Portion of Confederate defensive trench will be preserved in new Atlanta-area park

A view of the trench looking southwest (Georgia Battlefields Association)

A new park northwest of Atlanta will feature the remnants of a trench briefly occupied by Confederates during the Federal army’s push on Atlanta in summer 1864.

Cobb County commissioners last year purchased 94 acres from the Kemp family – which has been in the area for seven generations – for $6.5 million. An opening date for the park, off Burnt Hickory Road west of Marietta and above Harrison High School, has not been set.

At the time of the purchase, county officials said they were grateful because the Kemp family could have made more money by selling to developers.

Charlie Crawford, head of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said experts indicate the defensive trench was occupied for a few days by Mercer’s Georgia brigade after Confederates withdrew from the New Hope Church line on June 4, 1864.

“Mercer’s brigade and Vaughan’s Tennessee brigade to its right (northeast) were in an advanced position from the Lost Mountain-Brushy Mountain Line and were withdrawn to the main line not long after Federal forces advanced,” the GBA said in a recent newsletter lauding the park acquisition. “The adjacent advanced position on Pine Mountain farther northeast was abandoned after the death of Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk there on 14 June 1864.”

Tommy Kemp provided a tour of the property (GBA)

Federal and Rebel forces clashed on June 15-16 at Gilgal Church, just east of the park.

Crawford, who attended a recent park preview, said the trench “is easily discernible but not exceptional.” He estimates it to be at least several dozen yards long. It continues north across a road to property still owned by the Kemps. There are still some cows on the land.

“A trail already crosses the trench, and I assume a better trail will be part of the county plan,” he said. An historic map in Baylor University Libraries’ digital collection shows the Kemp farm and mill.

Charlie Monroe, natural resource manager for Cobb County parks, said the master planning process will begin later this year. "Included in that process are public input meetings where residents are encouraged to provide us with feedback on what they want to see in the park," Monroe said. The master plan and design documents will guide decisions on how to interpret the trench, he said.

Monroe said there is no money currently available for development and construction.

County Commissioner Bob Weatherford told the Marietta Daily Journal last fall that the property near Allatoona Creek has two homes, a family cemetery and the Civil War site, which he said will be fenced off and protected. At that time, plans were for the tract to be a passive park, emphasizing the natural habitat.