Little evidence of the Battle of Atlanta remains. The Cyclorama painting, markers and a vivid imagination are a good start. Our experts weigh in on their must-sees

Sign off Memorial Drive, scene from the Cyclorama, McPherson monument and 1964 state map

People often lament Atlanta paved over its Civil War battlefields. But there are some vestiges of the fighting, and you can go to a couple museums and gaze at dozens of roadside markers to get a sense of what happened there.

Tuesday is the anniversary of the July 22, 1864, Battle of Atlanta, which led to the fall of the Southern city weeks later and likely assured the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln. 

I asked area historians, tour guides and preservationists to suggest places the interested can go to learn more about the battle and its importance. Among the suggested stops are markers where Union Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson and Confederate Gen. William H.T. Walker, a grizzled Confederate veteran nicknamed “Shot Pouch," were killed in action that day.

The following responses have been edited for context and brevity. A few sections have material from previous Civil War Picket posts. 

CHARLIE CRAWFORD, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association

Obviously, start at the Cyclorama at the Atlanta History Center. Spend at least half a day studying the painting and all the associated displays, including maps at the “War in Our Backyards” kiosk on the main floor, not far from the locomotive Texas display. It would help if you have already read related books by Albert Castel, Steve Davis, Earl Hess and Bill Scaife.

Go thereafter to the Carter Center bus parking lot and note three historical markers there, including the one for the Augustus Hurt House, which was Sherman’s HQ during the battle. 

View toward Stone Mountain in Cyclorama, which shows July 22, 1864; Decatur Road on right (Atlanta History Center)

Next, drive to Inman Park MARTA Station parking lot, start eastward on foot along DeKalb Avenue and note the Georgia historical markers, starting with the Pope House. Continue eastward on foot along DeKalb Avenue and turn north onto DeGress Avenue, which has three more markers, including a marker for the Troup Hurt House that you saw in the Cyclorama painting and a marker for the DeGress battery. 

The Old Decatur Road was more serpentine than DeKalb Avenue is now. It curved south of the railroad, then back north in the vicinity of the Confederate breakthrough. You can see this in the diorama at the base of the painting at AHC.

Return to you vehicle and drive eastward on Glenwood Ave SE and turn left (north) immediately past the I-20 interchange onto Wilkinson Drive. In 150 yards, turn left into the parking area for DeKalb Memorial Park. Walk back south to Glenwood Avenue. Note the Walker monument (upright cannon), its associated marker, and the marker across Glenwood Avenue for Terry’s Mill Pond. (Picket photo of Walker stone)

When done, walk back to your car and turn left (north) out of the parking lot until you hit Memorial Drive. Turn left (west) on Memorial Drive then take the first right onto Clay Street. Stop the car almost immediately and note the “Battle of Atlanta Began Here” marker on the west side of the street.

Safely find a way to turn around and head south, then make a right (west) on Memorial Drive. Take the second left (south) onto Maynard Terrace, and immediately after passing the I-20 interchange, turn right (west) onto McPherson Avenue. Park when you see the McPherson monument (upright cannon) on your left. Read the associated markers there. 

Not a comprehensive tour, but should be enough to prompt further research among the uninitiated.

Go to Georgia Historical Society’s marker page and read the texts ahead of time by searching DeKalb County and Fulton County markers.

JIM OGDEN, historian at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Charlie is certainly the expert here, so I would second his recommendations and add only a couple of others.  

While not 100% historically accurate, the visual of the Cyclorama is so valuable that going there or starting there is really important. It would also be really valuable to have a printed copy of it with you while you do the walk along DeKalb Avenue, particularly for when you're along DeGress or if you maybe even walk just a bit farther east on DeKalb and then turn around and look back west, holding that portion of the Cyclorama up in front of you. 

It's a window back in time through all the 21st and 20^th century around you.  I can't remember if AHC is selling any sort of printed reproduction of it but there is the old Kurtz 30 p. booklet of it that probably can be found on the used market.

Marker at Springvale Park mentions remnant of ravine (David Seibert/HMbd.org)

This might be too obvious, but the only other thing I might note is that the many railroad tracks today on the south side of DeKalb are the modern version of the one track that is another one of the important landmarks in the Cyclorama.

For someone who might be up for a bit more of a walk, particularly if they want to do it a bit more from the perspective of the Confederate attack in the painting, would be to walk farther west on DeKalb, at least to Waverly Way, and then north to Springvale Park to see the remains of the low ground the Confederates crossed north of the railroad as they attacked east and the markers there. (Springvale Park has one of the few monuments to the battle. It has a marker as well, indicating that Manigault’s Confederate brigade reformed in the low ground there before making their final dash).

One could even go to Oakland Cemetery to the rise from which Hood watched the battle.  

Atlanta may have seemingly swallowed the July 22 battlefield, but there are still faint traces of that history to be found on the ground.

Artillery Capt. Francis DeGress trails Maj. Gen. Logan in Cyclorama scene (AHC)

PERRY BENNETT, local historian and tour guide

Perry Bennett, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, will be giving a free tour at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

The historian said the tour will start at a historical marker on the grounds of Alonzo A. Crim Open Campus High School, 256 Clifton Road SE. It is being given to the Longstreet Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans but anyone can attend. 

“I cover both sides but am focused upon when the battle began on this particular tour and what went well and what did not,” he said.

Bennett mentions markers where Bate’s Confederate division deployed, where two of his brigades were blocked during their attack and another sign indicating where Walker’s division attacked the same hill from Terry’s Mill pond. 

The tour will also make stops at the sites of McPherson’s and Walker’s killings.

Those interested can contact Bennett at lperrybennettjr@gmail.com

CHAD CARLSON, East Atlanta historian and Civil War photo collector

Chad Carlson, a historian with the Georgia Department of Transportation, suggests a stop in East Atlanta Village, at the intersection of Glenwood and Flat Shoals roads. The agency put up a Battle of Atlanta replica marker and interpretive panel in 2013 to replace a 1930s version that was removed in the 1970s. (Read about that here).

Carlson said he appreciates the simplicity of the marker, which describes military units and troops movements. It describes Confederate troops pushing Federal units back to Leggett’s Hill on July 22.

Marker about troop movements in East Atlanta (Georgia DOT)

GDOT made an exact replica but used a cheaper metal material, I think aluminum, instead of bronze, so (there is) less likelihood of it getting stolen.”

For years, local historians, Civil War buffs and the Battle of Atlanta Commemoration Organization (B*ATL) have worked to educate residents and visitors to the rich Civil War history of East Atlanta, Kirkwood and other Atlanta neighborhoods.