWA. CCC Company 431 traveled from a
disbanded camp at Rutledge, Georgia, and established itself just south of U.S. 41,
near the northeast park boundary, at Marietta camp GA NP-4, also known as “Camp
T. M. Brumby.” Composed largely of Georgia men, the camp comprised twenty-
two prefabricated wood buildings bolted together and placed on concrete and brick
pier foundations. The circular camp site had a central parade ground marked by
cedars and was enclosed by a camp road that covered approximately sixty acres.
Between 185 and 190 men occupied four barracks.'?°

The CCC provided the labor necessary to complete the transition from farmland
to parkland. At Kennesaw, the CCC constructed roads, fought fires, demolished
historic and nonhistoric housing within the park boundaries, implemented vegetation
management projects, and guided interpretive tours.

The early work of the CCC was largely a continuation of the soil and water
conservation programs initiated by the CWA. With the technical assistance of the
Soil Conservation Service, the stabilization efforts of the CCC included the
construction of dams and terracing, stream channelling and revegetation programs
that checked erosion and expedited the recovery of the recently abandoned
agricultural fields. Under the CCC the stabilization efforts were expanded to
include two primary areas of the battlefield, Cheatham Hill and the area that had
been under intensive agricultural use between Cheatham Hill and Old John Ward
Roads. At the proposed headquarters area at the base of Kennesaw Mountain, new
development was combined with stabilization work.'”°

At Cheatham Hill, the CCC accomplished the dual objective of site stabilization
and accommodation of visitor needs. The corps constructed a small self-help visitor
information kiosk and trails that avoided earthworks but circulated the visitors
through the battlefield site. The earthworks, swept clean of vegetation under the

"Capps, 15-16.

5Joseph Thompson, interview by Retha Stephens, 9 January 1985; Herman Allen, interview by
Retha Stephens, 19 December 1984.

"6Capps, 17.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE CIVIL WAR 23

unconditional surrender. Had the Confederates been able to follow up their
defensive victory at Kennesaw Mountain with other triumphs, the fall of Atlanta
might have been postponed or even prevented. That, in turn, would have greatly
complicated Lincoln’s reelection bid.

At the level of battlefield tactics, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
demonstrated again the near futility of frontal assaults on entrenched positions.
Only after repeated experience and casualties did officers fully learn that rifle-
muskets and field entrenchments had irrevocably changed the nature of infantry
combat. The surviving earthworks at Kennesaw Mountain are a sobering reminder
of the frightful casualties that forged that experience. The battlefield and its
memorials are a testament to the valor of the men who fought there.

S°The charge of 15,000 Confederate soldiers on the Federal position at Cemetery Ridge on the
last day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 3, 1863) and the Federal army’s suicidal assaults on Marye’s
Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862) were two of the most costly lessons the
war provided in this area.


BIBLIOGRAPHY 89

Widener, Jr., Ralph W. Confederate Monuments: Enduring Symbols of the South
and the War Between the States. Washington, D.C.: Ralph W. Widener, Jr.,
1982.

Wirth, Conrad L. Parks, Politics, and the People. Norman, Okla.: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1980.

Yates, B. C. “Historic Structures Report: The Kolb House, Part I.” Atlanta:
National Park Service, 1961.

Archival Sources

Records of Colonel Dan McCook Brigade Association and Vertical File on
Kennesaw Mountain Monument, Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield,
Illinois.

Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 69, National Archives,
Washington, D.C.

“Superintendent’s Monthly Reports”; “Camp Education Reports”; “Investigation
Reports,” Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Cobb County, Georgia.

Interviews by Retha Stephens and Lynn McFarland

Allen, Herman, 19 December 1984
Chambers, Rupert Jackson, 19 January 1985
Dunn, James Elder, 22 January 1985
English, Horace, 23 February 1987
Musarra, Elmer, M.D., 20 February 1985
Thompson, Joseph C., 9 January 1985


4 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Photograph 1. Visitor Center

SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY

The Historic Resource Study (HRS) identifies and evaluates, using National Register
criteria, the historic properties within the park. The study establishes and
documents historic contexts associated with the park and evaluates the extent to
which the surviving historic resources represent those contexts. The completed HRS
will serve as a tool for future site planning, resource management, and the
continuing development of interpretive programs at the park.

Although much has been written concerning the battle, there has not been a
comprehensive examination of the park’s historic resources, notably the earthworks,
within historic contexts. The battlefield was listed in the National Register of
Historic Places on October 15, 1966.5 The earthworks are documented in the
Historical Base Map of 1938, Emmet Nichols’s Historic Ground Cover Map of
1980 and Index of Artillery Positions, surveyed from 1977 to 1978, and most
recently by park Historian Dennis Kelly in a battlefield-scale troop movement map
produced in 1993. The 1994 administrative history addresses the creation of the
park, the history of the park’s interpretive programs, and the construction of park

SSupporting documentation was accepted by the National Register on February 24, 1976.


72 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

War Department administration, were covered with mulch and planted with a
combination of native and nonnative species. In the vicinity of Cheatham Hill,
CCC men planted approximately 25,000 seedlings supplied by the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park.'?”

For four years, the Kennesaw CCC spent most of its time on road work. The
crew improved drainage ditches and shoulders, graded and planted the slopes and
land adjacent to the road shoulders, and erected simple brick entrance signs with
cast-iron plaques at the park boundaries along the public roads that traversed the
park (photograph 13). U.S. Highway 41, located on the northern boundary of the
park, provided the primary vehicular access to Big Kennesaw Mountain and the
CCC camp. The State Highway Department agreed to aid the CCC efforts to
improve the shoulders and ditches along U.S. 41 and provided some equipment.
Two other roads within the Park, Burnt Hickory Road and Dallas Road, passed

Photograph 13. Park entrance sign on Burnt Hickory Road

27Yates, “Superintendent Monthly Reports” (August 1939), RG 79, National Archives. The
superintendent reports do not specify the species or location of seedlings that were planted, or whether
the CCC laborers at Great Smokies also helped the Marietta camp to replant the seedlings.


78 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

were completed remain as isolated units and do not convey a coherent, recognizable
design intent. Additionally, the maintenance area has been altered by the 1974 L-
shaped connection between the existing buildings. Of the CCC-era work at
Kennesaw, Cheatham Hill Drive represents the prevailing NPS design philosophy
and retains sufficient integrity to be considered eligible for the National Register.
The eight entrance signs are unaltered, remain in their original locations, and retain
substantial integrity.'*

Photograph 15. McCook Brigade Marker

‘For a comprehensive discussion of this design ethic see Linda McClelland, Presenting Nature:
The Historic Landscape Design of the National Park Service, 1916 to 1942 (Washington, D.C.:
National Park Service, 1993).




NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 7 Page 2

In recent years, the small farms that surrounded the park have been replaced by
residential and commercial development, reflecting the continued growth of Cobb
County and the northern suburbs of Atlanta. Within the bounds of the park,
three "islands" of private property exist. These densely settled areas,
located at the north, central, and south ends of the park, contain large
single-family homes that were constructed within the last twenty years. This
recent development has contributed to increased traffic in the park and
increased recreational use of park facilities.

The park was established through the efforts of private individuals, memorial
associations, and a series of congressional acts. Federal legislation in 1917
authorized a national battlefield site at Kennesaw. In 1935, following nine
unsuccessful attempts, Federal legislation established the Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park "for the benefit and inspiration of the

people. . . ."* The park contains one of the largest surviving collections of
Federal and Confederate field fortifications, or earthworks, totaling
approximately eleven miles. The Confederates’ carefully prepared line,
extending from the top of Big Kennesaw to Powder Springs Road, illustrates the
tactical defensive strategy, frequently employed by the close of. 1863. These
positions are situated along ridges and hills and include structures ranging
from infantry lines to more sophisticated artillery positions. Early efforts
to commemorate the battle and the establishment of the Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park contributed to the preservation of the earthworks and
other historic resources within the park boundary.

Big and Little Kennesaw, Cheatham Hill, Pigeon Hill, and the Kolb House
represent four historic sites within the park currently interpreted by the NPS.
Ten monuments and markers have been erected throughout the park, marking the
locations of particular units or significant events in the battle. Sixteen
miles of trails and two-lane roads provide access to these areas, and small
parking lots accommodate those touring the battlefield by car. The Visitor
Center is located south of Stilesboro Road at the foot of Big Kennesaw and
contains a small museum and theater.

Landscape Features of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

During the middle of the nineteenth century, small farms surrounded Kennesaw,
reflecting typical antebellum land-use patterns of the Georgia Piedmont. These
farms consisted of fifty to 150 acres.’ The rocky soil supported sturdy crops,
such as grains, and some farms contained orchards. Dwellings were generally
small, one-story, frame or log structures. Farm complexes contained yards and

‘Public Law 49 Stat. 423, June 26, 1935; Capps, 5-8.

SThomas A. Scott, "Cobb County, Georgia, 1880-1900: A Socioeconomic Study of
an Upper Piedmont County" (Ph.D. diss., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1978),


76 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Across the remainder of the battlefield, the CCC laborers engaged in vegetation
management projects. The CCC laborers managed the recently abandoned
agricultural fields in one of three ways: release of the fields to natural succession;
resumption of agricultural use, including leasing the fields to local farmers; or
revitalization of the depleted soil through the planting of woodland or meadow
species.'° Documentation of the specific vegetation management projects
undertaken by the CCC is poor. Nonetheless, the documentation is sufficient to
establish that NPS decisions concerning the vegetation management were not
designed or implemented on a park-wide scale, nor were the decisions to preserve
or release individual fields consistently made with reference to their 1864 location
or configuration or in reference to a comprehensive design for a commemorative
landscape. Despite the NPS efforts to maintain some open fields and, in a limited
number of cases, to restore or preserve the 1864 vegetation patterns, this early
period of NPS park development witnessed the beginning of the widespread release
and reforestation of a large percentage of the battlefield.'*'

In October 1940, the CCC began laying concrete foundations for a group of
maintenance buildings at the base of Big Kennesaw Mountain. The corps
constructed three buildings: two brick garage facilities with storage rooms and a
metal oil house. The corps completed the buildings in August 1941 and continued
with other improvements including the construction of red brick and cast iron
entrance signs at each intersection of park boundary and road. Each sign has a base
slightly broader than its shaft and quoining at the ends, with a cast-iron plaque
inscribed, “National Park Service/Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
Park/United States Department of the Interior.” Before additional work drafted by
the Eastern Branch prior to 1940 could be completed—replacing the park
headquarters building, constructing a superintendent’s residence, and erecting another
garage in the maintenance area—the CCC operations at Kennesaw Mountain ceased
on March 10, 1942, and all remaining personnel were transferred to Fort Benning,
Georgia.

SIGNIFICANCE

Two types of historic properties located within Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park are significant under Criteria A and represent commemorative

Capps, 17-21, 38-39.

51The sequence of aerial photographs of the park spanning the period from the 1940s to today
indicates that the release of the open fields to natural succession that began during the CCC era reached
its peak during the 1940s and 1950s. Thereafter the configuration of the fields and woodlands on the
battlefield appears to have generally stabilized. There has been no subsequent undertaking to recover
the vegetation patterns of the 1864 landscape.


USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Cobb County, Georgia
Page 4 e@
Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.)
—_A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes.
__B removed from its original location.
—_c a birthplace or a grave.
—__D a cemetery.
—__E a reconstructed building, object,or structure.
xX F a commemorative property.
__ Gc less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the
past 50 years.
Areas of Significance Period of Significance

(Enter categories from instructions)
May-September 1864
Military 1887-1942
Other: Commemoration
Architecture

Significant Dates

1864 @
1887, 1914, 1928, 1933

circa 1836

Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion B is marked above)

Maj. Gens. William T. Sherman and George H. Thomas
and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston

Cultural Affiliation

Euro-American

Architect/Builder

Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property
on one or more continuation sheets.)


BIBLIOGRAPHY 87

“Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta, Georgia.” Marietta, Ga.: Department of the
Army, Office of the Quartermaster General, n.d.

McClelland, Linda Flint. Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of the
National Park Service, 1916-1942. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service,
1993.

McConnell, Stuart. Glorious Contentment: The Grand Army of the Republic, 1865-
1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.

McMurry, Richard M. “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Georgia
Campaign of 1864.” Master’s thesis, Emory University, 1964.

. John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence. Lexington:
University Press of Kentucky, 1982.

McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1988.

Morison, Samuel E. The Oxford History of the American People. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1965.

National Register Bulletin 16A: Guidelines for Completing National Register of
Historic Places Forms. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1991.

National Register Bulletin 40: Guidelines for Identifying, Evaluating, and
Registering America’s Historic Battlefields. Washington, D.C.: National Park
Service, 1992.

Newton, Norman T. Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape
Architecture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971.

Nichols, Emmet A. “Historic Ground Cover — June 1864.” Map. Kennesaw
Mountain, Ga.: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1980.

Paige, John C. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service,
1933-1942: An Administrative History. Denver: National Park Service, Denver
Service Center, 1985.


CHAPTER 3

KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL
BATTLEFIELD PARK: THE COMMEMORATION OF
AMERICAN BATTLEFIELDS AND NATIONAL
PARK DEVELOPMENT, 1887-1942

The nucleus of today’s Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was a sixty-
acre tract at Cheatham Hill acquired and preserved through the efforts of Union
veterans. The history of the park’s development properly begins with the broader
theme of Civil War memorial activity. An examination of privately sponsored
memorial activity at Kennesaw Mountain follows and leads into the history of
Federal involvement at Kennesaw. The War Department administered the park
from 1928 to 1933. National Park Service administration began in 1933 and
included development work performed by Civilian Conservation Corps Camp 431,
located in the park from 1938 to 1942.

EARLY BATTLEFIELD COMMEMORATION: CIVIL WAR

MEMORIAL ACTIVITY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF

KENNESAW MOUNTAIN BATTLEFIELD PARK, 1887-1933

The Civil War was a watershed event in American history and a signal event in the
lives of all who participated in it. Of the 2.75 million Ameticans who saw action
in the war, 621,000 died and 470,000 were wounded. Efforts to memorialize the
fallen and recognize and aid veterans and their survivors began even before combat
ceased. The creation of the first Civil War national military parks in the 1890s was
preceded by twenty-five years of private and state memorial efforts.
Commemorative efforts began in the mid-1860s with the formation of local
memorial associations in the South, the creation of Union soldiers’ cemeteries at
Gettysburg and Antietam, the preservation of land at Gettysburg, the establishment
‘of national cemeteries by the Federal government, and the creation of veterans’


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 51

Photograph 10. Kolb house in 1992


INTRODUCTION 13

configuration of the earthworks, structures, roads, and vegetation patterns of the
1864 battlefield.

Park historian Dennis Kelly compiled the troop movement map and
acknowledges varying levels of confidence in the accuracy of the map’s depiction
of all areas of the battlefield. The map’s depiction of the battlefield in the vicinity
of Cheatham Hill is the most reliable because it reflects a high degree of correlation
and agreement among the relatively greater number of maps that were drawn of the
area near the time of the battle. The map’s depiction of the southern portion of the
battlefield, particularly near the Kolb house, is less reliable because of a higher level
of discrepancy among the source material. The agreement and correlation among
the sources covering the other portions of the battlefield contribute to the confidence
in the map’s accurate depiction of the remainder of the battlefield."

The scope and detail of the troop movement map’s depiction of the 1864
battlefield are limited by the source material. Because of these limitations, the troop
movement map depicts only the broad-scale land use and settlement patterns of the
1864 landscape. Examples include the mosaic of open fields and woodland,
roadways, and the location of the individual farmsteads, churches, and schools that
existed at the time of the battle. Smaller-scaled characteristics and features of the
1864 battlefield that are not illustrated on the troop movement map include the
types of vegetation of the agricultural fields, woodlots, and orchards; the woodland
clearing associated with the construction of the field fortifications and observation
stations; and the structures and features associated with the individual farmsteads
of the battlefield (e.g., supporting domestic and agricultural buildings, fences,
orchards, gardens, etc.).

Despite the varying levels of confidence in the accuracy of the troop movement
map’s depiction of the entire battlefield and the limits to the scope and detail of its
depiction of the setting of the battle, it represents the most thoroughly documented
representation of the 1864 battlefield and illustrates the conduct and tactics of the
battle within the context of its physical setting.

'’Kelly, Memorandum to Chief, Cultural Resources Planning, 2.


42 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Photograph 7. Marker at location of Union tunnel on Cheatham Hill

strewn between the two lines following the morning assault. The stand-off ended
five days later when Johnston’s forces withdrew from the Kennesaw line. The ridge
on this portion of the battlefield was named Cheatham Hill, in honor of the
successful defense by Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham’s troops.°*

Sherman was reluctant to acknowledge the failure of his attempt to break the
Confederate lines. He queried Thomas about renewing the attack on the afternoon
of June 27. When Thomas responded that “one or two more such assaults would
use up this army,” Sherman abandoned the idea. Federal casualties for the
morning’s assault were estimated at 3,000. Protected by their breastworks, the
Confederates lost less than 1,000. Many of these were skirmishers overrun in
advance positions; troops manning the main Confederate line suffered minimal
losses. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain demonstrated again the overwhelming
advantage possessed by motivated defenders in entrenched positions, particularly
where the topography also favored the defenders.”

Schofield’s demonstration on the far right of the Federal position provided
Sherman’s only gain of the day. In that sector, northern infantry established a
position on the Austell Road, and cavalry detachments advanced south to within five

Kelly, 36-39; Castel, 307-16.
Kelly, 41.

McPherson, 749-50; Castel, 320.


46 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

wheeling movement counterclockwise around Atlanta aimed at finally tearing up the
Atlanta & West Point and Macon & Western tracks south of the city. With much
of his cavalry off on a raid, Hood was slow to grasp the dimensions of this shift.
On August 30, Hood learned that Howard’s Army of the Tennessee was
approaching Jonesboro from the west, fifteen miles south of Atlanta. Hood sent
Hardee’s and S. D. Lee’s corps to meet this threat. On August 31, the first day of
the Battle of Jonesboro, a numerically superior Confederate force was unable to
break the Federal lines. That night, Hood ordered Lee’s corps back to Atlanta. A
late-afternoon Federal assault on September 1 nearly crushed Hardee’s corps, which
retreated south to Lovejoy’s Station. Federal troops now controlled all the railroads
into Atlanta, and Hood was compelled to abandon the city. In their hasty
withdrawal, the Confederates accidently destroyed their reserve ammunition train
and numerous other supplies. Sherman wired Washington that “Atlanta is ours, and
fairly won.””

The capture of Atlanta, in conjunction with a successful Federal drive up the
Shenandoah Valley in Virginia in September and October, dramatically boosted
northern morale. Sherman’s success in Georgia was a major factor in Lincoln’s
reelection in November 1864. In the South, the loss of Atlanta dealt a severe blow
to Confederate morale and willingness to carry on an increasingly devastating war.
After destroying Atlanta and expelling its citizens, Sherman in mid-November began
his march to the sea, devastating a sixty-mile-wide corridor across Georgia and
capturing Savannah in late December 1864.

KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AFTER THE WAR

After the armies left, families gradually returned to their farms and attempted to
restore their livelihoods. The vast majority of the battlefield remained in private
ownership from the conclusion of the battle in 1864 until 1933-1941, when the NPS
initiated land acquisition to establish the battlefield park. The only portion of the
battlefield set aside for commemoration prior to this was the 60-acre tract at
Cheatham Hill purchased by Illinois veterans.

By 1880, changes in southern agricultural practices had affected the community
and the countryside. Tenantry greatly increased among Cobb County farmers and
throughout the South. Between 1880 and 1900, the use of tenants on Cobb County
farms rose from 34 percent to 56 percent. Landowners carved up their tracts, which
had averaged 112 acres per farm, to lots of 72 or fewer acres, to better
accommodate the tenant farmer and to increase the number of farms available for
tenantry. Improved acreage increased by 31 percent in these twenty years. The
county population rose considerably—from 14,242 in 1860 to 24,664 in 1900.

Kelly, 51-52; Connelly, 461-64.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 75

er Le NT

i

common

A i ii

.N
1,
V3
vi
a

Figure 5. Route of Cheatham Hill Drive, following contours and avoiding earthworks (NPS
drawing NBS-KM-8004)


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 33

ee

earthworks, landscape, some of the roads, and the Kolb House at Kennesaw are
tangible links to the Atlanta Campaign. The role of the battle in the Atlanta
campaign, the grand strategy of the war, battlefield tactics, and the life of
the average soldier are represented by these resources.

The historic resources dating to the time of the battle have varying levels of
significance. The entire eleven miles of earthworks are nationally significant
under National Register Criteria A, B, and Cc. The earthworks clearly indicate
the areas of combat during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, a crucial
engagement in the Atlanta Campaign, and were built at the orders of Maj. Gen.
William T. Sherman and General Joseph E. Johnston. Although not nominated
under Criterion D, the earthworks may also possess information potential. The
Kolb House contributes to the national significance of the battlefield under
Criterion A and is locally significant as an example of an early farm house
under Criterion C. It is the only remaining park building that existed during
the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and a rare example from an early period of Cobb
County settlement. A significant military action, known as the Battle of
Kolb’s Farm, occurred near the house.

The Kolb Cemetery, located adjacent to the Kolb House, contributes to the
national significance of the battlefield and is locally significant under
Criterion A because it represents burial customs among early settlers. The New
Salem Church Cemetery, which is associated with the ruins of New Salem Church,
is also locally significant under Criterion A for nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century burial practices. Additionally, the New Salem Church site
May possess archeological potential, because the church possibly served as a
Confederate field hospital. The Kolb Cemetery and possibly the New Salem
Church Cemetery are among the few remaining resources that existed during the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

Gilbert, Old John Ward, Stilesboro, Dallas, and Burnt Hickory Roads were all
present at the time of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Stilesboro, Dallas,
and Burnt Hickory Roads contribute to the national significance of the
battlefield under Criterion A, because they served as transportation corridors
for the approaching armies. The antebellum road, which was used by the
Confederates to haul artillery to Big Kennesaw’s summit, also contributes to
the national significance. Gilbert and Old John Ward Roads are locally
significant under Criterion A for their association with early Cobb County
settlement.

2. Integrity/Criteria Considerations

Integrity is the ability of a property to convey its historic significance.

The seven aspects of integrity are location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association. These are applied to each contributing
property and measured against its level of significance and the criteria from
which it derives its significance. For example, a property that is significant
under Criterion A for its association with an event is not held to the same


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 26

Sherman reasoned that an assault on the physically imposing center of the
Confederate line would be unexpected and ordered a two-pronged attack for the
morning of June 27. McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee and Thomas’s Army of the
Cumberland would attempt to penetrate the Confederate line at points selected
by each army’s commander. McPherson directed Maj. Gen. John A. Logan’s XV
Corps to attack at the junction of Little Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill. That
portion of the Confederate line was defended by W. H. T. Walker’s division of
Hardee’s corps and Samuel G. French’s division of Loring’s corps. The second,
larger Federal effort would occur about one mile south. General Thomas chose
Brig. Gen. John A. Newton’s Second Division of the IV Corps and Brig. Gen.
Jefferson C. Davis’s Second Division of the XIV Corps to make the attack. The
objective was a low ridge defended by the divisions of Maj. Gens. Patrick R.
Cleburne and Benjamin F. Cheatham of Hardee’s corps. Other portions of the
Federal force would feign an attack on the right and left flanks to prevent
Johnston from reinforcing his center. As in many Civil War battles, only a
fraction, approximately 20 percent, of the Federal force was committed to the
June 27 assault. The remaining troops were held in reserve to follow up any
successes.” Most of the Federal troops involved were Midwesterners, with the
great majority coming from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana.

troops facing Big Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill moved forward from their works at
8:15 A.M. The diversion at Big Kennesaw Mountain and Bell’s Ferry Road on the
Confederate right was easily repulsed. At Pigeon Hill, 5,500 Federals in three
brigades” moved toward the Confederate lines through dense underbrush and
abatis on both sides of the Burnt Hickory Road only to confront the heavily
fortified Confederate line. The western crest of Pigeon Hill was lined with
earthworks, some built atop vertical rock faces, and provided the Confederates
with a commanding view of Federal movements below. At the junction of Little
Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill is a steep gorge, where the northerners struggled
through dense underbrush. Part of this attack’s front was within range of
Confederate batteries on Little Kennesaw, which supported the defenders. A few
Federals came within yards of the breastworks but could not breach the
Confederate line. The attack collapsed within two hours.“

After a fifteen-minute artillery barrage on the morning of the 27th, Federal @

On Thomas’s front south of Dallas Road, 9,000 Federals in Newton’s and Davis’s
divisions formed in open fields behind the Federal lines. Their 9:00 A.M.
assault was nearly an hour late. Thomas and his subordinates chose to assail
this area because there the Federal lines were closest to the Confederate
position. This shorter distance lessened the time that the attacking Federals
would be exposed to Confederate fire. Additionally, a bend in the Confederate

“kelly, 31; McMurry, "The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain," 69-71.

“The brigades were commanded by Brig. Gen. Giles A. Smith, Brig. Gen. A. J.
Lightburn, and Col. Charles Walcutt.

“Kelly, 32-36; Castel, 307-11.


8 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

during Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, which began with Sherman’s march from
Chattanooga in May 1864 and ended with the capture of Atlanta in September of
that year. The context discusses the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and Sherman’s
successful execution of the Atlanta Campaign within military and_ political
parameters. The context describes the battles fought at Kennesaw and discusses
how military strategy and tactics, developed through the course of the Civil War,
were employed at Kennesaw Mountain.

The second context, “Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: The
Commemoration of American Battlefields and National Park Development, 1887-
1942,” relates to the NPS facets “Battlefield Preservation” and “The National Park
Service and the New Deal” of the subtheme “The Federal Government Enters the
Movement, 1884-1949” of Theme XXXIII, “Historic Preservation.” National
battlefield commemoration stemmed from efforts by veterans’ groups to honor both
the men who fought and died during the Civil War and the places where they
fought. Following these efforts, the Federal government sought protection of these
sites through the development of national and state parks. Chapter 3 examines the
commemoration of Civil War battlefields, beginning with the efforts of veterans at
the close of the Civil War and culminating with the establishment and subsequent
development of national battlefield parks by the National Park Service. The
narrative traces the activities of private commemorative associations at Kennesaw
from the 1880s through the 1910s, the administration of the battlefield by the War
Department from 1928 to 1933, its establishment as a national battlefield park in
1935, and its development by the National Park Service from 1933 to 1942.

Historic resources within the Park represent three periods of significance. The
period of the Atlanta Campaign, May to September 1864, is primarily represented
by the Kolb house, earthworks, and roads constructed prior to the Battle of
Kennesaw Mountain. The second significant period, 1887 to 1917, represents
commemoration of the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield by private individuals and
associations. This period began with reunions by military units that fought at the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and is represented by numerous monuments and
markers erected on the battlefield as memorials to individuals and units.'° The third
period witnessed the management and subsequent development of the battlefield by
the Federal government from 1917 to 1942. This period included the administration
and development of the battlefield by the War Department and the National Park
Service. Few historically significant structures remain that demonstrate the
importance of early park development planned by the NPS and performed by the

The Georgia and Texas Monuments, erected in 1964, are managed as cultural resources but are
not eligible for the National Register because they do not possess the exceptional significance required
of properties that have achieved significance within the last fifty years.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 28

successor, Col. William Dilworth of the 85th Illinois regiment, fell within
five minutes of assuming brigade command.“

The placement of the Confederate salient on the highest part of the hill,
rather than the military crest, prevented even greater Federal casualties.
Approximately twenty-five yards below the salient, the hill drops off steeply
before regaining its gentle slope to the valley floor. The Federals, repulsed
and unable to return to their own works without incurring additional losses,
fell back to the shelter provided by this depression. There, they rapidly dug
trenches, using tin cups and bayonets, and improving the works at night with
entrenching tools brought up from the rear. A second Federal line was
constructed and, later, an attempt was made to tunnel under the Confederate
works and destroy them with explosives. Several cease-fires were observed in
order to retrieve wounded and bury the dead that lay strewn between the two
lines following the morning assault. The stand-off ended five days later when
Johnston’s forces withdrew from the Kennesaw line. The ridge on this portion
of the battlefield was named Cheatham Hill, in honor of the successful defense
by Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham’s troops.”

Sherman was reluctant to acknowledge the failure of his attempt to break the
Confederate lines. He queried Thomas about renewing the attack on the
afternoon of June 27. When Thomas responded that "one or two more such
assaults would use up this army,"“* Sherman abandoned the idea. Federal
casualties for the morning’s assault were estimated at 3,000. Protected by
their breastworks, the Confederates lost less than 1,000. Many of these were
skirmishers overrun in advance positions; troops in the main Confederate line
suffered minimal losses. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain demonstrated again
the overwhelming advantage possessed by motivated defenders in entrenched
positions, particularly where the topography also favored the defenders.”

Schofield’s demonstration on the far right of the Federal position provided
Sherman’s only gain of the day. In that sector, northern infantry established
a position on the Austell Road, and cavalry detachments advanced south to
within five miles of the Chattahoochee. In the days following the battle,
Sherman ordered McPherson to reinforce Schofield on the far right. Johnston
was once again in danger of being outflanked, and he ordered a withdrawal from
the Kennesaw line on the night of July 2. The Confederate army took up a new
position around Smyrna Station, four miles southeast of Marietta. Although it
briefly boosted Southern morale, in the end, the Confederates’ defensive

“castel, 307-15; Kelly, 37-40.
‘Kelly, 36-39; Castel, 307-16.
“kelly, 41.

“McPherson, 749-50; Castel, 320.


50 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

positions located along the ridgelines, the protective foliage covering the works has
been killed by visitors walking along the crest of the parapet walls.

The Kolb house and cemetery individually retain a high degree of integrity.
The Kolb house exhibits a high degree of integrity of design, workmanship, and
association. The NPS in 1963 rehabilitated the exterior to its 1830s appearance,
removing later clapboard siding to reveal the original hewn logs. Most of the
original 1830s historic fabric was retained in the rehabilitation (compare photographs
9 and 10). The interior, although adapted to serve as park quarters, still reflects the
original Georgian plan. The Kolb cemetery, which contains eleven marked graves,
retains integrity of design, materials, workmanship, and association. Both the house
and the cemetery remain in their original location and clearly identify the
historically significant site. The integrity of setting and feeling of the entire Kolb
farmstead has been compromised by the loss of its associated farm acreage,
vegetation patterns, and outbuildings, as well as by the development of Powder
Springs Road into a five-lane arterial road.

New Salem cemetery, containing approximately twenty-four marked graves, has
substantial integrity of location, design, setting, materials, feeling, and association.
The church foundation ruins possess integrity of location and setting and mark the
site of a building present at the time of the battle and possibly used as a
Confederate field hospital.

Stilesboro, Dallas, and Burnt Hickory Roads retain their historic location and
alignment. Although paved and widened, they maintain their nineteenth-century
roadbeds. Where they pass through the battlefield, these roads possess considerable
integrity of setting, feeling, and association, especially in relationship to the modern
road systems that surround the park (photograph 11). These roads allow visitors to
understand how troops reached their positions before and during the battle. Gilbert
and Old John Ward Roads also retain a substantial degree of integrity.

Today the vegetation patterns within the park bear little resemblance to patterns
extant at the time of the battle. A Vegetation Map, based on Kelly’s troop
movement map, (see Appendix D) illustrates the degree of change that has occurred
in the location, size, and configuration of the open fields and woodland since the
time of the battle. Today the vegetation patterns of the battlefield fail to convey
the important interrelationship of landform, settlement, land use, and vegetation in
defining the character of the battlefield and their combined effect on the conduct
and tactics of the battle. Alteration of the 1864 vegetation patterns occurred as the
result of postbattle agricultural and settlement changes, as well as the lack of a
comprehensive and sustained effort to preserve or restore the 1864 landscape by its
successive owners and administrators. Despite the historical inaccuracy of the
existing vegetation patterns, the historic integrity of the vegetation may be recover-


Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Bibliography

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

CONTENTS

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and
Its Place in the Civil War ..................

Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign,

May-September, 1864 ...... beeen eee e eee

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park:
The Commemoration of American Battlefields and

National Park Development, 1887-1942 ...........

Management Recommendations .................

Contributing Structures List ..................

Descriptions of Selected Earthworks ...........

National Register Form ......... bee ecee eee

Historical Base Map and Vegetation Map .........

_ 15

see ee se 25

bees 55

cee 81

85

. B-l


Sources: "Map of the Battlefields of Kennesaw
Mountain and Kolb’s Farm, GA, 1864."
Kennesaw Mountain Historical Association, Inc.,
1993; "Historic Ground Cover—June 1864;
Emmett Nichols, 1980; “Cheatham Hill Memorial
Park, Layout Map," DO!, CWA, 1934; “Marietta,
GA" USGS Quad, 1954, photorevised 1983;
Infrared, Color Aerial Photographs, 1993.

see
in:

SP

wo >
”

Tree line

Cheatham Hill
Contour interval 10 feet

sss
0 250 S0oft.

° 2,000 4,000 ft.

Contour Interval 100 feet

LEGEND
PROPERTY

[nes ownership

FES] Private Ownership

BUILDINGS, MONUMENTS, MARKERS

HISTORIC*

Contributing to N.R. Signif.

Kolb House

Illinois Monument
Union Tunnel Marker

Coffee Marker
Fellows Marker

Nourun=

Noncontributing to N.R. Signif. (J

B Maintenance Compiex
(Motor Repair Shop,
ge Garage)

Stora
NONHISTORIC (Noncontributing to

N.R. Signif.) B
9 Texas Monument
10 Georgia Monument
11 Neighbours Marker
12 Visitor Center
13 Park Quarters (two)

EARTHWORKS “SX,
HISTORIC
Contributing to N.R. Signif.
Confederate and Union
Earthworks

Grave of the Unknown U.S.

MeCook Brigade Marker

ROADS and SIGNS
HISTORIC
Contributing to N.R. Signif. A

14 Big Kennesaw Antebellum Road: |

15 Stilesboro Road

16 Gilbert Road

17 Old John Ward Road

18 Dallas Road

19 Burnt Hickory Road

20 Cheatham Hill Drive

21 Park Entrance Signs (8)
Noncontributing to N.R. Signif. A

22 Marietta—Cassville Road

23 Powder Springs Road

24 Mountain Road

Soldier

SITES
HISTORIC
Contributing to N.R. Signif. &

25 Kolb Cemetery

26 New Salem Church Site
Noncontributing to N.R. Signif. ©

27 Shiloh Church and

School Site

28 Hardage House Site

29 Cass House Site

30 Ballenger House Site

31 Tierce House Site

32 CCC Camp Site

* The terms ‘historic’ and  “nonhistoric”
denote properties that have and have
not reached fifty years of age, respectively.

i3

10

Historical Base Map

Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park
Cobb County, Georgia

United States Department of the interior
National Park Service

Map Compiled by Office of Cultural Resources Planning
Southeast Regional Office, 1994

Drawing No. 352/80014



NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 54

any comprehensive plan of development for the park. The 1974 addition
compromises the integrity of the original configuration of the two buildings.

Mountain Road (1938-1942; 1950)

This existing paved road was partially graded, but not completed, by the CCC.
The current road to the top of the mountain was completed by NPS in 1950; the
road’s overlook was dedicated in 1964. Because the road was completed within
the last fifty years, it is not a contributing feature.

Texas Monument (1964)
Georgia Monument (1964)
Neighbour Marker (1914; replaced 1985)

Although these monuments do not contribute to the significance of the district
based on their age, they will be managed by the park as cultural resources
because of their commemorative purpose.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 67

The cities, especially industrial bases, also witnessed deflated production and
massive unemployment.'? Roosevelt introduced the Emergency Conservation Work
Act to Congress within two months of his inauguration, and it was eagerly passed.
Although hardly a panacea for unemployment, it foreshadowed the many New Deal
economic and employment relief initiatives to follow.

The passage of the Federal Unemployment Relief Act (FURA) in March 1933
introduced a new role for the Federal government. Under this Act, Emergency
Conservation Work (ECW), later known as the CCC, was created. Congress
appropriated funds to the ECW Director, Robert Fechner, who in turn allocated
funds to participating Federal agencies. All work performed by ECW labor would
be performed on public lands and directed by Federal agencies. Between 1933 and
1935, Congress created numerous work relief programs under the National Industrial
Recovery Act (NIRA) of June 1933. In contrast to the ECW, programs emanating
from NIRA entitled states to Federal relief grants that would fund public works
projects. Two popular relief agencies emerging from the NIRA, the Federal
Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Public Works Administration
(PWA), allocated Federal funds to states and municipal governments, provided these
agencies contributed matching funds. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration,
which replaced the PWA, greatly expanded the type of public works performed with
Federal and state funding. Early New Deal public works programs, like the PWA,
concentrated solely on construction projects. New Deal programs after 1935 also
provided relief to unemployed white-collar workers, professionals, and large
numbers of unskilled women.''?

Initially, CCC enrollees were inducted from urban areas, where unemployment
was highest, especially among the unskilled. Roosevelt envisioned the program
operating on three levels: 1) as a direct relief program, through grants to states; 2)
as a large-scale public works project and; 3) as a program to prevent
mismanagement of land, specifically addressing soil erosion and forest conservation.
The first three camps established in the east were in Shenandoah National Park and
Colonial National Monument in May 1933, drawing enrollees from eastern seaboard
cities where unemployment was the greatest.''' Camps were established first in
national parks and later in state parks. The Army administered camps composed
of approximately two hundred single men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-

'2David A. Shannon, Twentieth Century America: The Twenties and Thirties, vol. 2 (Chicago:
Rand MeNally College Publishing Company, 1974), 150-52.

"Paige, Appendix A, Selected Draft Legislation, Legislation, and Executive Orders Affecting
the Civilian Conservation Corps, 162-78; Shannon, 177-80, 191-93.

"Paige, 7, 15.


22 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

for 500,000 additional Federal soldiers. The Democrats, anticipating victory,
nominated Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan in Chicago on August 31. The party’s
platform branded the war a failure and called for an immediate ceasefire without
any concessions from the South. McClellan accepted the nomination but backed
away from the platform, insisting that southern reentry into the Union precede an
armistice.*?

On September 2, 1864, Atlanta fell, providing a huge boost to Northern morale
and a corresponding letdown for the South. Coupled with Rear Adm. David G.
Farragut’s August 5 victory at Mobile Bay and Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s
successes in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in September and October, the capture
of Atlanta deprived the Democrats of their war failure issue. The Republicans fully
exploited the implications of the Democrats’ peace platform and made repeated
accusations of disloyalty. Democrats tried to emphasize opposition to emancipation
but made little headway. Believing that a final military victory was at hand,
northern voters gave the Republicans an overwhelming victory in November.
McClellan carried only Kentucky, Delaware, and New Jersey, and the Republicans
won a three-fourths majority in the Congress.

Vindicated at the polls, Lincoln and the Republican Party pursued the war to
a successful conclusion. Sherman’s army marched through Georgia and South
Carolina, confiscating or destroying anything of value to the Confederacy.
Richmond fell in early April 1865; Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia
at Appomattox Court House on April 9; and all remaining Confederate forces,
including those west of the Mississippi, had surrendered by June 23.5 The war was
over, and the country turned its attention to problems of reconciliation and
reconstruction.

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was one component of the larger 1864
Atlanta campaign. Although the battle was a Confederate victory, it did not prevent
the fall of Atlanta. The capture of Atlanta’s important rail lines and manufacturing
capacity was a severe blow to the Confederacy and opened the Lower South to
further depredations by Sherman’s armies. The timing of Atlanta’s fall was a key
to Lincoln’s reelection, which helped ensure victory on the North’s terms of

52McClellan had been a general without a command after being removed by Lincoln from
command of the Army of the Potomac in November 1862 (McPherson, 562).

McPherson, 758; Stephen W. Sears, George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon (New York:
Ticknor & Fields, 1988), 369-76.

McPherson, 773-75, 788-91, 805-6.

McPherson, 846-50; Shelby Foote, The Civil War, a Narrative: Red River to Appomattox (New
York: Random House, 1974), 1021-22.


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 65

resident caretaker of the Cheatham Hill tract. Like his father, Benjamin Jones was
allowed to occupy buildings on the site and to cultivate “30 acres of the lowlands”
in return for his services.'°* Jones retained his position until the property was
conveyed to the NPS in 1933. In 1932, the War Department constructed a three-
quarter-mile entrance road from John Ward Road and erected a fence along a
portion of the tract’s boundary. The War Department’s administration of the tract
did not include a comprehensive attempt to restore or preserve the 1864 appearance
of the tract or the implementation of a designed commemorative landscape.

The NPS approach to battlefield commemoration differed substantially from War
Department policies. In general, the War Department made sporadic efforts to
interpret or provide access to its battlefield sites, maintaining them largely for use
as study aids for succeeding generations of military men. The National Park
Service, established in 1916, was at first strongly oriented to the preservation of
natural and wilderness areas. Nevertheless, as early as 1917 the question of
consolidating all historical and military parks under National Park Service authority
was debated.! The background of the NPS, its evolving mission, and the
development of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park with Civilian
Conservation Corps labor are treated below.

EXPANSION AND DEVELOPMENT: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
ADMINISTRATION AND THE CCC, 1933-1942
The national park system, well established in the west, experienced its greatest
growth east of the Mississippi just before and during the Great Depression. Several
factors contributed to this growth: the authorization of Great Smoky Mountains,
Mammoth Cave, and Shenandoah National Parks in 1926; the establishment of
Colonial National Monument and the reconstruction of Washington’s birthplace in
1930; the construction of Skyline Drive begun in 1930-31; and finally, the 1933
transfer to NPS of all battlefields, national monuments, and historic sites
administered by the War Department, the Department of Agriculture, and in
Washington, D.C. These developments physically expanded the national park
system and significantly enlarged NPS’s agenda beyond conservation of natural
areas.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), established March 31, 1933, under the
Federal Unemployment Relief Act, significantly facilitated the administration and
expansion of historic and natural parks by the National Park Service (NPS). The

‘81 etter from W. J. Calvert, Major, Q.M. Corps, Assistant, to Benjamin F. Jones, April 13, 1932.
Quoted in Yates, 1941, p 11.

1094 Ibright, Origins of National Park Service Administration of Historic Sites, 5.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

Quix States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 37

a

erected in cemeteries.TM In 1900, local southern memorial associations
affiliated with an umbrella group, the Confederated Southern Memorial
Association (CSMA). The CSMA assisted local LMAs and raised funds for a

Jefferson Davis monument in Richmond, unveiled in 1907.%

The Confederate Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia, is a typical result of memorial
activity in the postwar South. The cemetery received its first interments
during the war and was officially dedicated in 1866. Catherine Winn of the
Ladies’ Aid Society and Mary Green of the Georgia Memorial Association
spearheaded the establishment of the cemetery. The Georgia legislature
appropriated $3,500 in 1866 to allow the collection of remains from all the
north Georgia battlefields for reinterment at the Marietta cemetery. The
cemetery contains 3,000 graves, and its Confederate Monument was unveiled July
7, 1908.

The Union possessed greater resources than the Confederacy for establishing
military cemeteries, which were initially created through state and local
action. The State of Pennsylvania acted immediately in 1863 to lay out a
cemetery at Gettysburg. By the time of President Lincoln’s famous address
dedicating the Gettysburg cemetery on November 19, 1863, landscape gardener
William Saunders had laid out a circular burial ground with space for a
monument at the center. Arlington National Cemetery was also established
during the war, on Mrs. Robert E. Lee’s confiscated estate just across the
Potomac from Washington. Congress soon authorized a system of national
cemeteries, at Civil War battlefields and elsewhere, in legislation enacted on
February 22, 1867. The Federal government accepted responsibility for the
cemeteries at the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields in the 1870s.
Ultimately, twenty-six national cemeteries were established at or near Civil
War battlefields. The Federal role in creating and maintaining Civil War

6, representative early Confederate monument is the obelisk in Atlanta’s
Oakland Cemetery, unveiled April 26, 1874 (Ralph W. Widener, Jr., Confederate
Monuments: Enduring Symbols of the South and the War Between the States
(Washington, D.C.: Ralph W. Widener, Jr., 1982], 42).

“Gaines M. Foster, Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the
Emergence of the New South, 1865 to 1913 (New York: Oxford University Press,
1987), 36-41, 158; History of the Confederated Memorial Associations of the South
(New Orleans: Confederated Southern Memorial Association, 1904), 32.

SHistory of the Confederated Memorial Associations of the South, 140-43;
Widener, 67.


58 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

homes, sponsored monuments and patriotic observances, and worked to create
national battlefield parks.®*

Although by far the largest, the GAR was not the only Union veterans’ group.
Several Federal army societies formed in the 1860s: the Society of the Army of the
Tennessee in 1865, the Society of the Army of the Cumberland in 1868, and the
Society of the Army of the Potomac in 1869. Other northern veterans’ groups
restricted membership based on officer status or length of service. Among these
were the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (founded 1865), the Union Veteran
Legion (founded 1884), and the Union Veterans’ Union (founded 1886). Many
individual companies and regiments also formed organizations. A primary focus of
most unit organizations was socializing at annual reunions, but many erected
battlefield monuments. Veterans’ groups also successfully lobbied state legislatures
to appropriate funds for the erection of state monuments on numerous fields.”

Pressing economic needs and the social and political upheavals of
Reconstruction hampered the formation of comparable Confederate veterans’ groups.
Additionally, any Reconstruction-era regional organization of ex-Confederates risked
being charged with fomenting disloyalty. A few local benevolent societies with
substantial Confederate veteran membership appeared in the 1860s. In May 1869
in New Orleans, prominent former Confederate officers formed the Southern
Historical Society (SHS). In 1870, an Association of the Army of Northern
Virginia (AANVA) was formed in Richmond, and an Association of the Army of
Tennessee appeared in 1877. The SHS and AANVA focused on the erection of a
monument to Robert E. Lee in Richmond.” In the 1880s, more Confederate army
units held reunions, and some established permanent organizations. The
organization of local veterans’ posts into statewide groups in Virginia, Tennessee,
and Georgia in 1887-1888 preceded the formation of the United Confederate
Veterans (UCV) in June 1889. Employing an organizational structure similar to the
GAR’s, the UCV spread across the South in the 1890s, with membership reaching
approximately 80,000 by 1903.”!

While in the North veterans usually led the way, in the South, women played
a prominent role in commemorative activities. Several local groups calling

®Wallace E. Davies, Patriotism on Parade: the Story of Veterans’ and Hereditary Organizations
in America, 1783-1900 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1955), 29-35.

"Davies, 29-30, 36-37.

°°More than 100,000 people participated in ceremonies marking the unveiling of the Lee
Monument on May 29, 1890 (Foster, 100-101).

*'Foster, 50-53, 91, 104-7.


CHAPTER 1

THE BATTLE OF KENNESAW MOUNTAIN
AND ITS PLACE IN THE CIVIL WAR

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864) was one of a number of Civil
War clashes between Federal and Confederate forces in northwest Georgia in the
spring and summer of 1864. Kennesaw Mountain was a physical barrier standing
between a large Federal force commanded by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and
Atlanta, an important Confederate railroad and manufacturing center. The war was
in its fourth year, and the November 1864 presidential election would soon provide
a referendum on Abraham Lincoln’s war leadership. Lincoln’s reelection depended
heavily on the progress of Sherman’s army in Georgia and Lt. Gen. Ulysses S.
Grant’s in Virginia. Although it was not a critical turning point in the war, the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain played an important role in a complicated national
drama of bitter military combat and politics played out in the summer of 1864.
Additionally, the battle illustrated the decided advantage the tactical defensive had
over the tactical offensive in the later stages of the war. This chapter places the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain within the broader context of the Civil War.

In the decade prior to the outbreak of war, sectional divisions over the extension
of slavery, a protective tariff, and internal improvements racked the United States.
The Democrat party split over the issue of slavery, and four candidates contested
the 1860 presidential election. Illinois Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected
president by carrying the northern states. Believing the Republican Party hostile to
southern interests, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Texas seceded from the Union before Lincoln’s inauguration and
established the Confederate States of America. Upon assuming office on March 4,
1861, Lincoln decided to assert the Federal government's sovereignty by resupplying
the besieged U.S. army garrisons at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South
Carolina, and Fort Pickens in Pensacola Harbor, Florida. The Confederate
government ordered an attack on Fort Sumter, signalling its intention to fight for


32 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Following these battles, a period of heavy skirmishing and maneuvering for
position lasted well into June. Heavy rainfall impeded the movements of both
armies. In the first week of June, Johnston’s army took up a position along a ten-
mile line approximately 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. The line ran from northeast
to southwest, with Brushy Mountain on the right, Pine Mountain in the center, and
Lost Mountain on the left. On June 14, a Federal artillery shell killed Confederate
General Polk on Pine Mountain. Johnston appointed Maj. Gen. William W. Loring
temporary commander of Polk’s army corps. Lt. Gen. A. P. Stewart assumed
permanent command of the corps in the first week of July. After additional fighting
near Gilgal Church on June 15 and Lost Mountain on June 16, the Confederates on
the night of June 18-19 fell back southeast to a prepared line anchored by
Kennesaw Mountain, a few miles north of Marietta. **

The Kennesaw Mountain Line

Two peaks, Big and Little Kennesaw, dominate the battlefield of Kennesaw
Mountain. Extending to the south of Little Kennesaw is a spur known as Pigeon
Hill.” Together they form a two-mile-long ridge referred to as Kennesaw
Mountain. Confederate forces chose Kennesaw Mountain as the fulcrum of their
line of defense, in part because of the military advantages offered by its dominance
over the surrounding countryside and its steep and forested northern and western
slopes that faced the advancing Federal forces. Rising 700 feet above the
surrounding area, Kennesaw Mountain was described by Sherman as “the key to the
whole county.”*°

Seizing this military opportunity, Johnston’s chief engineer, Lt. Col. S. W.
Presstman, carefully laid out the Confederate line of defense at Kennesaw Mountain.
Presstman enhanced the topographically strong defensive position of Kennesaw
Mountain with the construction of a nearly continuous six-mile-long line of field
fortifications. The Confederate earthworks formed a convex line that began
northeast of Big Kennesaw Mountain and continued west for a short distance,
crossed the Western and Atlantic Railroad, an important supply link to Atlanta, and
then turned southward and wrapped around the western face of Big and Little
Kennesaw, just below their crests. The line continued to the south, taking
advantage of exposed boulders and rugged terrain, and crossed three roads leading
into Marietta from the west (Burnt Hickory, Dallas, and Powder Springs)

“Kelly, 21-23; Connelly, 357-58, 421.

*°Pigeon Hill is a twentieth-century name; at the time of the battle, this feature was called the
Kennesaw Spur.

“Sherman, 530.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 48

Most CCC enrollees performed labor that improved national park infrastructures
through road and trail construction, reforestation, and soil erosion control.
The CCC program also greatly enlarged the professional staffs of the national
parks. Landscape architects, foresters, and engineers designed and supervised
ccc work projects, within both state and national parks. Professional
historians, supplemented by college students in the summers, created
interpretive programs and engaged in numerous research projects. Conservation,
preservation, historic interpretation, and landscape planning and design became
key goals for NPS professional staffs. Eventually, funding for improvement
projects in state and national parks required drafting master plans developed
by NPS technical staffs.” In addition, the administrative hierarchy of the
NPS experienced growth and change. In 1933, the ECW Advisory Board created
four regional offices that administered the state parks program. By 1936,
Interior Secretary L. Harold Ickes announced that the NPS also would adopt a
regional hierarchy to administer the ECW programs within the national parks.TM

The CCC program reached its largest enrollment in 1935, although funding from
Congress continued until 1942. In 1935, Roosevelt began efforts to reduce the
ECW program in order to convince Congress to permanently establish a
conservation work program for the state and national parks. The NPS reduced
its active camps from 446 to 340 in 1936 and converted some temporary technical
positions to permanent NPS employment. In 1937, Roosevelt asked Congress to r
permanently establish the ECW program. Congress responded with a three-year
funding package that formally changed the name of the ECW to the Civilian
Conservation Corps and required camps to establish ten hours per week of
general education or vocational training classes for enrollees. Another
attempt in 1939 to establish a permanent CCC program failed. By 1940, the NPS
had to reduce its supervisory personnel without drastically altering work
projects. The agency created central service units within NPS regional offices
to handle design and technical matters and abolished these positions in the
individual camps. By 1941, the NPS discontinued many camps that could not
maintain 165 men per camp, eliminating 135 camps between September and November
1941. When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, NPS
abolished all but 89 camps, which directly related to the war effort. In 1942,
Congress discontinued funding for the CCC program, and it was informally
abolished.”

Creating a Park: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Legislation enacted on June 26, 1935, established the Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park under the authority of the NPS. The act authorized
expansion of the park to include Big and Little Kennesaw Mountains and other
significant sections of the battlefield. An appropriation of $100,000 was

"paige, 45; Newton, 576, 578-80.
*Paige, 21, 45-52; Newton, 540, 576.

*paige, 21-36.


52 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Photograph 11. Burnt Hickory Road, used by advancing Union troops during the battle

able. The release of a large percentage of the battlefield to succession is a natural
.and potentially reversible alteration of this resource.

Contributing Properties

Earthworks (1864)

Kolb House (c. 1836)

Kolb Cemetery (1839- )

Stilesboro Road (c. 1840-1864)

Gilbert Road (c. 1840-1864)

Old John Ward Road (c. 1840-1864)

Dallas Road (c. 1840-1864)

Burnt Hickory Road (c. 1840-1864)

Big Kennesaw Antebellum Road (c. 1840-1864)
New Salem Church Site (c. 1840-1864)

Grave of the Unknown U.S. Soldier (1864; 1934)

Noncontributing Properties

Shiloh Church and School Site
Hardage House Site
Cass House Site


18 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

led by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote took Fort
Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River,
providing two water routes of invasion into Tennessee. Federal control of the
Cumberland forced the Confederates to abandon Nashville, an important rail
junction and manufacturing city, on February 23, 1862. Northern armies prepared
to advance on the Confederate supply center at Corinth, Mississippi. The bloody
Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee (April 6-7, 1862), temporarily checked the Federal
advance. The 23,000 casualties of Shiloh, including more than 3,000 killed,
destroyed any remaining illusions of a short and painless war. Federal forces
captured New Orleans in late April 1862, and by June, only the Confederate fortress
at Vicksburg, Mississippi, prevented total Northern control of the Mississippi River.
In the east, Federal armies were bloodily repulsed by the Confederates at First
Manassas (July 21, 1861), the Seven Days’ Battles (June 25-July 1, 1862), and
Second Manassas (August 28-30, 1862).”? Lack of Federal military success,
particularly in Virginia, increased criticism of the administration and strengthened
the position of the Democrat Party going into the 1862 elections.

During 1862, the Republican Party moved rapidly to adopt emancipation as a
war policy. Lincoln awaited favorable military news to strike at slavery in the
South. At the Battle of Antietam in western Maryland (September 17, 1862), the
Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan turned back a
Confederate army of invasion commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee. Within days,
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in those areas of the
South still engaged in rebellion as of January 1, 1863. Lincoln aimed to undermine
Southern resistance and encourage blacks to rally to the Federal effort. Many
Northern Democrats charged that the proclamation changed the war’s purpose from
preservation of the union to the elevation of black slaves to equality with whites.
Democrats made significant gains in the Fall 1862 elections, but the Republicans’
control of the national government remained solid.”

In the first half of 1863, antiwar agitation grew, fueled by Federal defeats in
Virginia at Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862) and Chancellorsville (April 3-May
6, 1863). Emancipation and the slow progress of the war remained the major
political issues, but the Federal Conscription Act of March 1863 and Lincoln’s
wartime suspension of civil liberties added to the opposition. The United States’
first military draft provoked riots in several cities. The worst rioting occurred in
New York City, where 105 died in July 1863 before Federal troops restored order.
Lincoln on several occasions ordered the arrest of suspected southern sympathizers.

2McPherson, 339-45, 395-413, 418, 464-71, 528-33.

McPherson, 557-61.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 35

Salem Church cemeteries meet Criteria Consideration D for their association
with the Battle of the Kennesaw Mountain. The Kolb Cemetery is also
significant for its association with the Kolb House, the only extant building
in the district dating to the battle. The New Salem Church foundation ruins,
adjacent to the New Salem Church Cemetery, meet Criteria Consideration A, based
on their association with the battle. The Grave of the Unknown U.S. Soldier,
the only known interment at the battlefield, meets Criterion Consideration c.

3. Contributing Properties under Context A

Earthworks (1864)

Kolb House (c. 1836)

Kolb Cemetery (1839-)

Stilesboro Road (c. 1840-1864)

Gilbert Road (c. 1840-1864)

Old John Ward Road (c. 1840-1864)

Dallas Road (c. 1840-1864)

Burnt Hickory Road (c. 1840-1864)

Big Kennesaw Antebellum Road (c. 1840-1864)
New Salem Church Site (c. 1840-1864)

Grave of the Unknown U.S. Soldier (1864; 1934)

4. Noncontributing Properties

Shiloh Church and School Site
Hardage House Site

Cass House Site

Ballenger House Site

Tierce House Site

All of these sites are vacant and have not been determined eligible by
archeological investigations (only Ballenger has been surveyed.) No standing
structures remain, although the park has placed interpretive signs at these
locations, and as sites they provide continuity to the historic landscape.

Marietta-Cassville Road
Powder Springs Road

Both of these roads have been altered and do not meet integrity requirements.
Powder Springs Road is currently five lanes of asphalt with curb and gutter in
some places and has been straightened. The Marietta-Cassville Road, within and
outside of the park, has been fragmented and no longer maintains integrity of
setting, feeling, or association.

william R. Bowen, "An Archeological Survey for the Proposed Dallas Road/S.R.
120 Widening, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Cobb County, Georgia,"
Georgia Department of Transportation, October 1987.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books, Journals, and Published and Unpublished Reports

Aikman, James L. “Kennesaw Sketches: A Collection of Descriptive Sketches and
Anecdotes Sidelighting the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.” Kennesaw
Mountain, Ga.: National Park Service, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
Park, 1941.

Albright, Horace M. The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years,
1913-33. Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1985.

Origins of National Park Service Administration of Historic Sites.
Philadelphia: Eastern National Park & Monument Association, 1971.

Bearss, Edwin C. “Kennesaw Mountain Troop Movement Maps.” Manuscript
sheets in collection of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1966.

Buck, Paul H. The Road to Reunion, 1865-1900. Boston: Little, Brown, 1937.

Capps, Michael A. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: An Admin-
istrative History. Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast Region, 1994.

Castel, Albert. Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Lawrence:
University Press of Kansas, 1992.

Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1 862-1865. Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971.

Davies, Wallace E. Patriotism on Parade: The Story of Veterans’ and Hereditary
Organizations in America, 1783-1900. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1955.

Foote, Shelby. The Civil War, a Narrative: Red River to Appomattox. New York:
Random House, 1974.

Foster, Gaines M. Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the
Emergence of the New South, 1865 to 1913. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1987.

“General Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park.” Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast Regional
Office, 1985.


APPENDIX D
HISTORICAL BASE MAP AND VEGETATION MAP


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN

NS WALTHALL
McPHERSON S fe SS

Big Kennesaw
LOGAN li

SO LORING
G.A. SMITH

Little Kennesaw
MLL. SMITH SS,
crave E> S

SEARSS FRENCH

Pigeon Hill
COCKRELL

SY JUNE 27

JOHNSON :
WALKER Marietta
SHERMAN | JOHNSTON
woop BATE
AS
THOMAS y

HARDEE

GRANBURY

HOWARD
IV Corps GOVAN CLEBURNE
STANLEY LowEny JUNE 27
POLK
HARKER Cheatham Hill
PALMER VAUGHAN
XIV Corps MANEY CHEATHAM
MeCOOK CARTER
DAVIS
MITCHELL it STRAHL
GEARY
JUNE 22
HOOKER
XX Corps HINDMAN
HOOD
STEWART
WILLIAMS <p
“Kolb
‘olb’s
SCHOFIELD Farm Lj STEVENSON One-half mite
—
HASCALL

39

Figure 3. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

Reprinted, by permission, from Strayer and Baumgartner,
Echoes of Battle: The Atlanta Campaign, 162.


80 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Texas Monument (1964)
Georgia Monument (1964)
Neighbour Marker (circa 1914; replaced 1985)

Although these monuments do not contribute to the significance of the district based
on their age, they will be managed by the park as cultural resources because of their
commemorative purpose. The dedication ceremonies for the Georgia and Texas
Monuments during the Civil War Centennial represented an ongoing tradition of
commemoration at the Park (photograph 16).

Photograph 16. Dedication of Georgia Monument, August 16, 1963


COMMEMORATION AND NATIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT 57

State of Pennsylvania acted immediately in 1863 to lay out a cemetery at
Gettysburg. By the time of President Lincoin’s famous address dedicating the
Gettysburg cemetery on November 19, 1863, landscape gardener William Saunders
had laid out a circular burial ground with space for a monument at the center.
Arlington National Cemetery was also established during the war, on Mrs. Robert
E. Lee’s confiscated estate just across the Potomac from Washington. Congress
soon authorized a system of national cemeteries, at Civil War battlefields and
elsewhere, in legislation enacted on February 22, 1867. The Federal government
accepted responsibility for the cemeteries at the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields
in the 1870s. Ultimately, twenty-six national cemeteries were established at or near
Civil War battlefields. The Federal role in creating and maintaining Civil War
battlefield cemeteries prefigured the creation of national military parks some twenty
years later.*°

A cemetery for Union dead was established in Marietta in 1866 on land donated
by Henry G. Cole, a Marietta citizen who had opposed secession. Cole’s initial
proposal for a cemetery for the fallen of both sides was rejected, and on July 31,
1866, he conveyed twenty acres to the Federal government for a national cemetery.
By 1870, the remains of 9,973 Union soldiers had been transferred to Marietta
National Cemetery. Remains came from the battlefields of north Georgia and from
a short-lived national cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.’”

The formation of Civil War veterans’ groups closely followed the movement to
establish cemeteries. Veterans’ organizations formed earlier in the North than in the
South. The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), which emerged as the largest and
most influential of the many Union veterans’ groups, was organized in Springfield,
Illinois, in 1866. Drawing its membership from all ranks of Union Civil War
veterans, the GAR adopted a paramilitary structure. Local posts or camps were
organized into statewide departments, which were presided over by a national
commander-in-chief. Yearly national encampments brought together veterans from
hundreds of posts scattered across the country. The GAR experienced an initial
spurt of growth in the late 1860s, a period of decline in the 1870s, and a substantial
rebirth in the 1880s, reaching a peak membership of 400,000 in 1890. In its mature
phase, the GAR lobbied on issues important to veterans, established old soldiers’

“Ronald F. Lee, The Origin and Evolution of the National Military Park Idea (Washington, D.C.:
National Park Service, Office of Park Historic Preservation, 1973), 17-19; Charles B. Hosmer, Jr.
Presence of the Past: A History of the Preservation Movement in the United States Before Williamsburg
(New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1965), 64.

"\farietta National Cemetery” (Washington, D.C.: Veterans Administration, 1976), 1-2; “Marietta
National Cemetery, Marietta, Georgia” (Marietta, Ga.: Dept. of the Army, Office of the Quartermaster
General, n.d.), 1-3.


CHAPTER 4
MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

The Cultural Resources Planning Division offers the following management
recommendations to help resource managers identify areas for further research,
expand existing interpretive programs, and maintain records related to historic
cultural resources. These management recommendations are a direct result of the
program to update the List of Classified Structures (LCS) and to initiate the Cultural
Landscape Inventory—Level I (CLI—Level I). Included are some preliminary
recommendations for the management and treatment of cultural resources that may
require additional funding and which should be incorporated into the Park’s
Resource Management Plans (RMPs).

The park’s most significant resources, the Confederate and Federal earthworks,
need to be systematically surveyed and mapped to accurately determine their length,
condition, and location within the park. Geographical Positioning System (GPS)
mapping is a technology being studied within the NPS as a method of recording
park features. Utilizing GPS, the park could accurately record the locations of all
of its extant resources, especially the earthworks, within a reasonable time. In
addition, archeological investigations could accurately locate and describe
fortifications not visible on the ground surface. This inventory and assessment
should be included as a project statement in the park’s next RMP.

The park possesses a significant number of earthworks, many in excellent
structural condition. The LCS team chose a limited number of earthwork features
to survey and evaluate. The earthwork survey gathered information on condition
and current interpretative efforts in order to provide some measure of resource
assessment for use in the LCS inventory. However, this survey does not replace a
comprehensive earthwork survey. The LCS survey team inventoried six features:
Little Kennesaw, Pigeon Hill, Strahl’s Fort, the Twenty-four Gun Emplacement, the
Cheatham Hill salient, and Granbury’s Brigade at Cheatham Hill. The remaining


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 12

Ol

through the 1910s, the administration of the battlefield by the War Department
from 1928 to 1933, its establishment as a national battlefield park in 1935,
and its development by the National Park Service from 1933 to 1942.

Historic resources within the Park represent three periods of significance.’
The period of the Atlanta Campaign, May to September 1864, is primarily
represented by the Kolb House, earthworks, and roads constructed prior to the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. The second significant period, representing
commemoration of the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield by private individuals and
associations, lasted from 1887 to 1917. This period began with reunions by
military units that fought at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and is
represented by numerous monuments and markers erected on the battlefield as
memorials to individuals dnd units.* The third period witnessed the management
and subsequent development of the battlefield by the Federal government from
1917 to 1942. This period included the administration and development of the
battlefield by the War Department and the National Park Service. Few
historically significant structures remain that demonstrate the importance of
early park development planned by the NPS and performed by the Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1938 to 1942.

A. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign, May- e
September 1864.

1. Context Narrative

From May to September 1864, Federal and Confederate forces fought across
northwest Georgia from Dalton to Atlanta, which was abandoned by the
Confederates on September 1. Occasional fierce battles punctuated almost daily
skirmishing and maneuvering for position. Collectively, this activity is known
as the Atlanta Campaign. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864,
occurred near the middle of the campaign. The importance of the battle in the
Civil War is described below. This context will describe the Battle of

7~Phe landscape of the battlefield park does not reflect one particular period
but illustrates a process of continuous change by various owners and occupants:
early-nineteenth-century settlers clearing fields; Union and Confederate armies
constructing earthworks; post-Civil War farmers terracing fields; memorial
associations erecting monuments; and the CCC constructing roads and planting
trees. A Cultural Landscape Report, however, has not been undertaken to determine
the historic appearance of the landscape in 1864.

‘the Georgia and Texas monuments, erected in 1964, are managed as cultural
resources but are not eligible for the National Register because they do not meet
the standards established by the National Register for resources that have
achieved significance within the last fifty years.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

@rs States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
jational Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 15

Virginia, were dashed. As the war progressed, northern advantages in manpower
industrial might, naval force, and organization increasingly turned the tide
against the South.

The natural barrier of the Appalachian Mountains dictated a division of
hostilities between eastern and western theaters. Military activity in the
eastern theater focused on limited areas of Virginia: the area between
Washington, D.C., and Fredericksburg, around Richmond, and the Shenandoah
Valley. The western theater, by contrast, was immense, stretching from the
Alleghenies to the first tier of states west of the Mississippi. Important
western theater battles occurred in Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Although public attention often
focused on the major battles in Virginia, the struggle for control of the
rivers and railroads in the West was of immense importance to the war’s
outcome.

As president of a republic in war time, Lincoln had as many political concerns
as strategic ones. Lincoln had to employ considerable political skill to
maintain popular support for the war, in the face of often disastrous defeats
for Federal armies and mounting casualties. Only seven years old in 1861, the
epublican Party was an uneasy coalition of often competing interests that

Q@ivccin had to unify. Outside the party, Democrat office holders and powerful
newspaper editors such as Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune frequently
criticized the administration. Lincoln’s political stock rose and fell with
the fortunes of Federal armies in the field. Whenever the Federal military
effort appeared to stagnate, opposition to the administration’s conduct of the
war increased. In the South, Confederate victories fed false hopes that Great
Britain and France would recognize the Confederacy and that the North would
give up the struggle.

Lincoln faced opposition inside and outside the Republican Party. To hold his
party’s factions together, Lincoln appointed several Republican rivals to his
cabinet. Lincoln tolerated considerable dissension and even disloyalty in the
cabinet, but outmaneuvered his opponents in the end. Northern Democrats varied
in their commitment to the war effort. Some "War Democrats" joined the
Republican Party, while others supported a war for the Union but vigorously
opposed emancipation. In 1862, "Peace Democrats," who urged an immediate
armistice and a negotiated settlement of sectional differences, became a
significant force. Many Peace Democrats mistakenly believed that the South
would rejoin the Union if slavery were guaranteed; others were covert
supporters of southern independence.”

The first two years of war brought stalemate in Virginia, but Federal armies
made important gains in the West. In February 1862, a joint army-navy
expedition led by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote
took Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland

"McPherson, 506.


26 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Shenandoah Valley, and toward Texas and the Indian Territory by way of the Red
River and Southwest Arkansas. Grant accompanied Maj. Gen. George G. Meade
and the Army of the Potomac in Virginia and aimed to finally defeat Gen. Robert
E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman commanded
three Federal armies concentrated near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Grant ordered
Sherman to “move against [Confederate Gen. Joseph] Johnston’s army, to break it
up, and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting
all the damage you can against their war resources.”* If Confederate resistance
persisted, Grant contemplated combining his army with Sherman’s forces in the
Lower South.

The war-making capacity of the Confederacy, which remained formidable after
three years of combat, was a major target for Sherman. In the spring of 1864, the
Federals controlled the Mississippi River, and the Confederates had been expelled
from most of Tennessee and much of Mississippi. Still, the heartland of the
Confederacy, stretching from Alabama through Georgia to the Carolinas, was
virtually untouched by the war. Atlanta, 125 miles southeast of Chattanooga, was
an important Confederate rail junction, a significant manufacturing city, and the
center of a belt of important manufacturing communities extending from Augusta,
Georgia, to Selma, Alabama. Four railroads met at Atlanta, linking the southern
Atlantic seaboard states with the western Confederacy (see figure 2). The Western
& Atlantic ran northwest to Chattanooga and was the axis along which the Atlanta
Campaign was fought. The Georgia Railroad ran east to Augusta, where it
connected with lines to Charleston, Raleigh, and Richmond. The Macon & Western
ran southeast, with connections to Savannah. Just south of Atlanta at East Point,
the Atlanta & West Point, which extended west into Alabama, diverged from the
Macon line. Atlanta’s factories produced iron, armor plate, railroad rails,
ammunition, pistols, uniforms, flour, and meat. Confederate government offices in
Atlanta included the Quartermaster, Commissary Department, the Signal Corps, and
the Railroad Transportation Office.”

Sherman had substantial resources to accomplish his mission. He commanded
100,000 soldiers at Chattanooga, divided among Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’s
Army of the Cumberland with 60,000 troops, Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson’s
Army of the Tennessee, 25,000 strong, and Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield’s 13,000-
man Army of the Ohio. Opposing the Federal force was the Army of Tennessee
under Gen. Joseph Johnston at Dalton, Georgia. Johnston received reinforcements

>8McPherson, 722.

A Ibert Castel, Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 (Lawrence: University
Press of Kansas, 1992), 69; B. H. Liddell-Hart, Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American (New York:
Praeger, 1958), 233-34; McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,” 7; Connelly, 369-70.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 47

a

did little manual labor because of their age; and, primarily in the west,
Native Americans.” Many regular CCC enrollees had little experience with
manual labor or construction techniques, and LEMs proved valuable to the
program. Age and marital status requirements did not apply to LEMs and World
War I veterans, and some, if married, lived outside of camps .TM*

ccc enrollments lasted six months and could be extended for a total of two
years service. Once the program was in place, Roosevelt authorized the second
six-month enrollment period, from October 1933 to March 1934, and hoped to
employee 300,000 regular enrollees, 25,000 veterans, and an equal number of
LEMs. In 1935, the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act extended Emergency
Conservation Work for two years to 1937, doubled its size to 600,000 men, and
relaxed age requirements; enrollees could enlist at seventeen years and remain
until age twenty-eight. By October 1933, the NPS operated 102 camps within
national parks, and the number of camps in state natural and recreation areas
nearly doubled the NPS operation.®

Two separate agendas existed, both administered by the National Park Service:
the make-over of existing national parks—especially the newly acquired
battlefields, historic sites, and national monuments—and the establishment or
revitalization of state recreation and natural areas. For many years,
conservationists and. preservationists agreed that increased visitation to
national parks threatened the integrity of these unique resources. Stephen T.
Mather, the first director for the NPS, consistently urged the development of
state parks with natural recreational areas that would act as buffers to the
national parks.*® The ccC significantly enlarged state park systems and
improved the condition of new and existing national parks.

833ohn A. Salmond, The CCC, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study (Durham, North
Carolina: Duke University Press, 1967), 34. John Paige refers to the LEMs as
locally employed men, but Salmond’s term better describes the roles these men
played in the ccc organization.

“paige, 9-15.

conrad L. Wirth, Parks, Politics, and the People (Norman, Oklahoma:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1980), 105; Paige, 15-19, 21; Norman T. Newton,
Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1971), 540. For example, in Georgia alone, the CCC
constructed nine state parks as cited in Lucy Ann Lawliss, "The Civilian
Conservation Corps and the State Park: An Approach to the Management of the
Designed Historic Landscape Resources at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine
Mountain, Georgia" (Master’s thesis, University of Georgia, 1992), 2.

%In 1921, Mather sponsored a state park conference to encourage the
development of state parks and to reduce the wear and tear on federal holdings
(Newton, 533).


HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

1-75
— [7 Kennesaw Mountain
Aewor th | National Battlefield Park
Kennesaw

Figure 1. Location of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park



NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 30

the Georgia Railroad, tearing up track along the way. Schofield was near
Decatur advancing on a road parallel to the railroad, and Thomas was beginning
to cross Peachtree Creek on a six-mile front. Hoping to capitalize on the
division of the Federal forces, Hood ordered Cheatham’s corps and Georgia
militia under Maj. Gen. G. W. Smith to hold Schofield and McPherson in place
while Stewart and Hardee surprised Thomas astride Peachtree Creek. The attack,
scheduled to begin at 1:00 P.M. on July 20, fell victim to delay and confusion.
Hood remained at his headquarters in Atlanta after issuing his orders, and
Hardee and Cheatham were unable to coordinate their assaults. When the attack
began, Thomas had virtually all of his troops on the south bank of the creek
and held off the disorganized Confederates in the Battle of Peachtree Creek.®

Undaunted, Hood ordered an attack on McPherson’s army for the 22nd. Hardee’s
corps was sent on a fifteen-mile night march to get in position on McPherson’s
left flank and rear. With simultaneous attacks by Cheatham’s corps from the
west und Hardee’s from the south and east, Hood hoped to roll up McPherson’s
left. The Confederates nearly succeeded in winning the Battle of Atlanta,
despite rushed preparations and inadequate coordination. Hardee was hampered
by densely wooded terrain and poor reconnaissance and was unable to get all of
his divisions engaged until late in the afternoon. Hood inexplicably delayed
the attack on Cheatham’s front until two hours after Hardee’s began. General
McPherson was killed in the battle, but the Federal lines held after some early
wavering.

Sherman was determined to capture the two rail lines—the Macon & Western and
the Atlanta & West Point—still in Confederate hands. The Macon & Western ran
south from Atlanta; at the town of East Point five miles away, the Atlanta &
West Point branched from it. Sherman sent cavalry detachments southeast around
his left flank to disrupt the Macon & Western deep in the Confederate rear.

The Army of the Tennessee, now commanded by Maj. Gen. Oliver 0. Howard, was
ordered on a broad movement counterclockwise around Atlanta to the right to
seize the junction at East Point and tear up the Atlanta & West Point.
Confederate cavalry turned aside the Federal cavalry raids, and Hood prepared a
trap for Howard’s advancing army. Stephen D. Lee’s corps was to delay the
Federals by taking a position along Lickskillet Road near Ezra Church, while
Stewart’s corps circled around to attack Howard’s right flank. When Lee
advanced on the morning of July 28, he found the Federals already entrenched.
Without consulting Hood or waiting for Stewart to move up, Lee committed his
divisions in a series of suicidal attacks. When Stewart arrived, his troops
made additional futile charges. The Battle of Ezra Church was the most one-
sided of the campaign. The Confederates suffered 5,000 casualties, almost ten
times the Federal loss.*

Sconnelly, 439-44; Kelly, 46.
“connelly, 444-50; Kelly, 48-50.

Sconnelly, 452-55; Kelly, 51.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 38

battlefield cemeteries prefigured the creation of national military parks some
twenty years later.®

A cemetery for Union dead was established in Marietta in 1866 on land donated
by the Henry G. Cole, a Marietta citizen who had opposed secession. Cole’s
initial proposal for a cemetery for the fallen of both sides was rejected, and
on July 31, 1866, he conveyed twenty acres to the Federal government for a
national cemetery. By 1870, the remains of 9,973 Union soldiers had been
transferred to Marietta National Cemetery. Remains came from the battlefields
of north Georgia and from a short-lived national cemetery in Montgomery,
Alabama.”

The formation of Civil War veterans’ organizations closely followed the
movement to establish cemeteries. These organizations formed earlier in the
North than in the South. The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), which emerged
as the largest and most influential of the many Union veterans’ groups, was
organized in Springfield, Illinois, in 1866. Drawing its membership from all
ranks of Union Civil War veterans, the GAR adopted a paramilitary structure.
Local posts or camps were organized into statewide departments, which were
presided over by a national commander-in-chief. Yearly national encampments
brought together veterans from hundreds of posts scattered across the country.
The GAR experienced an initial spurt of growth in the late 1860s, a period of
decline in the 1870s, and a substantial rebirth in the 1880s, reaching a peak
membership of 400,000 in 1890. In its mature phase, the GAR lobbied on issues
important to veterans, established old soldiers’ homes, sponsored monuments and
patriotic observances, and worked to create national battlefield parks.*

Although by far the largest, the GAR was not the only Union veterans’ group.
Several Federal army societies formed in the 1860s: the Society of the Army of
the Tennessee in 1865, the Society of the Army of the Cumberland in 1868, and
the Society of the Army of the Potomac in 1869. Other northern veterans’
groups restricted membership based on officer status or length of service.
Among these were the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (founded 1865), the
Union Veteran Legion (founded 1884), and the Union Veterans’ Union (founded

Ronald F. Lee, The Origin and Evolution of the National Military Park Idea
(Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, Office of Park Historic Preservation,
1973), 17-19; Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., Presence of the Past: A History of the
Preservation Movement in the United States Before Williamsburg (New York: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1965), 64.

‘mMarietta National Cemetery" (Washington, D.C.: Veterans Administration,
1976), 1-2; "Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta, Georgia" (Marietta, Ga.: Dept.
of the Army, Office of the Quartermaster General, n.d.), 1-3.

wallace E. Davies, Patriotism on Parade: the Story of Veterans’ and
Hereditary Organizations in America, 1783-1900 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1955), 29-35.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 44

a

preservation of natural and wilderness areas. Nevertheless, as early as 1917
the question of consolidating all historical and military parks under National
Park Service authority was debated.” The background of the NPS, its evolving
mission, and the development of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
with Civilian Conservation Corps labor are treated below.

Expansion and Development: National Park Service Administration

and the CCC, 1933-1942.

The national park system, well established in the west, experienced its
greatest growth east of the Mississippi just before and during the Great
Depression. Several factors contributed to this growth: the authorization of
Great Smoky Mountains, Mammoth Cave, and Shenandoah National Parks in 1926; the
establishment of Colonial National Monument and the reconstruction of
Washington’s birthplace in 1930; the construction of Skyline Drive begun in
1930-31; and finally, the 1933 transfer to NPS of all battlefields, national
monuments, and historic sites administered by the War Department, the
Department of Agriculture, and in-Washington, D.C. These developments
physically expanded the national park system and significantly enlarged NPS’s
agenda beyond conservation of natural areas.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), established March 31, 1933, under the
Federal Unemployment Relief Act, significantly facilitated the administration
and expansion of historic and natural parks by the National Park Service (NPS).
The CCC also represented a challenging experiment in social reform, which
spawned many subsequent New Deal programs. Through CCC projects, the 1933-1942
period saw a long-held conservation and preservation ethic toward public lands
enacted on a national scale, and the national parks benefitted broadly. CCC
improvements, which included building roads and trails and providing historic
interpretive programs, greatly increased public access. Reforestation, land
reclamation, and landscaping enhanced the natural beauty of emerging national
parks. In addition, many new state parks were developed, some adjacent to
national parks, to provide recreation areas for the increasing numbers of park
visitors.

The ccC represented a culmination of conservation philosophies, recreational
needs, and an expanding Federal role in natural preservation. The program was
heartily embraced by lawmakers and the public alike, because it responded
quickly and practically to the greatest economic disaster the United States had
yet experienced. Roosevelt conceived of an Advisory Council with
representatives from the Departments of War, Labor, Agriculture, and Interior
that would administer CCC camps and work. The Labor Department would initiate
nationwide recruiting; the Army would condition and transport the enrollees and

“Albright, Origins of National Park Service Administration of Historic Sites,

5.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 41

Newton’s three brigades attacked a westward-facing section of the Confederate
line just north of the salient. The Confederate trenches in this area were protected
by especially heavy abatis and a deep front ditch. The brigades of Brig. Gen.
Charles Harker on the right and Brig. Gen. George D. Wagner on the left made the
initial assault. To increase the chances of a breakthrough, the attack was in dense
columns with individual regiments lined up one behind the other. When the
Federals emerged from the last stand of light trees, the Confederates opened a
devastating fire. Infantry fire was supplemented by shell and canister from
Confederate artillery batteries. Both Federal brigades were easily repulsed, and only
a few attackers penetrated the abatis to the foot of the Confederate breastworks.
Harker, the only general to go into this battle mounted, was killed trying to rally
his men for a renewed attack. Newton then ordered Brig. Gen. Nathan Kimball’s
brigade, deployed on Wagner’s left, to advance. A handful of Kimball’s men
reached the parapet, where they were killed or captured.

Just south of Newton’s attack, two brigades of Davis’s division led by Cols.
Daniel McCook and John G. Mitchell assaulted the Dead Angle. McCook’s four
regiments, formed in line of battle, ran across an open field toward the salient,
hitting the toe in successive waves. Mitchell’s regiments, similarly aligned,
advanced and then wheeled to their left to attack the salient’s southern flank. As
soon as the Federals entered the wheat field in front of the Confederate position,
they came under infantry fire. The defensive fire became intense as the assault
force neared the breastworks. The Confederate battery south of the Dead Angle
suddenly caught Mitchell’s men in deadly enfilade fire. Some of the Federals
reached the Confederate trenches and briefly fought hand-to-hand before being killed
or captured. Colonel McCook was mortally wounded on the parapet near the toe
of the salient. His successor, Col. William Dilworth of the 85th Illinois regiment,
fell within five minutes of assuming brigade command.”

The placement of the Confederate salient on the highest part of the hill, rather
than the military crest, prevented even greater Federal casualties. Approximately
twenty-five yards below the salient, the hill drops off steeply before regaining its
gentle slope to the valley floor. The Federals, repulsed and unable to return to their
own works without incurring additional losses, fell back to the shelter provided by
this depression. There, they rapidly dug trenches, using tin cups and bayonets, and
improving the works at night with entrenching tools brought up from the rear. A
second Federal line was constructed and, later, an attempt was made to tunnel under
the Confederate works and destroy them with explosives (photograph 7). Several
cease-fires were observed in order to retrieve wounded and bury the dead that lay

“Castel, 307-15; Kelly, 37-40.


INTRODUCTION

DESCRIPTION OF KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (the Park) contains the site of some
of the fiercest fighting of the Civil War’s Atlanta Campaign. The Battle of Kolb’s
Farm on June 22, 1864, and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864,
failed to stem the advancing Union Army and represent the last major engagements
before the Confederates’ retreat across the Chattahoochee River. The 2,884-acre
park interprets the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain through museum exhibits, a slide
presentation, and a self-guiding auto tour of the battlefield. The park is located in
Cobb County, Georgia, three miles west of Marietta and twenty-three miles
northwest of Atlanta (see figure 1). It is irregularly shaped, measuring nearly seven
miles north to south and, at its widest point, only two miles east to west. Two state
routes, Dallas and Burnt Hickory Roads, intersect the park, dividing it into three
sections. Big and Little Kennesaw Mountains dominate the northern section, with
the remainder containing ridges and rolling hills characteristic of the Georgia
Piedmont region.

The patchwork of open fields and wooded areas that characterized this
agricultural area in 1864 is now decidedly more wooded, because most agricultural
production has ceased, and many fields have been released to forest succession.
Many infantry and artillery positions that were once situated in clearings with
commanding views of the landscape now stand in the midst of mature, second-
growth trees. The open fields maintained by the National Park Service (NPS),
located predominantly at the north end of the park, approximate the location of
earlier fields, but are smaller and less rectilinear.' Post-Civil War agricultural
practices, in which sloping fields were leveled and terraced to minimize erosion, are
still evident. In areas that represent some of the most significant action of the
battle, efforts have been made to rehabilitate and maintain the historic appearance

‘Emmet A. Nichols, “Historic Ground Cover — June 1864,” Map (Kennesaw Mountain, Ga.:
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1980).


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 35

antebellum land use patterns of the Upland Section of the Georgia Piedmont. The
rolling geography and rocky soil prevented the establishment of large-scale
plantations and also limited the need for a large slave work force. The typical
Cobb County farmstead comprised 50 to 150 acres. Subsistence farming
characterized antebellum Cobb County, with timber sales providing needed cash for
some farmers.

One family, the Hardages, settled early in Cobb County, along the Burnt
Hickory Road, south of Little Kennesaw. The family originally lived in a log
cabin, but over the course of twenty years it moved to several larger residences.
In 1853, George W. Hardage built a sawmill on Noyes Creek, paying eighteen
dollars an acre for the land. When the Union army invaded Cobb County in June
1864, Mrs. Hardage and her two youngest children fled to Stone Mountain. Some
family members remained until the fighting around Kennesaw Mountain intensified,
when they also sought refuge at Stone Mountain.*°

The Kennesaw Mountain troop movement maps illustrate the broad scale land
use and settlement patterns that characterized the setting of the battle in June
1864.5” Overall, the map shows the influence of the natural landforms upon land
use patterns and the siting of Confederate and Federal earthworks. Settlement and
agricultural land use, evidenced by the presence of structures, roadways, and open
fields, are shown concentrated in the flatter, low-lying areas of the battlefield. In
contrast, the slopes and ridges remain unimproved and uniformly forested. The
depiction of homesites, open fields, orchards, a school, churches, and a mill suggests
the diversity of land uses and spatial patterns in the area below the ridges at the
time of the battle. The circulation network exhibits a hierarchy of major and minor
roads. The major thoroughfares travel mainly east-west, crossing the prevailing
north-south ridge at its lowest points. A network of minor local roads is
concentrated in the low-lying areas, presumably to provide access to the individual
farmsteads and agricultural fields. Although the rocky slopes and crests of
Kennesaw Mountain were of little agricultural or settlement value, they gave the
Confederates a strong defensive position and visual command of the countryside.
The timber on the slopes and ridges provided both cover and material for the

55Thomas A. Scott, "Cobb County, Georgia, 1880-1900: A Socioeconomic Study of an Upper
Piedmont County" (Ph.D. diss., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1978), 5.

Scott, 19-21; James L. Aikman, “Kennesaw Sketches: A Collection of Descriptive Sketches and
Anecdotes Sidelighting the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain” (Atlanta: Southeast Regional Office,
National Park Service, 1941), 16-19.

S7Bearss, “Kennesaw Mountain Troop Movement Maps,” 1965-1966.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 11

Statement of Significance

This study evaluates the historic integrity and assesses the eligibility of the
park’s historic resources within two historic contexts identified by the survey
team. These contexts correspond to historic themes identified by the National
Park Service and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). The
thematic framework of the NPS is outlined in History and Prehistory in the
National Park System and the National Landmark Program. In addition to general
historical themes like "Military" and "Public Works," the Georgia SHPO has
identified twelve distinctive "aspects" of Georgia history. These aspects are
currently undeveloped but should be considered when assembling state and local
context studies.

The following two historic contexts have been developed for this study:

A. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign, May-
September 1864.

B. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: The Commemoration of
American Battlefields and National Park Development, 1887-1942.

Context A, "The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign, May-
September 1864," relates to the NPS subthemes "War in the West" and "Political
and Diplomatic Scene" of Theme VI, "The Civil War." Context A also relates to
one aspect of Georgia history, "Major Theater for the Civil War." Context A
examines the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain as one in a series of clashes during
Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, which began with Sherman’s march from Chattanooga
in May 1864 and ended with the capture of Atlanta in September of that year.
The context discusses military and political aspects of the Battle of Kennesaw
Mountain and Sherman’s successful execution of the Atlanta Campaign. The
context describes the battles fought at Kennesaw and discusses how military
strategy and tactics, developed through the course of the Civil War, were
employed at Kennesaw Mountain.

Context B, “Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: The Commemoration of
American Battlefields and National Park Development, 1887-1942," relates to the
NPS facets "Battlefield Preservation" and "The National Park Service and the
New Deal" of the subtheme "The Federal Government Enters the Movement, 1884-
1949" of Theme XXXIII, "Historic Preservation." National battlefield
commemoration stemmed from efforts by veterans groups to honor both the men
that fought and died during the Civil War, and the places where they fought.
Following these efforts, the Federal government sought protection of these
sites through the development of national battlefield parks and national
cemeteries. Context B examines the commemoration of Civil War battlefields,
beginning with the efforts of veterans at the close of the Civil War and
culminating with the establishment and subsequent development of national
battlefield parks by the National Park Service. The narrative traces the
activities of private commemorative associations at Kennesaw from the 1880s




INTRODUCTION 9

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1938 to 1942. However, those extant
structures are reminders of the park’s development history.

THE SETTING OF THE BATTLE OF KENNESAW MOUNTAIN

During the middle of the nineteenth century, small farms surrounded Kennesaw,
reflecting typical antebellum land-use patterns of the Georgia Piedmont. These
farms consisted of fifty to 150 acres.'' The rocky soil supported sturdy crops, such
as grains, and some farms contained orchards. Dwellings were generally small, one-
story, frame or log structures. Farm complexes contained yards and several
outbuildings, including barns and smokehouses. Dirt roads and smaller dirt lanes
meandered throughout the area.'”

In June 1864, Confederate and Union forces transformed this landscape into a
line of battle more than eight miles long. The lines ran east to west for a short
distance from a point east of Big Kennesaw and then curved around the west face
of the mountain and ran south to a point beyond the Powder Springs Road. The
Confederates, who chose the site, had more time to construct their field
fortifications than did the advancing Union army. The substantial nature of these
works reflects their importance in the Confederates’ defensive strategy. Placed
along high ground, these earthworks consisted of essentially a single infantry line
punctuated with artillery positions at key points. In some areas, notably Cheatham
Hill, secondary lines were erected for support, and artillery pieces were sited on the
crests of Big and Little Kennesaw. The Federal forces constructed defenses
composed of a series of overlapping lines supported with artillery emplacements,
rather than a continuous line. Both sides had rifle pits for skirmishers in advance
of their main entrenchments. Vast numbers of trees were cut to clear paths of fire
and to construct the earthworks. The forested ridges provided material for head
logs, revetments, and obstacles that slowed the enemy advance. The hilltops were
thinned or cleared to provide artillery with a wider field of fire.

Among the many miles of earthworks are several features that are sophisticated
examples of earthwork technology. The Federal twenty-four-gun emplacement and
the Confederate fieldworks at Little Kennesaw Mountain, Pigeon Hill, Cheatham
Hill, and Strahl’s Fort typify earthen fortifications employed throughout the Atlanta
Campaign (see Appendix B). The historic integrity of these fieldworks provides a
visible link with the events that necessitated their creation (photographs 2 and 3).

“Thomas A. Scott, “Cobb County, Georgia, 1880-1900: A Socioeconomic Study of an Upper
Piedmont County” (Ph.D. diss., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1978), 5.

"Nichols, “Historic Ground Cover — June 1864.”


vi

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

FIGURES

Location of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

The Atlanta Campaign.............

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.............

Original 60-acre tract at Kennesaw Mountain .............

Route of Cheatham Hill Drive .

. 27

. 60

. 75


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 23

held the right, Loring’s the center, and Hardee’s the left. The crests of Big
and Little Kennesaw were cleared of timber to accommodate artillery
emplacements and observation stations. A network of trenches for infantry and
earthen forts, or redoubts, for supporting artillery lined the lower slopes of
the ridge. Earthen parapets protected the infantry trenches. Immediately
beyond the parapets were front ditches and abatis, and farther in advance were
rifle pits for skirmishers, who observed the enemy and gave warning of an
attack.

As was his habit, Sherman ordered the bulk of his troops to dig in close to the
enemy line, while he probed both flanks of the Confederate position. McPherson
positioned his Army of the Tennessee on the left, Thomas’s Army of the
Cumberland held the middle, and Schofield’s Army of the Ohio was on the right.
On June 20, a Federal cavalry sortie across Noonday Creek east of the railroad
on the Confederate right flank was checked by three brigades of southern
cavalry. Simultaneously, Sherman ordered Schofield’s Army of the Ohio to
continue trying to envelop Johnston’s left flank by moving to the south.
Johnston learned that the Federals were pressing Hardee’s corps on the
Confederate left and threatening to seize the Powder Springs Road, an important
route to the Chattahoochee. To counter this southward shift of Federal forces,
Johnston ordered Hood to remove his corps from the right and march it behind
the Confederate lines to reinforce and extend the left on the night of June 21.
Loring’s corps shifted to the right, joining Confederate cavalry in manning the
positions abandoned by Hood’s troops.

Cobb County in 1864

The Union and Confederate forces entering Cobb County disrupted a lightly
settled agricultural community composed largely of white farmer-landowners.
Settlement in the area grew after the 1829 discovery of gold in the north
Georgia mountains, near Dahlonega, and encouraged the Georgia legislature to
establish Cobb County in 1832. The 1836-1838 removal of the Cherokees from
Georgia west to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) greatly expanded
the county’s white settlement. Enterprising land owners bought land lots,
consisting of 160 acres, and gold lots, with forty acres. The majority of the
county was distributed in gold lots, although gold discoveries proved
insignificant and short-lived. In 1838, the state legislature guaranteed the
bonds for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, established by Joseph E. Brown.
This rail line, which connected Atlanta and Chattanooga, was completed in 1850
and contributed to Marietta’s growth as a summer resort community. At the same
time, some industrial activity, particularly in Roswell, Georgia, identified
Cobb County as a promising textile manufacturing center.“ Despite this modest

Kelly, 24; Connelly, 357; McMurry, "The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain," 35.
BKelly, 24-26; Connelly, 358-59.

4Roswell was later made a part of Fulton County.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 7 Page 1

ee

Description of Historic Resources

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park contains the site of some of the
fiercest fighting of the Civil War’s Atlanta Campaign. The Battle of Kolb’s
Farm on June 22, 1864, and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864,
failed to stem the advancing Union Army and represent the last major
engagements before the Confederates’ retreat across the Chattahoochee River.
The 2,884-acre park interprets the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain through museum
exhibits, a slide presentation, and a self-guiding auto tour of the
battlefield. The park is located in Cobb County, Georgia, three miles west of
Marietta and twenty-three miles northwest of Atlanta. It is irregularly
shaped, measuring nearly seven miles north to south and, at its widest point,
only two miles east to west. Two state routes, Dallas and Burnt Hickory Roads,
intersect the park, dividing it into three sections. Big and Little Kennesaw
Mountains dominate the northern section, with the remainder containing ridges
and rolling hills characteristic of the Georgia Piedmont region.

The patchwork of open fields and wooded areas that characterized this
agricultural area in 1864 is now decidedly more wooded, because most
agricultural production has ceased, and many fields have been released to
forest succession. Many infantry and artillery positions that were once
situated in clearings with commanding views of the landscape now stand in the
midst of mature, second-growth trees. The open fields maintained by the
National Park Service (NPS), located predominantly at the north end of the
park, approximate the location of earlier fields, but are smaller and less
rectilinear.' Post-Civil War agricultural practices,-in which sloping fields
were leveled and terraced to minimize erosion, are still evident. In areas
that represent some of the most significant action of the battle, efforts have
been made to rehabilitate and maintain the historic appearance of the
landscape.? The NPS maintains approximately half of the open field below
Cheatham Hill, which Federal forces ascended in their doomed assault.’

\pmmet A. Nichols, "Historic Ground Cover—June 1864," Map (Kennesaw Mountain,
Ga.: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1980).

2In 1935, Civil Works Administration laborers under the guidance of the NPS
engaged in an effort to rehabilitate overgrown and abandoned agricultural fields
and establish meadows in the Cheatham Hill vicinity, see Michael Capps, Kennesaw
Mountain National Battlefield Park: An Administrative History (Atlanta: National
Park Service, Southeast Region, Cultural Resources Planning Division, 1994), 16.
In addition, the NPS assigns Special Use Permits to local agricultural concerns
that raise hay in the open fields.

3"General Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, Kennesaw Mountain
National Battlefield Park" (Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast Regional
Office, 1985), 10.


64 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Site, which still constituted the only
property administered by the Federal government at the battlefield.'*

The June 1926 legislation made the War Department responsible for surveying
all of the nation’s battlefields. Using a classification system created by Lt. Col. C.
A. Bach, Chief, Historical Section, Army War College, in 1925, the department,
armed with survey data, would determine which sites should be considered for
national military park status (Class I); those that would be designated by marking
the lines of battle (Class Ila); and those that would receive only a monument or
marker from the U. S. government (Class IIb). The War Department conducted the
national survey between 1926 and 1932 and by 1929 had recommended the
establishment of two Class I battlefields, nine Class Ila, and fifty Class IIb sites.’

For the War Department, this classification system determined how large an area
would be preserved and the extent of interpretive or commemorative efforts. Most
battlefields, especially Revolutionary War sites, received Class IIb classifications,
which recommended some type of monumentation to mark the battlefield site.
Class Ila battlefields, like Kennesaw, required the acquisition and marking of the
battle lines, clearly delineated at Kennesaw by the miles of earthworks constructed
by Union and Confederate forces. This preservation tactic, popularly known as “the
Antietam Plan,” preserved the smallest amount of land possible that enabled the War
Department to interpret the battle’s primary action. The Antietam Plan assumed that
the countryside adjacent to abandoned battlefields would remain rural without
requiring War Department ownership and responsibility for the land.'°°

The War Department accomplished very little at Kennesaw Mountain over the
five years it actively administered the site. Because the site was never designated
a national military park, no additional land acquisition occurred beyond the original
sixty acres. Between 1928 and 1932, the superintendent of Marietta National
Cemetery administered the battlefield, but few funds were available for improvement
or maintenance at Kennesaw.

Despite plans for roads, better fencing, underbrush clearing near the monument
and trenches, and partial reconstruction of the earthworks, the War Department
accomplished very little work prior to the site’s transfer to the NPS.'°” In 1932, the
War Department appointed Benjamin Jones, son of the previous caretaker, the

‘Capps, 8-10; Horace M. Albright, Origins of National Park Service Administration of Historic
Sites (Philadelphia: Eastern National Park & Monument Association, 1971), 21-22.

Lee, 47-49.
‘Lee, 39-40.

‘Capps, 7-8.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE CIVIL WAR 19

In defiance of Federal court decisions, many were held without charge and denied
the writ of habeas corpus.”

On the western front in late 1862 and 1863, the Confederates attempted to
retake Tennessee, while the Federals sought to capture Vicksburg. The advance of
the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg into Middle
Tennessee was repulsed at the Battle of Stones River (December 31, 1862-January
2, 1863) by Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Federal Army of
the Cumberland. Rosecrans pushed the Confederates out of Middle Tennessee
during June and July, and captured Chattanooga in September. Rosecrans’s pursuit
of Bragg’s army was thwarted at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20,
1863) in northwest Georgia. Rosecrans retreated to Chattanooga, where the Federal
forces remained bottled up until November. Under Grant’s leadership, they broke
the Confederate stranglehold on the city with victories at Lookout Mountain
(November 24, 1863) and Missionary Ridge (November 25, 1863).

The long Federal siege of Vicksburg had ended on July 4, 1863, when Grant,
commanding the Army of the Tennessee, occupied the city. The loss of Vicksburg
and of Port Hudson on July 9, the last remaining Southern strongholds on the
Mississippi, was a serious blow to the Confederacy. With Vicksburg’s fall, Texas,
Arkansas, and most of Louisiana were cut off from the rest of the Confederacy.
Troops, provisions, and fresh horses from the Trans-Mississippi region were no
longer available to the main southern armies. Along with the capture of
Chattanooga and the defeat of Lee’s second invasion of the North at the Battle of
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1-3, 1863), the fall of Vicksburg lifted Northern
morale and strengthened the Republican Party in 1863’s state and local elections.
Republicans interpreted their election successes as an endorsement of the
administration’s policies, particularly emancipation.’*

The presidential election year of 1864 brought the greatest test of Lincoln’s
leadership and northern commitment to the war. Federal control of the Mississippi
and an ever tighter blockade put severe strains on the Confederacy. Confederate
hopes for foreign recognition had dwindled following the failure of Lee’s invasions
in 1862 and 1863. However, northern casualties had been very high, and important
areas of the South remained untouched by war. Repeated Federal campaigns had
failed to capture Richmond. Atlanta, a critical railroad center, also remained in
southern hands. In March 1864, Lincoln promoted Grant to the rank of lieutenant
general and placed him in command of all Federal armies. Grant moved east to
personally supervise the operations of the Army of the Potomac and put Maj. Gen.

4McPherson, 288-89, 610-11.

25McPherson, 591-97, 600, 666, 687-88.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 34

el

standard of integrity as one that derives its significance from Criterion C, as
an example of art or architecture. For a property to contribute to the
historic district, it must possess several, and usually most, of the aspects of
integrity.

The integrity of the earthworks varies from feature to feature. All earthworks
retain integrity of location, and most exhibit integrity of design, setting,
materials, feeling, and association. In the best cases, a front and rear ditch
and a well-defined parapet wall may be visible. Most of the earthworks are in
stable condition, with grasses and other benign understory growth checking
erosion. In limited areas, the integrity of the earthworks has been
compromised, largely because of erosion or visitor impacts. For example, on
Kennesaw Mountain and its ‘spur, trails pass through the earthworks to provide
access for visitors. In other areas, particularly among the artillery
positions located along the ridgelines, the protective foliage covering the
works has been killed by visitors walking along the crest of the parapet walls.
All earthworks within the bounds of the park retain integrity as archeological
resources that are likely to yield further information.

The Kolb House exhibits a high degree of integrity of design, workmanship, and
association. The NPS in 1963 rehabilitated the exterior to its 1830s

appearance, removing later clapboard siding to reveal the original hewn logs. @
Most of the original 1830s historic fabric was retained in the rehabilitation.

The interior, although adapted to serve as park quarters, still reflects the
original Georgian plan. Integrity of setting and feeling have been compromised

by the loss of surrounding farm acreage and outbuildings and the development of
Powder Springs Road into a five-lane arterial road. However, the house remains

in its original location and clearly identifies the historically significant

site.

Kolb Cemetery, which contains eleven marked graves, retains integrity of
location, design, materials, workmanship, and association. Integrity of
setting and feeling are lessened slightly by the loss of farm outbuildings and
heavy traffic on Powder Springs Road. New Salem Cemetery, containing
approximately twenty-four marked graves, has substantial integrity of location,
design, setting, materials, feeling, and association. The church foundation
ruins possess integrity of location and setting and mark the site of a building
present at the time of the battle and possibly used as a Confederate fiela
hospital.

Stilesboro, Dallas, and Burnt Hickory Roads exhibit integrity of location and
design. Although paved and widened, they maintain their nineteenth-century
roadbeds. Where they pass through the battlefield, these roads possess
considerable integrity of setting, feeling, and association, allowing visitors
to understand how troops reached their positions before and during the battle.
Gilbert and Old John Ward Roads also retain a substantial degree of integrity.

Several properties that contribute to the significance of the historic district
under Context A also meet various Criteria Considerations. The Kolb and Old


INTRODUCTION 5

facilities. This HRS and associated survey documentation will provide park
management with information on historic structures, an interpretive framework for
the park, and updated National Register documentation.

For the purpose of updating the National Register nomination, the Kennesaw
Mountain battlefield is classified as a National Register historic district, following
the guidelines established in National Register Bulletins 16 and 40.’ The district
boundary matches the boundary of the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
Park, finalized in 1947 (see Historical Base Map, Appendix D).’ Most of the
battlefield and nearly all of the areas where significant action occurred are included
within this boundary. Areas associated with the battle that lie beyond the park
boundary maintain little or no historic integrity and are not eligible for listing in the
National Register or are outside the jurisdiction of the NPS, especially roadways,
railroads, or private property holdings.

Several islands of residentially developed land are located within the park’s
perimeter boundary. These islands are excluded from the park’s legal boundary and
create a complex National Register boundary. Typically, nonhistoric or
incompatibly developed areas located within continuous National Register boundaries
would be included in a boundary, but labeled as noncontributing elements or
intrusions. For national parks, the legislated park boundary will usually serve as the
National Register boundary delineating the park as a district, as an individual
property, or a group of multiple properties. At Kennesaw, the developed islands are
privately owned post-World War II residential subdivisions that no longer maintain
historic structural or landscape integrity. The NPS will not pursue acquisition of
these islands and has no jurisdiction over these properties.

Two other types of properties of potential historic significance to the Battle of
Kennesaw Mountain or local history but excluded from the proposed National
Register boundary are transportation corridors and adjacent private property. The
widening of Powder Springs Road in 1985-86 significantly altered the historic
appearance, location, feeling, and setting associated with this resource, making it
ineligible for National Register listing. Other important roads within the park,
particularly Burnt Hickory, Dallas, and Stilesboro Roads, played pivotal roles in the
battle and maintain most elements of historic integrity. Any alteration to these

“Capps, passim, 5-56.

"National Register Bulletin 16A: Guidelines for Completing National Register of Historic Places
Forms (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1991), 56-57; National Register Bulletin 40:
Guidelines for Identifying, Evaluating, and Registering America’s Historic Battlefields (Washington,
D.C.: National Park Service, 1992), 13-16.

*Capps, 8-14.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 32

Farragut’s August 5 victory at Mobile Bay and Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s
successes in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in September and October, the capture
of Atlanta deprived the Democrats of their war failure issue. The Republicans
fully exploited the implications of the Democrats’ peace platform and made
repeated accusations of disloyalty. Democrats tried to emphasize opposition to
emancipation but made little headway. Believing that a final military victory
was at hand, northern voters gave the Republicans an overwhelming electoral
victory in November. McClellan carried only Kentucky, Delaware, and New
Jersey, and the Republicans won a three-fourths majority in the Congress.
Sherman’s success in Georgia was a major factor in Lincoln’s reelection.”

Vindicated at the polls, Lincoln and the Republican Party pursued the war to a
successful conclusion. After destroying Atlanta and expelling its citizens,
Sherman in mid-November began his march to the sea, devastating a sixty-mile-
wide corridor across Georgia and capturing Savannah in late 1864. Richmond
fell in early April 1865; Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at
Appomattox Court House on April 9; and all remaining Confederate forces,
_including those west of the Mississippi, had surrendered by June 23. The war
was over, and the country turned its attention to problems of reconciliation
and reconstruction.

Kennesaw Mountain After the War @
After the armies left, families gradually returned to their farms and attempted
to restore their livelihoods. However, by 1880, changes in southern
agricultural practices had affected the community and the countryside.

Tenantry greatly increased among Cobb County farms and throughout the South.
Between 1880 and 1900, the use of tenants on Cobb County farms rose from 34
percent to 56 percent. Landowners carved up their land tracts, that had
averaged 112 acres per farm, to lots of seventy-two acres or less, to better
accommodate the tenant farmer and to increase the number of farms available for
tenantry. Improved acreage increased by 31 percent in these twenty years. The
county population also rose considerably, from 14,242 in 1860 to 24,664 in
1900. Together, smaller farms and higher population density created a
patchwork of cultivated fields, pastures, and orchards that replaced the
woodlands and forests of the antebellum period.

Significance
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is the*only National Park Service

property that commemorates the Atlanta Campaign. This campaign had important
military and political significance in the final phases of the Civil War. The

“McPherson, 773-75, 788-91, 805-6.
“McPherson, 846-50; Foote, 1021-22.

‘Iscott, 5-6, 22-26; Sarah B. G. Temple, The First Hundred Years: A Short
History of Cobb County in Ga., 6th ed. (Athens, Georgia: A. G. Publishers, 1989),

7.




NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 9 Page 57

Morison, Samuel E. The Oxford History of the American People. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1965.

National Register Bulletin 16A: Guidelines for Completing National Register of
Historic Places Forms. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1991.

National Register Bulletin 40: Guidelines for Identifying, Evaluating, and
Registering America’s Historic Battlefields. Washington, D.C.: National
Park Service, 1992.

Newton, Norman T. Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape
Architecture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971.

Nichols, Emmet A. "Historic Ground Cover - June 1864." Map. Kennesaw
Mountain, Ga.: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1980.

Paige, John Cc. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service,
1933-1942: An Administrative History. Denver: National Park Service,
Denver Service Center, 1985.

Paige, John C., and Jerome A. Green. Administrative History of Chickamauga and
e@ Chattanooga National Military Park. Denver: National Park Service, Denver
Service Center, 1983.
"Resource Management Plan, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park."
Unpublished draft. Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast Regional
Office, 1991.

Rushin-Bell, CarolJo. A History of the Pocket Recreation Are. Armuchee Ranger
District, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests. Atlanta: U. Ss.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1984.

Salmond, John A. The CCC, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study. Durham, N.C.:
Duke University Press, 1967.

Scott, Thomas A. "Cobb County, Georgia, 1880-1900: A Socioeconomic Study of an
Upper Piedmont County." Ph.D. diss., University of Tennessee, Knoxville,
1978.

Sears, Stephen W. George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. New York: Ticknor
& Fields, 1988.

Shannon, David A. Twentieth Century America: The Twenties and Thirties. Vol.
2. Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing Company, 1974.

Sherman, W. T. Memoirs of W. T. Sherman. New York: Library of America, 1990.

Stapleton, Richard M. "Greed vs. Green," National Parks 66, no. 11-12, 32-33.


CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURES LIST A-3

with board siding. The ruin, which lies west of an old roadbed, consists of two
geometric outlines that formed the foundation. One is rectangular and the other is
square-shaped, approximately twelve inches high. The twenty-four graves noted are
clustered mostly to the south; some are marked by head and foot stones. No
conclusive evidence concerning the age of the graves has been discovered. Local
tradition has it that the church was used as a field hospital during the Atlanta
campaign; the church’s location behind the Confederate lines near the scene of
action at Pigeon Hill lends credence to the tradition.

Illinois Monument: This monument, erected in 1914, consists of a twenty-five
foot battered marble shaft rising from an eight-foot-square base. The marble is
inscribed on three sides, with the west elevation dominated by three bronze figures:
a Union soldier flanked by two classical female figures. Situated on the crest of
Cheatham Hill, the monument overlooks a small plaza and two flights of marble
steps to the west. An eagle perched above the figures on the west elevation was
damaged by lightning in 1984. In 1991, the eagle was restored atop the monument.

Union Tunnel Marker: This is a 5 x 3 foot marble arch marking the tunnel
entrance Union troops excavated in an attempt to breach the Confederate works at
Cheatham Hill. The inscribed keystone describes the tunnel’s purpose. It is located
at the foot of the Illinois monument and is flanked by a dry-stack stone wall.

McCook Brigade Marker: This is a 24 x 24 x 15 inch rectangular granite
marker located at the point where McCook’s Brigade began its assault, as described
on the marker’s beveled face. Currently, the marker is located north of a foot path,
on a wooded knoll, but was moved to this location from some point further south,
circa 1935-39.

C. H. Coffey Marker: This marker is a 2 x 1 x 3 foot plain marble tablet
indicating the place where C. H. Coffey was mortally wounded during the Federal
assault on Cheatham Hill. It is located approximately 300 feet north of the salient
at the crest of the hill.

Fellows Marker: This is a 1 x 2 x 2 foot rectangular white marker with a
beveled face bearing the inscription: “Captain W.W. Fellows/Inspector General/3rd
Brigade Second Division/ 14th A.C.” It is located on Cheatham Hill east of the
Illinois Monument.

Grave of the Unknown U. S. Soldier: This is a 1 x 2 x 3 foot marble
headstone inscribed: “Unknown/U. S. Soldier/June 27, 1864.” — Civil Works
Administration laborers discovered the grave, in 1934, while they cleared the
surrounding area of vegetation and planted trees. Located southeast of the
Cheatham Hill salient, the grave is enclosed by a split rail fence. It is the only
known Civil War interment at the park.

Cheatham Hill Drive: This is a one-mile, two-lane narrow asphalt-covered
road constructed in 1939-40 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The road is


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0013

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 31

a

Hood’s three battles in a week’s time cost the Confederates more than 12,000
casualties. Sherman had failed to cut the rail lines but showed no sign of
retreating, and the Federals brought up heavy siege guns to bombard Atlanta.
Jefferson Davis virtually ordered Hood to make no more attacks on entrenched
Federal positions. Hood extended his entrenchments to cover the railroad from
Atlanta to East Point. On August 10, Hood sent half his cavalry, about 4,000
men, on a raid deep in Sherman’s rear to disrupt Federal supplies. The raid
had negligible results, and the lack of cavalry hampered Hood’s ability to
track Sherman’s movements around Atlanta. Throughout August, Federal artillery
rained down on the city, while the North waited for favorable war news.*

Northern civilian morale was at a low ebb in August 1864. Grant at Petersburg
and Sherman at Atlanta were engaged in trench warfare of unpredictable
duration. Federal armies had absorbed staggering casualties in 1864~90,000 in
one three-month period-to achieve what appeared to be a stalemate. Lincoln’s
July draft call for 500,000 more men added to the discontent. In late August,
the Democrat Party nominated Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan for president on a
platform that emphasized peace over restoration of the Union. Privately,
President Lincoln predicted a Democratic victory in the fall. Absent a
decisive victory for Federal arms, the election of McClellan on a peace
platform was a strong possibility.”

Mindful that Lincoln’s reelection effort depended on Federal victories and
impatient with the slow progress of the siege, Sherman in late August abandoned
his lines around Atlanta. On August 26, all three Federal armies began a giant
wheeling movement counterclockwise around Atlanta aimed at finally tearing up
the Atlanta & West Point and Macon & Western tracks south of the city. With
much of his cavalry off on a raid, Hood was slow to grasp the dimensions of
this shift. On August 30, Hood learned that Howard’s Army of the Tennessee was
approaching Jonesboro from the west, fifteen miles south of Atlanta. Hood sent
Hardee’s and S. D. Lee’s corps to meet this threat. On August 31, the first
day of the Battle of Jonesboro, a numerically superior Confederate force was
unable to break the Federal lines. That night, Hood ordered Lee’s corps back
to Atlanta. A late-afternoon Federal assault on September 1 nearly crushed
Hardee’s corps, which retreated south to Lovejoy’s Station. Federal troops now
controlled all the railroads into Atlanta, and Hood was compelled to abandon
the city. In their hasty withdrawal, the Confederates accidently destroyed
their reserve ammunition train and numerous other supplies. Sherman wired
Washington that "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won."*

The fall of Atlanta provided a huge boost to Northern morale and a
corresponding letdown for the South. Combined with Rear Adm. David G.

Sconnelly, 456-58.
‘McPherson, 766-72.

Kelly, 51-52; Connelly, 461-64.


86 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Good, Albert H. Park and Recreation Structures. Boulder, Colorado: Graybooks,
1990.

Hicks, John D. The Federal Union: A History of the United States to 1877. 3d ed.
Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1957.

History of the Confederated Memorial Associations of the South. New Orleans:
Confederated Southern Memorial Association, 1904.

Hosmer, Charles B. Presence of the Past: A History of the Preservation Movement
in the United States Before Williamsburg. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons,
1965.

Journal of the Illinois Historical Society 4 (Jan. 1912): 531.

Kelly, Dennis. Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign. Atlanta: Susan
Hunter Publishing, 1990.

. “Map of the Battlefields of Kennesaw Mountain and Kolb’s Farm,
Georgia,” Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia: Kennesaw Mountain National
Historical Association, Inc., 1993.

Lawliss, Lucy Ann. “The Civilian Conservation Corps and the State Park: An
Approach to the Management of the Designed Historic Landscape Resources at
Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain, Georgia.” Master’s thesis,
University of Georgia, 1992.

Laws of the State of Illinois Enacted by the Forty-Eighth General Assembly.
Springfield, Ill.: Illinois State Journal Co., 1913.

Lee, Ronald F. The Origin and Evolution of the National Military Park Idea.
Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, Office of Park Historic Preservation,
1973.

Liddell-Hart, B. H. Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American. New York: Praeger,
1958.

“Marietta National Cemetery.” Washington, D.C.: Veterans Administration, 1976.


6 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

roads would affect adjacent park property and require use of park right-of-way or
easements. Thus, these roads are included in the National Register nomination.
The CSX railroad corridor is also significant to the history of the battle; however,
private ownership of this resource deters the NPS from nominating it. The NPS
recognizes the historic significance of this resource and others in the immediate
vicinity of the park and will encourage state, local, and private efforts to ensure
their preservation.

SUMMARY OF IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION METHODS
Survey Methodology

The goals of the historic resource survey of the park are to 1) update the List of
Classified Structures (LCS) database for the park for use by park management; 2)
prepare a Historic Resource Study for the park; 3) update National Register
documentation for the park; 4) assemble a comprehensive survey of structures
consisting of completed Georgia State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) survey
forms, when applicable, and a photographic record for each structure built prior to
1950 and considered eligible for listing in the National Register. This
documentation will be used in complying with Sections 106 and 110 of the Historic
Preservation Act of 1966.

Initially, the survey team examined building files, maintenance records, historic
research compiled by the park staff, and maps located at the park headquarters. The
field survey of the park yielded information on the present condition of the historic
resources. Additionally, the team reviewed archival materials at the Southeast
Regional Office of the National Park Service. Research with primary and secondary
sources was conducted at the park library and the Atlanta Historical Society to
obtain information relating to the historic appearance of the landscape and the
development of the park. The Cobb County Public Library and the Illinois State
Historical Library supplied information on commemorative activity. The survey
team relied heavily on unpublished studies of the park compiled by independent
researchers and park staff.

The earthwork field survey methodology differed from standard LCS procedure
because it did not attempt to record all the earthen structural features known to exist
within the park boundaries. The previous LCS included all earthwork structures and
features as one LCS entry. Although park staff field verified battery and gun
positions within the park, none of the field information was entered onto the LCS.
The survey team determined that the earthworks should be grouped in smaller units:
for example, a cohesive infantry line could delineate one unit; individual features
within lines, such as batteries or redoubts, would be treated separately; and
earthworks, both entire lines and individual features, also would constitute a single
LCS entry and would be identified by their topographic location or their importance


A-2 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

concrete foundation. There are eleven marked graves with marble headstones that
date from 1839 to 1955. The oldest grave, that of Peter Valentine Kolb, consists
of a small pillar on a square base in the center of the graveyard. The pillar is
loosened from the base and could pose a safety hazard.

Stilesboro Road: This is a two-lane asphalt-covered state route located on the
northern park boundary, south of the CSX Railroad (formerly the Western &
Atlantic) Railroad. Approximately one-and-one-half miles of the road lie within the
park. The road runs east and west. According to historical base maps and reports
in The War of the Rebellion: A Computation of the Official Records of the Union
and Confederate Armies, Federal troops and earthworks lay astride the Stilesboro
Road. As the Federals prepared to initiate their mountain diversion, they moved
across the road toward the entrenched Confederates.

Gilbert Road: This is a one-mile gravel road, one-and-one-half lanes wide,
that is located between Stilesboro Road and Old Mountain Road and is oriented
primarily north and south. Only 600 feet lie within the park boundary, and on this
segment, the road turns east out of the park. An extension of this road continues
south and is utilized by park maintenance staff.

Old John Ward Road: This is a 20- to 22-foot-wide packed gravel
maintenance road, formerly known as John Ward Road. It begins at Dallas Road
and proceeds south out of the park to intersect with New John Ward Road.

Dallas Road: This is a two-lane asphalt-covered state route that runs east and
west for a distance of one-half mile within the park. The road is located in the
southern part of the park and serves park visitors and Cobb County commuters.
Dallas Road provides access to Cheatham Hill and facilitated troop movements.
Several earthworks are located within the right-of-way of this road.

Burnt Hickory Road: This is a two-lane asphalt-covered state route that runs
east and west and marks the north-south midpoint of the park. Several earthworks
are located in the right-of-way of this road, including those on Pigeon Hill. Reports
in the Official Records document troop movements along this road. Approximately
two miles of this road lie within the park boundaries.

Big Kennesaw Antebellum Road: This is a steep, 10- to 15-foot-wide unpaved
road that ascends the east face of Big Kennesaw Mountain and ends just below the
crest. The road, which was used by the Confederate Army, is not maintained or
interpreted by the park. Although trees have taken root in the roadbed, the road is
still visible.

New Salem Church Site: This site consists of a stone foundation ruin,
probably granite, and a cemetery of unidentified and largely unmarked graves. A
church clearly existed on this site at the time of the battle because it appears on a
manuscript map prepared by an unknown Confederate engineer in 1864. An oral
history interview conducted in the 1940s described the church as a frame building


APPENDIX C
NATIONAL REGISTER FORM


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
hame of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 7 Page 9

a

C. H. Coffey Marker: This marker, erected circa 1914, is a 2- x 1- x 3-foot
marble tablet indicating the place where C. H. Coffey was mortally wounded
during the Federal assault on Cheatham Hill. It is located approximately 300
feet north of the salient at the crest of the hill. (IDLCS 90139; object)

Fellows Marker: This is a 1- x 2- x 2-foot rectangular white marker with a
beveled face bearing the inscription: "Captain W. W. Fellows/Inspector
General/3rd Brigade Second Division/ 14th A.c." It was erected circa 1914 and
is located on Cheatham Hill east of the Illinois Monument. (IDLCS 12178;
previously listed; object)

Grave of the Unknown U. S. Soldier: This is a 1- x 2- x 3-foot marble
headstone inscribed: "Unknown/U. S. Soldier/June 27, 1864." Civil Works
Administration laborers discovered the grave, in 1934, while clearing the
surrounding area of vegetation. Located southeast of the Cheatham Hill
salient, the grave is enclosed by a split rail fence. It is the only known
Civil War interment at the park. (IDLCS 12179; previously listed; object)

Cheatham Hill Drive: This is a one-mile, two-lane narrow asphalt-covered road
constructed in 1939-40 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The road is located
adjacent to the Confederate earthworks, situated south of Dallas Road, and ends
at a parking area just north of Mebane’s Battery near the Cheatham Hill
salient. The gently curving road largely follows natural contours and avoids
impacting the earthworks. This road, the only one completed by the CCC in the
park, provided much-needed visitor access to the area and helped retain the
integrity of the earthworks. (IDLCS 90156; structure)

Bight red brick entrance signs: Constructed by the CCC between 1938 and 1942,
each sign bears a cast iron plaque inscribed, "National Park Service/Kennesaw
Mountain National Battlefield Park/United States Department of the Interior."
Each measures 9 x 6 x 2 feet, has a slightly broader base than shaft and
quoining at the ends, and possesses a concrete cap and foundation. All have
metal plaques painted brown with white lettering. The signs are located at
every point where an east-west state route intersects a park boundary except
the western park boundary on Powder Springs Road. (IDLCS 91332 through 91339;
objects)

Noncontributing Properties

Shiloh Church and School Site, no aboveground features, no archeological
investigations

Hardage House Site, no aboveground features, no archeological investigations

Cass House Site, no aboveground features, no archeological investigations

Ballenger House Site, no aboveground features, no archeological investigations

Tierce House Site, no aboveground features, no archeological investigations

Marietta-Cassville Road, altered, lacks integrity

Powder Springs Road, altered, lacks integrity


ON MICROFILY

60 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Shiloh (1894), Gettysburg (1895), and Vicksburg (1899), along with a national
battlefield site at Antietam (1890).”*

Memorial Efforts at Kennesaw Mountain

Union veterans’ groups led the initial efforts to preserve and commemorate the
Kennesaw Mountain battlefields. In 1887, veterans held a blue-gray reunion at
Kennesaw Mountain?’ After the war, veterans of the Third Brigade, Second
Division, of the XIV Federal Army Corps, which made the assault on Cheatham
Hill, formed the Colonel Dan McCook Brigade Association, named in honor of their
fallen commander. The association, which held its first reunion in August 1900,
resolved to purchase the land at Cheatham Hill where the brigade attacked and
Colonel McCook was mortally wounded. In December 1899, Lansing J. Dawdy,
a veteran of the 86th Illinois regiment, purchased a sixty-acre tract that included the
Federal and Confederate trenches at Cheatham Hill (figure 4). In 1900, Dawdy
conveyed this tract to Martin Kingman and John McGinnis, who acted on behalf of
the Kennesaw Memorial Association, a nonprofit organization formally incorporated
under Illinois law in April 1901.°°

ad

roles Z

Feucrua ro DE mercrey bu

Commie raiy ENCLOSE ZS.
Govr PRereerr

Figure 4. Original 60-acre tract at Cheatham Hill purchased by Illinois veterans (NPS drawing
NBS-KM-1051)

NYohn C. Paige and Jerome A. Greene, Administrative History of Chickamauga and Chattanooga
National Military Park (Denver: National Park Service, Denver Service Center, 1983), 9-10; Davies,
228; Lee, 31-35.

**Buck, 258.

°“Program, First Reunion of the Third Brigade, 2d Division, 14th Army Corps”; “Minutes of

Business Meeting, Colonel Dan McCook Brigade Association, May 15, 1901”; Capps, 5.


66 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

period 1933 to 1942 witnessed a long-held conservation and preservation ethic
toward public lands enacted on a national scale. The CCC also represented a
challenging experiment in social reform, which spawned many subsequent New Deal
programs. The national parks benefited extensively from CCC improvements, which
included building roads and trails and providing historic interpretive programs,
greatly increased public access. Reforestation, land reclamation, and landscaping
enhanced the natural beauty of emerging national parks. In addition, many new
state parks were developed, some adjacent to national parks, to provide recreation
areas for the increasing numbers of park visitors.

The CCC represented a culmination of conservation philosophies, recreational
needs, and an expanding Federal role in natural preservation. The program was
heartily embraced by lawmakers and the public alike, because it responded quickly
and practically to the greatest economic disaster the United States had yet
experienced. Roosevelt conceived of an Advisory Council with representatives from
the Departments of War, Labor, Agriculture, and Interior that would administer
CCC camps and work. The Labor Department would initiate nationwide recruiting;
the Army would condition and transport the enrollees and operate the camps; and
the National Park Service and the Forest Service would create work programs and
supervise work assignments.'!®

NPS Director Horace M. Albright served on the Advisory Board and saw great
potential for the CCC within the national park system, especially in long-ignored
road- and trail-building projects. Albright quickly increased the technical staff of
the NPS in preparation for the land conservation work and designed park
development projects that the CCC would carry out. The NPS hired hundreds of
landscape architects, historians, foresters, and engineers to design and supervise CCC
operations.!'! The propitious addition of the military and historic parks, sites, and
national monuments in 1933 conveniently coincided with the newly created CCC.

The CCC served several purposes, but its primary significance lay in creating
useful work for unemployed youths. In 1933, three years into the Depression,
national unemployment figures for youths spiked to 25 percent, and 30 percent of
those employed labored only part-time. Unemployment figures for the nation nearly
equalled the youthful rate. In 1930, one year after the stock market crash, national
unemployment rates reached 9 percent and continued to rise: to 16 percent in 1931,
24 percent in 1932, and to a zenith of more than 25 percent in 1933. Depressed
economic conditions had plagued agricultural areas for nearly a decade, and careless
husbandry combined with drought and pestilence slashed rural production capacity.

"paige, 10-11.

"Albright, The Birth of the National Park Service, 289-90.


INTRODUCTION il

Through the process of natural succession, stands of pine replaced the
hardwoods that the Confederates removed along the Kennesaw ridge in 1864, and
for approximately one hundred years following the battle, much of the surrounding
low area was intensely cultivated. In the decades. following the battle, farmers
terraced their fields and expanded them as agricultural technology improved, leading
to the destruction of some earthworks. Other fortifications pass through wooded
areas that were open during the battle. Most of the earthworks within the park
bounds remain intact, with nearly the entire Confederate line and fragments of the
Federal line preserved.'? Wood elements of earthworks, such as head logs and
revetments, have long since disappeared. Surviving earthworks are defined by an
earthen parapet, rear and sometimes front ditches, and in the case of some gun
emplacements, embrasures. In most areas, trees have taken root in the earthworks,
creating holes in the parapet walls as the dead trunks and root systems rot away.
In a few places, grasses and other benign undergrowth cover the earthworks.

Although land-use patterns have changed over time, many of the components
that convey the historic significance of the battle’s setting remain intact. Within
park bounds, the contours of the land and the locations of streams have been left
largely unaltered. Six of the nine roads that pass within the park—Stilesboro,
Gilbert, Old John Ward, Dallas, Burnt Hickory, and Powder Springs Roads—existed
prior to the battle and, though improved, most still follow the course of their
historic roadbeds. Smaller, unpaved roads that date to the middle of the nineteenth
century, such as the Marietta-Cassville and Old Mill Roads, can still be found
within the park, but have been considerably altered. The Western & Atlantic
Railroad, now the CSX Railroad, follows its original path along the park’s northern
boundary. Nearly twenty buildings, including dwellings, churches, and mills,
existed within the present park boundary in 1864. Only the Kolb house, which has
been rehabilitated to represent its historic exterior appearance, survives.

HISTORICAL BASE MaP DISCUSSION

The Historical Base Map (HBM) depicts the existing historic and nonhistoric
resources of the park including buildings, monuments, markers, earthworks, sites,
and roads. The map graphically distinguishes contributing from noncontributing
historic resources as defined by National Register criteria.

“This assessment is based on a reconnaissance-level survey of earthworks at various locations
throughout the park. Emmet A. Nichols’s “Historic Ground Cover — June 1864,” is the most complete
study of earthworks at Kennesaw. It features measured drawings of artillery positions but only maps
infantry lines and provides no methodology.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

Ox States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 51

The CCC completed other work at Cheatham Hill that enhanced the visitor’s
experience and attempted to preserve the historic integrity of the landscape.
The earthworks, swept clean of vegetation under War Department administration,
were planted with grass. The corps constructed trails that avoided earthworks
put circulated the visitors through the battlefield site. At Cheatham Hill,
the CCC planted approximately 25,000 seedlings supplied by the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park and erected a small self-help visitor information
kiosk.

The CCC also helped improve the grounds within the park. Company 431 dug
drainage ditches along U.S. 41 and planted trees. Structures not consistent
with the battle period were razed. The CCC eliminated rock agricultural
terraces in the vicinity of Burnt Hickory Road and restored the fields to
grassy meadows. To improve public relations and prevent erosional run-off that
clogged Noses [sic] Creek and John Ward Creek, located within the park, the CCC
filled ditches on adjacent farmers’ lands. Local residents, at first reluctant
to accept the CCC camp, later praised its work, especially when the CCC worked
to control forest fires that threatened private property.'®

In October 1940, the CCC began laying concrete foundations for a group of
maintenance buildings at the base of Big Kennesaw Mountain. The corps

@ consessceea three buildings: two brick garage facilities with storage rooms
and a metal oil house. The corps completed the buildings in August 1941 and
continued with other improvements including the construction of red brick and
cast iron entrance signs at each intersection of park boundary and road. Each
sign has a base slightly broader than its shaft and quoining at the ends, with
a cast iron plaque inscribed "National Park Service/Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park/United States Department of the Interior." Before additional
work drafted by the Eastern Branch prior to 1940 could be completed—replacing
the park headquarters building, constructing a superintendent’s residence, and
erecting another garage in the maintenance area to form a U-shaped court—the
ccc operations at Kennesaw Mountain ceased on March 10, 1942, and all remaining
personnel were transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia.

Significance

Two types of historic properties located within Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park are significant under Criteria A and represent commemorative
activity at the park. The Illinois Monument and the associated markers at
Cheatham Hill are significant at the state level because they represent the

yates, "Superintendent Monthly Reports" (August 1939), RG 79, National
Archives. The superintendent reports do not specify what type of seedlings were
planted at Cheatham Hill, or whether the CCC laborers at Great Smokies also helped
the Marietta camp to replant the seedlings.

Herman Allen, interview by Retha Stephens and Lynn McFarland, 19 December
1984; "Superintendent Monthly Reports" (June 1939), RG 79, National Archives. The
Superintendent reports refer to Noses Creek, which is also known as Noyes Creek.


A-4 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

located adjacent to the Confederate earthworks, situated south of Dallas Road, and
ends at a parking area just north of Mebane’s Battery near the Cheatham Hill
salient. The gently curving road largely follows natural contours and avoids
impacting the earthworks. This road, the only one completed by the CCC in the
park, provided much-needed visitor access to the area and helped retain the integrity
of the earthworks.

Eight Red Brick Entrance Signs: Each sign has a cast-iron plaque inscribed,
“National Park Service/Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park/United States
Department of the Interior.” Constructed between 1938 and 1942, the signs do not
vary appreciably. Each measures 9 x 6 x 2 feet, has a slightly broader base than
shaft and quoining at the ends, and possesses a concrete cap and foundation. All
have metal plaques painted brown with white lettering. They are located at every
point where an east-west state route intersects a park boundary except the western
park boundary on Powder Springs Road.


16 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

its independence. Following the surrender of Fort Sumter on April 13, 1861,
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas joined the Confederacy."

At the outbreak of hostilities, the North enjoyed significant advantages in
population and economic resources. The North, with twenty-two million white
citizens to the South’s six million, had a far larger pool of potential combatants.
The Confederacy’s 3,500,000 slaves supported southern armies with their labor, but
did not carry arms. The North possessed 90 percent of the nation’s manufacturing
capability, forcing the South to quickly develop factories and import armaments
from abroad. The North also had a more highly developed railroad network, with
two and one-half times more trackage than the Confederate states. Railroads proved
crucial in supplying and moving the large armies that fought the Civil War. The
South did possess some advantages. Federal troops moving from one area to
another would have to move in a wide arc around the front, while the Confederacy
could shift forces more quickly along shorter, interior lines. The Confederates, for
example, frequently shifted troops between the Shenandoah Valley and Eastern
Virginia as the need arose. Additionally, many of the most talented active and
inactive U.S. army officers were southerners who rallied to the Confederacy when
the war began.”°

The South’s military problem was in a sense simple: it had to keep the war
going until the North acquiesced in Southern independence. Southern strategy was
defensive and consisted largely of maintaining its territorial integrity. Wanting to
maintain independence rather than conquer territory, the Confederacy invaded
northern states on only a few occasions. The South relied heavily on the prospect
of foreign recognition of the Confederacy and Northern dissatisfaction with the
human and material cost of a long war. The North, by contrast, had to wage an
aggressive war to subdue the rebellious states and restore the Union. A strategic
problem for the South was the question of whether to scatter its forces to defend
every inch of territory or to concentrate to protect the areas of greatest strategic
importance.

In the Spring of 1861, few on either side envisioned a long war. Many scoffed
at U.S. General-in-Chief Winfield Scott’s strategy of envelopment, which implied
a protracted conflict. Scott advised reliance on a Federal naval blockade of southern
ports and control of the Mississippi River to gradually deprive the agricultural South
of foreign supplies and markets for its cotton. Envelopment was Federal policy

"James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1988), 223, 234-35, 271-74, 278-83.

John D. Hicks, The Federal Union: A History of the United States to 1877, 3d ed. (Cambridge,
Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1957), 561-62; Samuel E. Morison, The Oxford History of the American
People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965) 615-19.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 45

West Point branched from it. Sherman sent cavalry detachments southeast around
his left flank to disrupt the Macon & Western deep in the Confederate rear. The
Army of the Tennessee, now commanded by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, was
ordered on a broad movement counterclockwise around Atlanta to the right to seize
the junction at East Point and tear up the Atlanta & West Point. Confederate
cavalry turned aside the Federal cavalry raids, and Hood prepared a trap for
Howard’s advancing army. Stephen D. Lee’s corps was to delay the Federals by
taking a position along Lickskillet Road near Ezra Church, while Stewart’s corps
circled around to attack Howard’s right flank. When Lee advanced on the morning
of July 28, he found the Federals already entrenched. Without consulting Hood or
waiting for Stewart to move up, Lee committed his divisions in a series of suicidal
attacks. When Stewart arrived, his troops made additional futile charges. The
Battle of Ezra Church was the most one-sided of the campaign. The Confederates
suffered 5,000 casualties, almost ten times the Federal loss.”°

Hood’s three battles in a week’s time cost the Confederates more than 12,000
casualties. Sherman had failed to cut the rail lines but showed no sign of retreating,
and the Federals brought up heavy siege guns to bombard Atlanta. Jefferson Davis
virtually ordered Hood to make no more attacks on entrenched Federal positions.
Hood extended his entrenchments to cover the railroad from Atlanta to East Point.
On August 10, Hood sent half his cavalry, about 4,000 men, on a raid deep in
Sherman’s rear to disrupt Federal supplies. The raid had negligible results, and the
lack of cavalry hampered Hood’s ability to track Sherman’s movements around
Atlanta. Throughout August, Federal artillery rained down on the city, while the
North waited for favorable war news.”

Northern civilian morale was at a low ebb in August 1864. Grant at Petersburg
and Sherman at Atlanta were engaged in trench warfare of unpredictable duration.
Federal armies had absorbed staggering casualties in 1864 to achieve what appeared
to be a stalemate. In late August, the Democrat Party nominated Maj. Gen. George
B. McClellan for president on a platform that emphasized peace over restoration of
the Union. Privately, President Lincoin predicted a Democratic victory in the fall.
Absent a decisive victory for Federal arms, the election of McClellan on a peace
platform was a strong possibility.’®

Mindful that Lincoln’s reelection effort depended on Federal victories and
impatient with the slow progress of the siege, Sherman in late August abandoned
his lines around Atlanta. On August 26, all three Federal armies began a giant

Connelly, 452-55; Kelly, 51.
"Connelly, 456-58.

McPherson, 766-72.




28 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

in May that brought his strength up to about 65,000. Johnston’s army had three
infantry corps, commanded by Lt. Gens. Leonidas Polk, William Hardee, and John
Bell Hood. Both sides depended for supplies on the single-track Western &
Atlantic Railroad. Sherman’s rail supply line extended north to Chattanooga and
Nashville, while Johnston’s ran south to Atlanta. The movements of both
commanders were influenced by the need to safeguard the supply lines behind the
armies. The numerous mountains and ridges of north Georgia offered the
Confederates strong natural defensive positions. Additionally, the advancing
Federals would have to cross three rivers, the Oostanaula, the Etowah, and the
Chattahoochee. South of Atlanta, the mountains ended, and the Confederates would
have fewer natural lines of defense.”

The Confederate Army of Tennessee that Johnston took over in late December
1863 was handicapped by dissension among its top officers and poor overall morale.
The army had only one clear victory, Chickamauga, to its credit, and the Federals
had routed the army, then commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg, at the Battle of
Missionary Ridge (November 25, 1863). Confederate President Jefferson Davis was
skeptical of Johnston’s abilities and gave him command of the army with reluctance.
Personal animosity and a fundamental disagreement over strategy marred Johnston’s
relationship with Davis. Davis repeatedly urged Johnston to take the offensive
against Sherman, while Johnston felt his inferior numbers dictated a defensive-
offensive strategy. Johnston believed he could attack only after he had won some
defensive victories over the advancing Federals. Johnston made his position more
difficult by failing to fully communicate his intentions to Confederate authorities in
Richmond. Additionally, Johnston’s three corps commanders—Polk, Hardee, and
Hood—mistrusted him. Johnston did much to restore the army’s morale, but its
command problems were never satisfactorily resolved.*'

By contrast, Sherman and Grant had cooperated closely while both fought in the
Western theater and enjoyed each other’s confidence. Grant gave Sherman broad
strategic objectives and relied on him to devise tactics to accomplish them.
Sherman was an energetic commander who realized early that a Northern victory
would require not just battlefield successes but destruction of the Confederates’
ability to make war. Sherman targeted the South’s economic and military resources
equally.

“McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,” 3-5; Liddell-Hart, 234-35.

“Connelly, 288-93, 313.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 10 Page 59

a

Boundary Justification

The Kennesaw Mountain battlefield is classified as a National Register historic
district, following the guidelines established in National Register Bulletins
16 and 40.'7 The district boundary matches the boundary of the Kennesaw
Mountain National Battlefield Park, finalized in 1947." Most of the
battlefield and nearly all of the areas where significant action occurred are
included within this boundary. Most areas associated with the battle that lie
beyond the park boundary maintain little or no historic integrity and are not
eligible for listing in the National Register.

Several islands of residentially developed land are located within the park’s
perimeter boundary. These islands are excluded from the park’s legal boundary
and create a complex National Register boundary. Typically, nonhistoric or
incompatibly developed areas located within continuous National Register
boundaries would be included in a boundary but labeled as noncontributing
elements or intrusions. For national parks, the legislated boundary will
usually serve as the National Register boundary delineating the park as a
district, an individual property or a group of multiple properties. At
Kennesaw, the developed islands are privately owned modern residential
subdivisions that no longer maintain historic structural or landscape
integrity. The NPS will not pursue acquisition of these islands and has no
jurisdiction over these properties.

Two other types of properties potentially historically significant to the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain or local history but excluded from the proposed
National Register boundary are transportation corridors and adjacent private
property. The widening of Powder Springs Road in 1985-86 significantly altered
the historic appearance, location, feeling, and setting associated with this
resource, making it ineligible for National Register listing. Other important
roads within the park, particularly Burnt Hickory, Dallas, and Stilesboro
Roads, played pivotal roles in the battle and maintain most elements of
historic integrity. Any alterations to these roads would affect adjacent park
property and require use of park right-of-way or easements. Thus, these roads
are included in the National Register nomination. The CSX railroad corridor is
also significant to the history of the battle; however, private ownership of
this resource deters NPS from nominating it. The NPS recognizes

National Register Bulletin 16A: Guidelines for the Completing National
Register of Historic Places Forms (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1991),
56-57; and National Register Bulletin 40: Guidelines for Identifying, Evaluating,
and Registering America’s Historic Battlefields (Washington, D.C.: National Park
Service, 1992), 13-16.

capps, 13-14.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain e@
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 24

town development, most Cobb residents lived in the rural countryside and
operated small farms among the rolling hills, woods, and lowlands.*

The county population in 1860 consisted of 10,000 whites and 4,000 blacks.
Most farms were small compared to other Georgia counties. The rolling
geography and rocky soil prevented large plantations and also limited the need
for a large slave work force. Subsistence farming characterized antebellum
Cobb County, with timber sales providing needed cash for some farmers. On the
whole, these modestly prosperous people were self-sufficient. The Hardage
family settled early in Cobb County, along the Burnt Hickory Road, south of
Little Kennesaw. The family originally lived in a log cabin, but over the
course of twenty years it moved to several larger residences. In 1853, George
W. Hardage built a sawmill on Noyes Creek, paying eighteen dollars an acre for
the land. When the Union army invaded Cobb County in June 1864, Mrs. Hardage
and her two youngest children fled to Stone Mountain. Some family members
remained until the fighting around Kennesaw Mountain intensified, when they
also sought refuge at Stone Mountain.*

The Battle of Kolb’s Farm

On June 22, Schofield’s troops and Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s XX Corps of the
Army of the Cumberland began to advance east toward Marietta along the Powder
Springs Road on the Confederate left. By early afternoon, Federal skirmishers
had clashed with advance elements of Hood’s corps, and the northerners hastily
prepared dirt and fence-rail breastworks. Hood’s orders were merely to check
the Federal advance, but without consulting Johnston, Hood ordered a late-
afternoon attack by two of his three divisions, led by Maj. Gens. Thomas C.
Hindman and Carter L. Stevenson. The ensuing engagement is known as the Battle
of Kolb’s Farm.”

In this battle, the Confederates advanced westward athwart Powder Springs Road,
pushing back Federal skirmishers. Hindman’s division was arrayed north of the
road, while Stevenson’s advanced slantwise across it. Dense underbrush and
swampy ground impeded the advance in places. When the advance neared the main
Federal lines, it disintegrated. Aided by forty artillery pieces, many sighted
to deliver devastating enfilade fire down a ravine, Federal infantry repulsed
the advance. The brief battle cost Johnston approximately 1,000 casualties
compared to 350 for the Federals. The battle checked Sherman’s maneuvering

Sscott, 19-21.

scott, 19-21; James L. Aikman, “Kennesaw Sketches: A Collection of
Descriptive Sketches and Anecdotes Sidelighting the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain"
(Marietta, Ga.: National Park Service, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield

Park, 1941), 16-19.

Kelly, 26-27; McMurry, "The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain," 56-58.


12 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

The location and configuration of the existing resources were drawn primarily
from a USGS topographic sheet and a set of infrared aerial photographs of the
park.'* The surviving sections of the Confederate and Union earthworks are drawn
directly from Emmet Nichols’s map of the 1864 battlefield.’ No effort has been
undertaken to systematically field verify the exact location and configuration of the
surviving earthworks as indicated on Nichols’s map. Maps on file at the park and
regional office provide documentation of the construction or alteration of resources
during the period following the battle. The types of maps reviewed and cross-
referenced with the narrative documentation of the park’s development include the
master plans and project-specific plans including preconstruction, construction, and
as-built drawings.

NPS documented the 1864 battlefield by producing four historical base or troop
movement maps.'° The four maps represent the accumulation of information gained
from extensive research of the primary and secondary narrative, graphic, and
photographic documentation related to the battle. The historical base map (1939)
and the troop movement map (1993) each have accompanying narrative descriptions
of the sources and methods used in their production.'’ All four maps generally
include the same subject matter and exhibit only minor differences in the location
or configuration of the features they depict. Although no effort has been made in
this investigation to revisit the primary source material to verify the accuracy of the
three maps, Kelly’s 1993 troop movement map is presumed the most authoritative
because it is soundly based on archival and field verification, it identifies and
includes previously unknown documentation, and the methods of its compilation are
clearly described. Consequently, the troop movement map has served as the
primary source of information for this investigation concerning the location and

'4United States Geological Survey, “Marietta, GA,” Map Scale 1:24000, 1954, Photorevised 1973;
1993 Infrared Aerial Photographs located at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

'SEmmet A. Nichols, “Historic Ground Cover — June 1864,” Map (Kennesaw Mountain, Ga.:
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1980).

‘National Park Service, “Historical Base Map, Part of the Master Plan,” NPS map Number NBP-
KM-2055, (Kennesaw Mountain, Ga.: Kennesaw Mountain NBP, 1939); Edwin C. Bearss, “Kennesaw
Mountain Troop Movement Maps,” manuscript sheets at Kennesaw Mountain NBP, 1966; Nichols;
Dennis Kelly, “Map of the Battlefields of Kennesaw Mountain and Kolb’s Farm, Georgia,” (Kennesaw
Mountain, Ga.: Kennesaw Mountain National Historical Association, Inc. 1993).

‘7B. C. Yates, “Annotations for Kennesaw Culture Map,” (Kennesaw Mountain, Ga.: Kennesaw
Mountain NBP, 1939); Memorandum, Dennis Kelly to Chief, Cultural Resources Planning, Southeast
Region, NPS, May 6, 1993. Nichols’s, “Historic Ground Cover — June 1864” map has no
accompanying narrative description of its sources or methods of compilation.


56 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

groups, mostly in the North. In the early postwar years, commemoration took
different forms in the North and the South. In the 1880s and 1890s, as the veteran
population aged, commemorative activity expanded, and contact between ex-
Confederates and ex-Federals increased. Blue-gray reunions, often held on the
battlefields, became common. The interaction at reunions, a spirit of sectional
reconciliation and commemoration of the sacrifice of both sides, and an increased
appreciation of the nation’s past all contributed to the successful movement to
establish national battlefield parks.

In the South, independent, local memorial associations sprang up rapidly during
and after the war. Many originated in women’s wartime groups organized to do
hospital and relief work. The new groups often took the name of Ladies’ Memorial
Associations (LMAs), but men provided crucial, especially financial, support. The
proper burial of the Confederate dead was the immediate concern of the LMAs, and
the individual groups established many cemeteries across the South. Most
cemeteries were located in towns, although a few were established at battle sites.
After the cemeteries were laid out, the LMAs turned their attention to memorials.
In the first twenty years after the war, these memorials, which typically took the
form of stone obelisks, were commonly erected in cemeteries.*? In 1900, local
southern memorial associations affiliated with an umbrella group, the Confederated
Southern Memorial Association (CSMA). The CSMA assisted local LMAs and
raised funds for a Jefferson Davis monument in Richmond, unveiled in 1907.

The Confederate Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia, is a typical result of memorial
activity in the postwar South. The cemetery received its first interments during the
war and was officially dedicated in 1866. Catherine Winn of the Ladies’ Aid
Society and Mary Green of the Georgia Memorial Association spearheaded the
establishment of the cemetery. The Georgia legislature appropriated $3,500 in 1866
to allow the collection of remains from all the north Georgia battlefields for
reinterment at the Marietta cemetery. The cemetery contains 3,000 graves, and its
Confederate Monument was unveiled July 7, 1908.°*°

The Union possessed greater resources than the Confederacy for establishing
military cemeteries, which were initially created through state and local action. The

4 representative early Confederate monument is the obelisk in Atlanta’s Oakiand Cemetery,
unveiled April 26, 1874 (Ralph W. Widener, Jr., Confederate Monuments: Enduring Symbols of the
South and the War Between the States {Washington, D.C.: Ralph W. Widener, Jr., 1982], 42).

“Gaines M. Foster, Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the Emergence of
the New South, 1865 to 1913 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 36-41, 158; History of the
Confederated Memorial Associations of the South (New Orleans: Confederated Southern Memorial
Association, 1904), 32.

“SHistory of the Confederated Memorial Associations of the South, 140-43, Widener, 67.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 21

ee

earthen parapets. A tree trunk, known as a head-log and held in position by
skid logs, was placed atop the parapet. Riflemen stood in the trench or on a
firing step and fired through the narrow gap between the head-log and parapet.
Other troops would meanwhile be reloading in the trench, waiting to take their
turn on the firing line. When time permitted, various obstacles were placed in
front of the breastworks to slow an attacking force. A front ditch was
sometimes dug directly in front of the parapet. Out beyond the parapet, trees
and brush were felled, and their branches interlaced to form obstacles known as
abatis. Skirmishers from the attacking force would clear a path, under fire,
through the abatis. Infantrymen often dug their own trenches, but Sherman’s
army increasingly employed freed slaves to dig them, while the Confederates
often used gangs of slaves to prepare fall-back lines of defense out of range
of Federal artillery.*

By late 1863, the tactical defensive possessed a clear advantage. An
entrenched position, defended by troops with rifle-muskets, was extremely
difficult to overrun. Officers, however, were slow to recognize the altered
tactical realities and often had few alternatives to a frontal assault. Many
commanders looked for ways to envelop the enemy’s flank, but the opposing
general was unlikely to leave his flanks unprotected. Officers on both sides
repeatedly ordered frontal assaults on entrenched lines, frequently with

@ visser results. In some encounters, attacking forces suffered ten times
the casualties of defenders. In the Atlanta campaign, Sherman chose repeatedly
to outflank the Confederates’ entrenched positions, rarely ordering frontal
attacks. Sherman’s three to two advantage in numbers allowed him to use part
of his force to keep the Confederate army in place while other units were sent
on turning maneuvers.”

The Atlanta Campaign

When Sherman’s forces moved out from Chattanooga on May 7, 1864, the
Confederates held a strong defensive line around Dalton, Georgia. Sherman
ordered Thomas and Schofield to threaten an attack against the main body of
Confederates, while McPherson made a wide move to the right in the direction of
Resaca, fifteen miles south of Dalton. McPherson nearly got in Johnston’s
rear, but was deterred by a small force holding Resaca. This delay gave
Johnston enough time to retire from Dalton to a hastily prepared position
around Resaca. The two armies fought at Resaca May 13-15, while Sherman tried
another flanking move, sending a division of McPherson’s army to cross the
Oostanaula River and get behind the Confederates’ left. When Johnston learned
of the successful river crossing, he ordered a retreat, first to Adairsville
and then on to Cassville.”

%castel, 228; William T. Sherman, Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman (New York:
Library of America, 1990), 525-26.

*%connelly, 432; McPherson, 472-77.

Mconnelly, 341-45; Kelly, 13-14; Sherman, 496-504.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

Ors States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
ational Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 7 Page 5

named for Lt. E. D. McBride, who was killed defending this position. A fourth,
single-gun emplacement is located in the declivity between Big and Little
Kennesaw, distinguished from the parapet of the infantry line by the embrasure
and deepened rear pit.

The continuous earthen parapet of the Confederate infantry line at Little
Kennesaw ends at the mountain’s steep southern slope. As Little Kennesaw
merges with Pigeon Hill, the infantry line begins, running northeast to
southwest just below the crest of Pigeon Hill. The line, which runs parallel
to the Pigeon Hill Trail, is approximately 2,000 feet long and runs through
thinly wooded areas with thick undergrowth in places. The line is constructed
of loose rock and earth, forming a parapet between two and four feet high.
fTraverses and rifle pits, located on the right end of the line near the foot of
Little Kennesaw, are similarly constructed. The parapet continues along the
vertical rock faces of the western and northwestern slopes of the hill before
terminating at Burnt Hickory Road, near the bottom of the hill. Four artillery
positions are located on Pigeon Hill. Two, four-gun emplacements, consisting
of loose rock and earth parapets, are incorporated into the right and left
flanks of the infantry line. Two, single-gun emplacements constructed of loose
rock and earth are located on the crest of the hill, with the Federal twenty-
Q@ieu sn emplacement within the field of fire.

The Confederate line resumes east of the Hardage House site, south of Burnt
Hickory Road. Between Burnt Hickory and Dallas Roads, the earthen parapet,
broken in places, features a salient north of Noses (also known as Noyes)
Creek. South of Dallas Road, the earthworks follow the contour of a ridge
known as Cheatham Hill, and contain some of the most ‘elaborate earthworks
constructed at Kennesaw. A forward earthen parapet lines the crest of the hill
forming a salient. The parapet and traverses measure between three and five
feet high. Two interior lines meander across the top of the hill, which is
thinly wooded with no undergrowth, creating a labyrinth of trenches, traverses,
dug-outs, and parapets that overlook a large, open field. The left flank of
the salient was anchored by a two-battery artillery position. The right flank
was protected by a square redoubt located in a clearing, south of the visitor
parking area. The redoubt is shaped by four parapet walls, approximately sixty
feet long and four feet high, that enclose the two-gun battery.

Repulsed by the Confederates at the salient, the Federals hastily constructed
two lines in a declivity that protected them from Confederate fire. The
forward line features a parapet that rises only one to two feet and the mouth
of the tunnel where Federal troops attempted to tunnel beneath the Confederate
lines and destroy them with explosives. The second Federal line contains a

1 smaller parapet and lies at the edge of an old road bed.

As the Confederate infantry line continues south, across John Ward Creek, it

forms a cluster of earthen parapets known as Strahl’s Fort. Located on a

wooded rise, Strahl’s Fort is an eight-gun emplacement with an L-shaped parapet
constructed along the rear and right flank. A C-shaped parapet covers the

| @



NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 7 Page 7
a

both on the walls and the ceilings. The floors in the hall and in three of the
four rooms are original with four-inch pine boards. All fireplaces, mantels,
and stone or brick hearths were removed during the rehabilitation and the
interior openings sealed to accommodate a modern heating system. (IDLCS 12175;
previously listed; building)

Kolb Cemetery: The cemetery is located east of the house and is the only
extant landscape feature or secondary structure surviving from the original
farmstead. The graveyard measures 48 x 50 feet and is enclosed by a raised
concrete foundation. There are eleven marked graves with marble headstones
that date from 1839 to 1955. The oldest grave, that of Peter Valentine Kolb,
consists of a small pillar on a square base in the center of the graveyard.
The pillar is loosened from the base and could pose a safety hazard. (IDLcCS
90150; site)

Stilesboro Road: This is a two-lane asphalt-covered state route located on the
northern park boundary, south of the CSX Railroad (formerly the Western &
Atlantic Railroad). Approximately one-and-one-half miles of the road lie
within the park. The road runs east and west. According to historical base
maps and reports in The War of the Rebellion: A Computation of the Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Federal troops and earthworks lay
astride the Stilesboro Road. As the Federals prepared to initiate their
mountain diversion, they moved across the road toward the entrenched
Confederates. (IDLCS 90149; structure)

Gilbert Road: This is a one-mile gravel road, one-and-one-half lanes wide,
that is located between Stilesboro Road and Old Mountain Road and is oriented
primarily north and south. Only 600 feet lie within the park boundary, and on
this segment, the road turns east out of the park. An extension of this road
continues south and is utilized by park maintenance staff. (IDLCS 90147;
structure)

Old John Ward Road: This is a 20- to 22-foot-wide packed gravel maintenance
road, formerly known as John Ward Road. It begins at Dallas Road and proceeds
south out of the park to intersect with New John Ward Road. (IDLCS 90146;
structure)

Dallas Road: This is a two-lane asphalt-covered state route that runs east and
west for a distance of one-half mile within the park. The road is located in
the southern part of the park and serves park visitors and Cobb County
commuters. Dallas Road provides access to Cheatham Hill and facilitated troop
movements. Several earthworks are located within the right-of-way of this
road. (IDLCS 90145; structure)

Burnt Hickory Road: This is a two-lane asphalt-covered state route that runs
east and west and marks the north-south midpoint of the park. Several
earthworks are located in the right-of-way of this road, including those on
Pigeon Hill. Reports in the Official Records document troop movements along


Photograph 1
Photograph 2
Photograph 3
Photograph 4

Photograph 5

Photograph 6
Photograph 7
Photograph 8
Photograph 9
Photograph 10
Photograph 11
Photograph 12
Photograph 13
Photograph 14
Photograph 15

Photograph 16

PHOTOGRAPHS

Visitor Center... 2.022. 2eeeeeeee beeen eee
Fort McBride, Little Kennesaw Mountain ............-.-
Earthworks, Cheatham Hill... ... . eee
View from behind Confederate earthworks on Pigeon Hill .

View from a Union artillery position toward
Little Kennesaw Mountain and Pigeon Hill ..........-

Redoubt occupied by Mebane’s Tennessee Battery
Marker at location of Union tunnel on Cheatham Hill ........
Kolb cemetery ........-00 50500 e eee eee

Kolb house in 1961 prior to rehabilitation ............---
Kolb house in 1992 ........ bcc e eee eens
Bumt Hickory Road ..............--- bee c eee
Illinois Monument ..... been eee

Park entrance sign on Burnt Hickory Road .

Cheatham Hill Drive, looking south .........

McCook Brigade Marker .......- see beeen ee

Dedication of Georgia Monument, August 16, 1963 .

vii

33

. 40

42

. 48

. 51

. St

52

62

72

.74

78

80


88 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

Paige, John C., and Jerome A. Green. Administrative History of Chickamauga and
Chattanooga National Military Park. Denver: National Park Service, Denver
Service Center, 1983.

“Resource Management Plan, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.”
Unpublished draft. Atlanta: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office,
1991.

Rushin-Bell, CarolJo. A History of the Pocket Recreation Area: Armuchee Ranger
District, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests. Atlanta: U. S. Department
of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1984.

Salmond, John A. The CCC, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study. Durham, N.C.:
Duke University Press, 1967.

Scott, Thomas A. “Cobb County, Georgia, 1880-1900: A Socioeconomic Study of
an Upper Piedmont County.” Ph.D. diss., University of Tennessee, Knoxville,
1978.

Sears, Stephen W. George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. New York:
Ticknor & Fields, 1988.

Shannon, David A. Twentieth Century America: The Twenties and Thirties. Vol.
2. Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing Company, 1974.

Sherman, W. T. Memoirs of W. T. Sherman. New York: Library of America,
1990.

Stapleton, Richard M. “Greed vs. Green,” National Parks 66, no. 11-12, 32-33.

Strayer, Larry M., and Richard A. Baumgartner, eds. Echoes of Battle: The Atlanta
Campaign. Huntington, W.Va.: Blue Acorn Press, 1991.

Temple, Sarah B. G. The First Hundred Years: A Short History of Cobb County,
Georgia. 6th ed. Athens, Ga.: A. G. Publishers, 1989.

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies. 128 vols. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,
1864-1900.


KENNESAW MOUNTAIN AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN

we
o

terminating south of Powder Springs Road. Johnston arrayed the three corps of his
army, with Hood’s on the right of the line, Loring’s in the center, and Hardee’s on
the left.

The Confederates partially cleared the crests of Big and Little Kennesaw
Mountain of timber to accommodate artillery emplacements and observation stations.
A network of trenches for infantry and earthen forts (redoubts) for artillery support
lined the slopes of the ridge. Earthen parapets protected the infantry trenches.
Immediately beyond the parapets were front ditches and abatis, and farther in
advance were rifle pits for skirmishers, who observed the enemy and gave advance
warning of an attack.*!

As was his habit, Sherman ordered the bulk of his arriving troops to dig in
close to the enemy line while he probed both flanks of the Confederate position.
In contrast to the Confederate earthworks, the Federal fortifications consisted of a
series of short overlapping lines rather than a nearly continuous line. Located in
opposition to the already established Confederate line, the Federal fortifications were
constructed in the low lying area below Kennesaw Mountain (photograph 5). The
Federal line stretched from an area north of the railroad south to below Powder
Springs Road.

Photograph 5. View from a Union artillery position toward Little Kennesaw Mountain (left) and
Pigeon Hill (right) (U.S. Signal Corps photograph, National Archives)

‘Kelly, 24; Connelly, 357; McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,” 35.


NPS Form 10-900-a (87-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain

National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State

Section 8 Page 49

a

included for land acquisition and park development.'@ Between 1933 and 1938,
the NPS relied on labor and funding from the Civil Works Administration (CWA).
These improvements occurred without the benefit of a master plan for overall
park development and largely were concentrated at Cheatham Hill, which
contained the sixty acres preserved by the Illinois veterans.

Through CWA funding and labor, the NPS accomplished some reforestation and
erosion control and initiated field and earthwork restoration projects. By
1935, the CWA had constructed a parking lot at Cheatham Hill, planted grass in
key areas, and created a trail layout. Future work plans included the
construction of a custodian’s residence, a utility building, a water and sewer
system, a north-south highway, an administration building, and a new road to
Big Kennesaw." These elements were essential to providing the most basic
visitor services at the park.

The ccc, which established a camp at Kennesaw Mountain on June 3, 1938,
continued the work begun by the CWA. The Marietta camp, GA NP-4, Company 431,
also known as "Camp T. M. Brumby," traveled from a disbanded camp at Rutledge,
Georgia, and established itself just south of U.S. 41, near the northeast park
boundary. Composed largely of local Georgia men, the camp consisted of twenty-
two prefabricated wood buildings bolted together and placed on concrete and
@ric pier foundations. The circular camp site had a central parade ground
marked by cedars and was enclosed by a camp road. The site covered
approximately sixty acres. Between 185 and 190 men occupied four barracks. '?

The ccc provided the labor necessary to complete the transition from farmland
to parkland. The CCC at Kennesaw constructed and landscaped roads, fought
fires, demolished historic and nonhistoric housing within the park boundaries,
and guided interpretive tours. For four years, the Kennesaw CCC spent most of
its time on road work. The crew improved drainage ditches and shoulders,
landscaped the slopes and land adjacent to the road shoulders, and erected
entrance signs at the park boundaries along the public roads that traversed the
park. U.S. Highway 41, located on the northern boundary of the park, provided
the primary vehicular access to Big Kennesaw Mountain and the CCC camp. The
State Highway Department agreed to aid the CCC efforts to improve the shoulders
and ditches along U.S. 41 and provided some equipment. Two other roads within
the park, Burnt Hickory Road and Dallas Road, passed directly through major
areas of conflict associated with the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and also
received some shoulder and ditch improvements. The CCC opened a quarry in
October 1939 and purchased a rock crusher to produce materials to grade the

IMpublic Law 49 Stat. 423, June 26, 1935.
Wcapps, 15-17.

Joseph Thompson, interview by Retha Stephens, 9 January 1985; Herman Allen,
interview by Retha Stephens, 19 December 1984.


NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain r
National Park Service National Battlefield Park
name of property
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET Cobb County, Georgia
county and State
Section 8 Page 16

River, providing two water routes of invasion into Tennessee. Federal control
of the Cumberland forced the Confederates to abandon Nashville, an important
rail junction and manufacturing city, on February 23, 1862. Northern armies
prepared to advance on the Confederate supply center at Corinth, Mississippi.
The bloody Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee (April 6-7, 1862), temporarily checked
the Federal advance. The 23,000 casualties of Shiloh, including more than
3,000 killed, destroyed any remaining illusions of a short and painless war.
Federal forces captured New Orleans in late April 1862, and by June, only the
Confederate fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi, prevented total Northern
control of the Mississippi River. In the east, Federal armies were bloodily
repulsed by the Confederates at First Manassas (July 21, 1861), the Seven Days’
Battles (June 25-July 1, 1862), and Second Manassas (August 28-30, 1862) .%
Lack of Federal military success, particularly in Virginia, increased criticism
of the administration and strengthened the position of the Democrat Party going
into the 1862 elections.

During 1862, the Republican Party moved rapidly to adopt emancipation as a war
policy. Lincoln awaited favorable military news to strike at slavery in the
South. At the Battle of Antietam in western Maryland (September 17, 1862), the
Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan turned back a
Confederate army of invasion commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee. Within days,
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in those areas r®
the South still engaged in rebellion as of January 1, 1863. Lincoln aimed to
undermine Southern resistance and encourage blacks to rally to the Federal
effort. Many Northern Democrats charged that the proclamation changed the
war’s purpose from preservation of the union to the elevation of black slaves
to equality with whites. Democrats made significant gains in the Fall 1862
elections, but the Republicans’ control of the national government remained
solid.

In the first half of 1863, antiwar agitation grew, fueled by Federal defeats in
virginia at Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862) and Chancellorsville (April 30-
May 6, 1863). Emancipation and the slow progress of the war remained the major
political issues, but the Federal Conscription Act of March 1863 and Lincoln’s
wartime suspension of civil liberties added to the opposition. The United
States’ first military draft provoked riots in several cities. The worst
rioting occurred in New York City, where 105 died in July 1863 before Federal
troops restored order. Lincoln on several occasions ordered the arrest of
suspected southern sympathizers. In defiance of Federal court decisions, many

were hela without charge and denied the writ of habeas corpus.

“ycPherson, 339-45, 395-413, 418, 464-71, 528-33.
“McPherson, 557-61.

McPherson, 288-89, 610-11.


APPENDIX B
DESCRIPTIONS OF SELECTED EARTHWORKS

The Federal twenty-four gun emplacement is located on a small, wooded rise
south of Stilesboro Road and faces Little Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill. It
accommodates four batteries, each containing six gun positions. The gun
emplacements are spaced between eight and fourteen feet apart within each battery
and consist of rear pits with a surrounding horseshoe-shaped, earthen parapet. The
sides or wings of the parapets taper toward the ends and the cannon opening, an
embrasure, exists at the apex. These emplacements measure between approximately
fifteen and twenty-five feet across the front and between twenty and thirty feet
along the wings. The northernmost battery resembles an infantry line with each
emplacement set side by side, sharing common wings and a single linear parapet.
The four batteries are approximately seventy-five to 150 feet apart.

The earthworks at Little Kennesaw include both Confederate infantry and
artillery positions. The infantry line along the western crest of Big Kennesaw
continues south across the declivity between Big and Little Kennesaw and along the
northwest face of Little Kennesaw, below the crest. At the crest, the thick woods
covering the mountainsides thin, allowing views of the battlefield and the
surrounding area. The line consists of a continuous parapet, between two and four
feet high, a rear ditch, and transverses placed intermittently along the line. Along
the south and southwest faces, earthen parapets were either constructed atop rock
outcroppings or abandoned when these outcroppings alone were sufficient. Loose
rock was also used to construct defensive positions, including gun emplacements.
Five artillery emplacements are located on the western crest, above the infantry
lines. Three consist of single-gun emplacements with horseshoe-shaped parapets.
The remaining two emplacements contained two and three guns each and are
collectively known as Fort McBride, named for Lieutenant E. D. McBride, who was
killed defending this position. A fourth, single-gun emplacement is located in the
declivity between Big and Little Kennesaw, distinguished from the parapet of the
infantry line by the embrasure and deepened rear pit.

The continuous earthen parapet of the Confederate infantry line at Little
Kennesaw ends at the mountain’s steep southern slope. As Little Kennesaw merges
with Pigeon Hill, the infantry line begins, running northeast to southwest just below
the crest of Pigeon Hill. The line, which runs parallel to the Pigeon Hiil Trail, is
approximately 2,000 feet long and runs through thinly wooded areas with thick
undergrowth in places. The line is constructed of loose rock and earth, forming a
parapet between two and four feet high. Transverses and rifle pits, located on the
right end of the line near the foot of Little Kennesaw, are similarly constructed.
The parapet continues along the vertical rock faces of the western and northwestern
slopes of the hill before terminating at Burnt Hickory Road, near the bottom of the
hill. Four artillery positions are located on Pigeon Hill. Two, four-gun


36 HRS: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK

construction and reinforcement of the Confederate earthworks or was cleared in
areas to provide views and fields of fire toward the enemy.

The Union forces established their positions in flat, low-lying areas valued for
agriculture and settlement, but tactically weak because of their exposure to the
Confederate positions. However, as Kelly’s map illustrates, the Union forces
constructed the majority of their earthworks under the protective cover of woodland
except on the southern portion of the battlefield. Here, the Union forces were
forced to construct their field fortifications in open fields. The exposed nature of
the terrain between the Federal and Confederate positions would pose a serious
problem for any contemplated Federal advance.

The Battle of Kolb’s Farm

On June 22, Schofield’s troops and Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s XX Corps of the
Army of the Cumberland began to advance east toward Marietta along the Powder
Springs Road on the Confederate left. By early afternoon, Federal skirmishers had
clashed with advance elements of Hood’s corps, and the northerners hastily prepared
dirt and fence-rail breastworks. Hood’s orders were merely to check the Federal
advance, but without consulting Johnston, Hood ordered a late-afternoon attack by
two of his three divisions, led by Maj. Gens. Thomas C. Hindman and Carter L.
Stevenson. The ensuing engagement is known as the Battle of Kolb’s Farm.*

In this battle, the Confederates advanced westward athwart Powder Springs
Road, pushing back Federal skirmishers. Hindman’s division was arrayed north of
the road, while Stevenson’s advanced slantwise across it. Dense underbrush and
swampy ground impeded the advance in places. When the advance neared the main
Federal lines, it disintegrated. Aided by forty artillery pieces, many sighted to
deliver devastating enfilade fire down a ravine, Federal infantry repulsed the
advance. The brief battle cost Johnston approximately 1,000 casualties compared
to 350 for the Federals. The battle checked Sherman’s maneuvering toward the
south and influenced his decision to attempt a penetration of the Confederate line
at Kennesaw.”?

The field of the Battle of Kolb’s Farm lies partially within the southern
boundary of the park and partially on private property. The rehabilitated four-room
log house of Peter Kolb, built in the 1830s, stands on the south side of Powder
Springs Road within the park. Peter Valentine Kolb settled early in Cobb County
from South Carolina, likely between 1832 and 1838. Shortly thereafter, Kolb built
a rectangular log house composed of square-hewn oak logs with lime and mud

SK elly, 26-27; McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,” 56-58.

“Castel, 294-95; Kelly, 26-28; McMurry, “The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,” 55-62.