Rocky Face Ridge Park: North Georgia community celebrates 20-year effort to open scenic site featuring Civil War earthworks and recreation trails

Bob Jenkins (left) with reproduction 3-inch ordnance rifle at park. (Picket photo)

High above Crow Valley, on a ridge near Dalton, Ga., men of the 64^th and 125^th Ohio endured withering Confederate fire that cut down officers and enlisted men alike.

It was May 7-8, 1864, at Rocky Face Ridge, during the first battle in what became known as the Atlanta Campaign. Gen. William T. Sherman sent troops from the Chattanooga area as a feint while Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson rushed to Snake Creek Gap in a bid to cut Rebel forces off from a vital railroad.

But the feint did not come without cost: About 1,400 men from both sides became casualties in the fighting over several days at Rocky Face Ridge in northwest Georgia.

One of them was remembered Monday afternoon as Whitfield County and a host of Civil War, conservation, recreation and other entities formally opened Rocky Face Ridge Park just north of Dalton.

Georgia Division reenactors take part in ribbon cutting Monday (Picket photo)

Scott McIlvain was among the 100 attendees gathered under a pavilion on a sweltering day. His ancestor, Col. Alexander McIlvain of the 64^th Ohio, died from wounds he received atop the ridge, which offered its defenders commanding views and defenses.

Rocky Face Ridge Park was 20 years in the making, following purchases of 625 acres -- in the shape of a rectangle -- on top of the mountain, and then 301 grassy acres below, where the ceremony took place.

The county touts the venue as a wonderful history magnet -- with the remains of Federal and Confederate earthworks, trenches, a replica cannon and 12 interpretive signs spread out over a 3-mile trail below the ridge. The signs have QR codes that link to online stories about the battle.

The purchases were in 2002 and 2016 (Courtesy of Whitfield County)

Many visitors will likely come for the recreation offerings, including 10 miles of bicycle trails and an area used for cross country runs.

It’s a beautiful setting, topped by the spiny ridge that offers breathtaking views.

“There are mountains on which you can see the whole Atlanta Campaign, from Lookout Mountain to Kennesaw Mountain, on a good day,” Kathryn Sellers, chair of the Dalton Historic Preservation Commission, told the crowd.

Getting to the mountaintop is not easy. It’s accessible from a bike trail, but officials are hoping a better-marked, hiking-only trail will one day be constructed. Visitors are rewarded with a great view and stone breastworks built by Confederate defenders.

T-shirt worn by bicyclists group features Civil War cannon (Picket photo)

The effort to open the park got a push in 2016 when the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) became involved.

The association donated money and helped design the trail system. The Northwest Georgia chapter helps maintain the trails.

SORBA was able to convince officials that the trails would not damage Civil War features.

Gaye Rice, president of the local chapter of SORBA, told the audience on Monday that bicyclists using the Buzzard’s Roost trail come from all over the Southeast to ride the ridge. Riders have been using the trails for about two years.

One of a dozen markers placed on 300-acre tract below ridge (Picket photo)

Rocky Face Ridge Park was the site of two Civil War clashes.

Federal Maj. Gen. George Thomas probed the Confederate defenses in February 1864, ahead of the grinding march on Atlanta. The park is near Dug Gap, Mill Creek Gap and Tunnel Hill, other Civil War sites of interest.

And in early May, Union troops advanced toward Dalton, which was held by forces under Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The Yankees “were the tip of the spear” that launched the Atlanta Campaign, said Jim Ogden, chief historian at Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.

Items shown Monday include detailed aerial view of ridge's top (Picket photo)

Sherman knew it would be impossible to take the mountain head on, but he wanted to divert his foe as McPherson moved to the south.

“At places, the crest of the ridge was only four-persons wide, with sheer drop-offs on either side. Confederates stacked rocks to create breast works and, where the ground allowed, dug earthen works,” says Emerging Civil War. “The line runs for miles, from the northern tip of the ridge southward to Mill Creek Gap and Dug Gap.”

Union troops were able to take part of the northern tip of the ridge in May, but attacks on the division of Maj. Gen. Carter Stevenson failed to dislodge the Rebels.

The American Battlefield Trust, which is a major player in the acquisition of Civil War battleground, has YouTube videos and articles about the fighting at Rocky Face Ridge and Resaca. It is here where Sherman and Johnston began their famous flanking game that eventually pushed the Confederates back to Atlanta.

One of the trust’s articles is a letter that was published in Confederate Veteran magazine in 1918. The author was Lt. Col. David H. Moore of the 125^th Ohio, writing to a former foe. He describes the fierce fighting on the crest of Rocky Face Ridge. He suffered a hip wound from a bullet that killed another soldier. About 55 men in the regiment were casualties.

To the Confederate veteran, Moore (right) wrote:

“That night, as I recollect, your men reconsidered your purpose to hold the ridge, only to fall back to another and stronger position, thus inaugurating that series of unparalleled struggles which has gone down in history as the ninety days' battle. Your division was almost constantly opposed to us during the Atlanta Campaign. So accustomed had we become to your style of fighting and to the vicious soprano of your Minie balls and to the indescribable fury of your battle-shouts and charging-yells that it was lonesome when by chance we struck a stranger foe.”

Johnston, surprised by McPherson’s move and seeing that Sherman was moving south, evacuated troops off the ridge and rushed them to Resaca. The Federal strategy had failed, given McPherson moved back to Snake Creek Gap when he thought his army might be in a precarious position. Sherman was angry about McPherson’s failure to attack and perhaps cut Johnston off from the railroad. The Battle of Resaca ensued, with Johnston having consolidated his troops.

Monday’s ceremony included a tribute to Mike Babb, the former Whitfield County commission chairman who was the driving force behind the park.

Three of several mounds showing position of Mississippi battery (Picket photo)

According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the $4 million effort was funded with about $3.2 million in local, state, and federal government funds, plus about $800,000 in grants. Numerous organizations supported the project, including the Georgia Battlefields Association and the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust

“The amazing thing about this park is how many people got involved in it,” said Babb.

Chris Welton, a trustee with the American Battlefield Trust, said partnerships resulted in a park that is a "poster child for what we are about." He cited funding from the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program as a seed for preservation projects.

Following the ceremony, I was able to see Confederate trenches (left) and the remains of Stanford’s Mississippi battery. The unit fought in several major battles during the war, including Shiloh, Chickamauga and the Atlanta battles.

I am grateful for Brian Chastain, the county’s recreation director, and another employee for taking me there via a rugged utility vehicle. It's always poignant to see physical reminders of what occurred as Americans fought each other.

The remains of the entrenchments offer proof for a statement from Bob Jenkins, head of Save the Dalton Battlefields:

“Dalton, Georgia, and the county she resides in, Whitfield County, have more undisturbed Civil War earthworks than any other county in the nation.”

If you go: Rocky Face Ridge Park is accessible from 2209 Crow Valley Road, Dalton, Ga.

 Jim Ogden of Chickamauga and Chattanooga was among speakers (Picket photos)