A reenactor wanted a monument put up to recall the service of his ancestor's Union brigade. John Fritz, who lives 1,700 miles away, bought 3 acres at Resaca

From left, John Fritz, Jake Boling and Robert Jenkins with installed monument near Resaca (Bob Jenkins)

Wherever the 105^th Illinois Infantry fought during the Civil War, John Fritz has been sure to follow.

The reenactor -- whose great-great-grandfather, Christopher Fritz, served as a private in Company G -- has traveled to 20 or so sites in Georgia and the Carolinas.

In between, Fritz has volunteered at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park outside Atlanta for more than 10 years and driven north to Resaca, Ga., where his ancestor also fought.

Eventually, the Chandler, Az., resident (left, NPS photo) wanted something tangible to bear proof of the service of the 105^th Illinois and other regiments in Brig. Gen. William T. Ward’s brigade in the 20^th Corps.

About 10 years ago, after participating in the Resaca reenactment several times, Fritz decided to preserve part of that battlefield by buying a small parcel and erecting a monument to the brigade.

Fritz, who turns 64 in November, recently achieved the goal with the installation on three acres he bought from a family at U.S. 41 and tiny Pilgrim Way in Whitfield County.

“It has been a dream come true,” Fritz told the Picket, which learned about the purchase from a social media post by rangers at Kennesaw Mountain.

“Although the property is not part of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, it preserves an important piece of the Atlanta Campaign story,” a park Facebook post said.

His ancestor helped clear the way for comrades

Pvt. Christopher Fritz was likely picked for an Army of the Cumberland 20^th Corps detachment known as pioneers because he was a carpenter and dependable. Fritz, a native of Germany, enlisted in 1862 and mustered out in June 1865.

Reverse of monument lists regiments and casualties (Kennesaw Mountain NBP)

During the Atlanta Campaign, the acting engineers followed Union skirmishers and made sure roads and bridges were in place or passable for the main army, among other duties.

They were, in essence, tips of the spear.

The soldier lost a thumb to gunfire while on guard duty for several months at Fort Negley in Nashville. The incident apparently was accidental, John Fritz says. Christopher received a pension about 25 years after the war

The veteran had a family in Belvidere. Ill., and died in August 1903 at age 73. 

Three markers will be placed near brigade monument

John Fritz wanted some Resaca battlefield land to be preserved. When no battlefield parcels appeared on the market, he went door-to-door, talking to landowners in Whitfield and Gordon counties.

He obtained a tract where Ward’s troops gathered before the May 13-15, 1864, ferocious, but inconclusive, battle at Resaca.

The granite memorial, provided by North Georgia Monument in Calhoun, was erected in mid-October. Preservationists plan to place three markers on the parcel.

Robert Jenkins, executive director of the Blue and Gray Education Society and the leader of Save the Dalton Battlefields, said the spot is near where the Federal IV Corps arrived to the battlefield as they marched south from Dalton down U.S. 41 and deployed on the evening of May 13, 1864.

“On this land is where a Confederate surprise attack on the afternoon of Saturday, May 14, 1864. led by General John Bell Hood that had rolled up a portion of the Federal IV Corps was stalled and stopped by Peter Simonson’s 5th Indiana Battery and Robinson’s brigade of Williams’s division of the XX Corps,” Jenkins wrote in an email.

Circled area shows location of Ward's brigade before its advance on Confederate lines

On May 15, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched an assault against the Confederate right flank. Troops from Ward's brigade (including the 70th Indiana, led by future president Benjamin Harrison) stormed an earthen redoubt containing four 12-pounder Napoleon guns commanded by Capt. Max Van Den Corput. Ward's men overran the battery

Jenkins said the markers will follow the action on this land and surrounding area on each of three successive days. (Below, Brig. Gen. William T. Ward)

“Thanks to John’s acquisition of this land and his generosity in allowing us to place three markers there, (we will have) the ability to be able to interpret and tell this part of the battle from a perspective and portion of the battlefield that has never been done before.”

Jenkins said the three acres are north of and not connected with 303 acres of Resaca battlefield acquired by the American Battlefield Trust in partnership with Save the Dalton Battlefields, Friends of Resaca Battlefield and the Georgia Battlefields Association.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park said historic “landscapes endure because people care enough to protect them.”

“Thank you, John Fritz, for helping preserve this important part of our shared history.”

John Fritz with monument on his land; click to enlarge (Kennesaw Mountain NBP)

Pvt. Christopher Fritz was a tip of the spear clearing roads during the Atlanta Campaign. At Kennesaw Mountain, a descendant is paying tribute this week

John Fritz describe weapons during a  talk May 22 at Kennesaw Mountain (NPS photo)

John Fritz’s great-great-grandfather, Christopher, toted a rifle and a whole lot more during his service in the 105^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry -- namely, axes, hatchets, files, saws and augers.

Pvt. Fritz was likely picked for an Army of the Cumberland XX Corps detachment known as pioneers because he was a carpenter and dependable. During the Atlanta Campaign, the acting engineers followed Union skirmishers and made sure roads and bridges were in place or passable for the main army, among other duties.

They were, in essence, tips of the spear.

John Fritz, a reenactor from Chandler, Ariz., this week is making short presentations about Federal infantry weapons at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park near Atlanta. He has a pioneer chevron on his uniform sleeve as a tribute to his ancestor, who fought in many campaigns, including in June 1864 at Kolb’s Farm near Kennesaw Mountain.

“Those guys had their work cut out from them,” the electronic engineer told me over the phone, without first realizing the pun. “They were responsible for going ahead and clearing the roads and muddy creek crossings.”

Fritz, 61, will give talks at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday near the park visitor center. (Photo left, National Park Service)

Fritz has volunteered at the park for the last 10 years during visits to Georgia to attend events. He just attended a reenactment in Resaca, Ga. (where the 105^th Illinois fought), and will attend an anniversary event Saturday at the Pickett’s Mill battlefield west of Kennesaw Mountain.

Fritz wanders the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield and talks with visitors about the life of an infantrymen and specifically his ancestor, who fought in North Georgia and at Peachtree Creek in Atlanta. “I feel people like to hear that connection.”

This week, he has set up a table displaying four guns the Federal army used.

The reenactor did not know of his great-great-grandfather’s service until his father died in 2011. “The family didn’t say anything about it, even my grandparents,” John Fritz told the Picket.

His father, Dale, was from Elgin, Illinois, and the family moved to Southern California when John was young.

He has since learned that Christopher Fritz, a native of Germany, enlisted early in the war while in his early 30s. He served in the 105th's Company G.

“I basically followed his whole route, pretty much traced his footsteps from Belvidere, Illinois, to Washington, DC,” where Christopher mustered out in June 1865, two weeks after the Grand Review of the Armies.

The soldier lost a thumb to gunfire while on guard duty for several months at Fort Negley in Nashville. The incident apparently was accidental, John Fritz says. Christopher received a pension about 15 years after the war

The veteran had a family in Belvidere and died in August 1903 at age 73. John helped arrange for a new Veterans Administration headstone to be placed at the grave.(Photo courtesy of John Fritz)

John is a member of the Scottsdale Civil War Roundtable in Arizona. He has been to several battlefields where the 105^th Illinois fought, including a couple in North Carolina.

“I just really got interested in learning about my ancestor and it turned into a project to honor him, learn more about him. I enjoy traveling. I had never been to the South.”