Rocky Face Ridge Park: Groups acquire two replica Napoleon guns to help further interpretation of clashes in northwest Georgia

These two artillery pieces are now in a park near Dalton, Ga. (Courtesy of BGES)

Two replica Napoleon cannons that for years accentuated the grounds of a hotel across from Vicksburg National Military Park have a new home at Rocky Face Ridge Park – scene of two Civil War actions -- in northwest Georgia.

The purchase and transport of the non-firing artillery pieces was a joint effort of the Blue and Gray Education Society and the nonprofit Save the Dalton Battlefields in Georgia.

“Cannons have arrived!” Bob Jenkins, head of the Dalton group, wrote in an email Thursday afternoon to supporters about the additions to the park, which formally opened in July 2022.

They will be the second and third guns on site, following the BGES donation last year of a 3-inch ordnance rifle replica.

The majority of the $30,000 purchase was covered by a donation from Bill and Linda Blackman (right), who have supported preservation efforts in Whitfield County, home to the park. Virginia-based BGES paid other costs.

“I am interested in anything that will help Whitfield County do more and draw people.” Bill Blackman told the Picket in a phone call.

The park is perhaps best known for its extensive and challenging bicycle trails. “I think (the new cannons) will bring out the Civil War aspect of it,” said Blackman, past president of the Whitfield County Historic Preservation Commission.

Model 1857 12-pounder smoothbores were the most widely used field artillery piece during the Civil War, and both sides had dozens during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, according to the Georgia Battlefields Association, adding the price for the two pieces was a relative bargain.

Whitfield County touts its park as a wonderful history magnet -- with the remains of Federal and Confederate earthworks, trenches and 12 interpretive signs spread out over a 3-mile trail below a towering ridge.

The Napoleons after they arrived in Georgia on Sept. 21 (Courtesy of BGES)

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 1864, 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. Rebel troops on top of the ridge thwarted a Union victory.

'Our work is diverse, meaningful and long lasting'

Len Riedel, executive president of the Blue and Gray Education Society, said the two Napoleons were placed in front of the Mississippi hotel about 15 years ago.

“The owners wanted to fit in and the property was within the Federal siege lines and so pointed at the Confederate lines less than 1,000 yards ahead -- they blended well. As our group frequently stayed there during study tours, we were accustomed to their presence.”

Cannons when they were along hotel driveway (Courtesy of BGES)

New owners of the hotel decided to go in a different promotional direction and decided to sell the guns, Riedel said. The Picket left messages for the hotel's general manager.

The replica gun were manufactured and installed by Steen Cannon in Kentucky.  

“While reenactment groups wanted fully fireable reproductions there was also a robust market for display units such as we have acquired. The tube is only half bored and there is no firing vent hole,” Riedel wrote in an email. “The carriages are aluminum and our belief is that they are in good condition.”

The Blue and Gray Education Society recruits historians across the country to lead tours and aids preservation efforts. It has made numerous cannon purchases and has produced interpretive signs and brochures across the region.

“Our work is diverse, meaningful and long lasting,” Riedel said. “Our Dalton work will bring more awareness and interest in this early part of the Atlanta Campaign -- it is for things like that that we are in business for and have been for nearly 30 years.

Park features mountaintop and valley views

Jenkins said one of the replica Napoleons will be placed on the north end of the field at the May 1864 Confederate line, and the other will be placed on the south side, representing the location of the February 1864 Confederate line.

The reproduction 3-inch ordnance rifle (Picket photo of Jenkins, left, above)  is placed at the location of the Federal 4th US light artillery battery during the February 1864 action.

They will likely be formally dedicated in the fall.

Rocky Face Ridge Park, in Crow Valley, 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.

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.\

In a statement Friday, Jenkins said:

“On behalf of Save the Dalton Battlefields, we are grateful for this gift from Blue and Gray Education Society for the new Rocky Face Ridge Park and for the generous donation from Dr. and Mrs. William Blackman to help make it happen. Blue and Gray Education Society has been, and continues to be a wonderful friend and supporter of our new park and of historic preservation, education, and interpretation across the nation. We are also grateful for Whitfield County’s continued support of historic preservation efforts within our county.”