Sketch of the Georgia Military Institute made by a Union soldier before it was burned.
The Civil War Round Table of Cobb County in northwest Georgia is inviting members of Civil
War or history-related organizations to join them in a May 6 bus tour of three sites.
The 8:30
a.m.-6:30 p.m. program begins in Marietta at the site of the former Georgia Military Institute, which operated 13 years until it was destroyed by the Union
army.
Local
historian Michael Hitt will lead the walking tour and the bus will pass
GMI-related sites on the way to Resaca, which is between Atlanta and Chattanooga,
Tenn.
GMI graduates
joined Confederate units and cadets fought at the front line during the May
1864 Battle of Resaca. Participants in the tour will see the railroad depot
where cadets arrived in Resaca and where they skirmished on May 9, 1864.
Among the
tour guides is David Wynn Vaughan, a noted collector of Civil War portraits,
including those of GMI cadets.
Reproduction 3-inch ordnance rifle at Rocky Face Ridge Park (Picket photo)
The third
stop is Rocky Face Ridge Park in Whitfield County near Dalton, about 20 miles
north of Resaca. The May 7-8, 1864,
battle was the first in what became known as the Atlanta Campaign. About
1,400 men from both sides became casualties in the fighting over several days. The park opened last summer.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park staff
historian Jim Ogden will provide an overview and lead a walking tour at Rocky
Face Ridge Park.
The cost for
the trip is $99, which includes the charter bus, box lunch, tour guides, talks
and handouts.
Contact Terry H. Kingery, 770-906-5635, tkingery2@bellsouth.net for more information and to make a
reservation. Only a few seats remain.
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 64th and 125th 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 64th
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.
“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 125th 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)
