Gen. Jacob Cox slept here: Citizen-soldier's division camped on land that became Emory University. His competence and memoirs are lauded, his racial views are not

Jacob Cox (Library of Congress), marker on Clifton Road and walkway nearby on Emory University (Picket photos)

In 1944, Wilbur G. Kurtz – restorer of the Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama, rescuer of the locomotive Texas and technical adviser to the film “Gone With the Wind” – wrote a letter to the father of an Atlanta teenager whose hobby was relic collecting.

Kurtz provided some suggestions on places to dig, but ended the correspondence with books the boy should read to really understand what happened in the city in summer 1864.

At the top of the list, in the letter kept by the Atlanta History Center, was “Atlanta,” one of several notable Civil War books authored by Maj. Gen Jacob D. Cox.

The man who went on to become Ohio governor, U.S. interior secretary, congressman and president of the University of Cincinnati was among the most successful citizen-soldiers of the conflict. He served in both theaters of the Civil War, including the Atlanta Campaign.

“I think Cox did fine during the Atlanta Campaign, and his advance southward on 27 June (Battle of Kennesaw Mountain) provided ‘the only advantage of the day,' according to Sherman,” says Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association.

Crawford said he believes Cox’s 1882 account (Ebay photo) of the Atlanta Campaign is largely accurate and “provides some insights that other memoirs lack, whereas his account of the Second Manassas Campaign is tainted by his animus toward Fitz John Porter.”

Civil War historian Robert D. Jenkins, executive director of the Blue and Gray Education Society, said Cox’s book about Atlanta “is fair and good, and for a long, long time was really one of the only reliable histories of the Atlanta Campaign until the middle and end of the 20th century."

I reached out to Crawford and Jenkins on Saturday after stopping to photograph a sign on the Emory University campus near Decatur. Cox’s Third Division of Schofield’s XXXIII Corps camped there on the evening of July 19, 1864, a few days before the Battle of Atlanta and fighting in Decatur.

While I had heard of Cox, particularly his strong performance as a brigadier general at Utoy Creek in August 1864, I didn’t know much about his career.

Cox was a trial lawyer before the Civil War and had to scramble to learn military skills West Pointers already possessed. He fought at Antietam and South Mountain and later moved to the Western Theater.

“In early 1864, Cox marched with Sherman to Atlanta as second in command of the Army of the Ohio. He performed yeoman service during this period. In July, he led a flank attack which caused the Confederate Army of Tennessee to retreat from its strong position on Kennesaw Mountain,” according to an article by Gene Schmiel in “On Point,” a publication of the Army Historical Foundation.

“Cox’s forces were the first to cross the Chattahoochee River, forcing the Confederates into the defenses of Atlanta. Later that month, Cox’s division cut the final supply line into Atlanta, forcing General Hood to abandon Atlanta and opening the way for Union control.”

Cox later played a crucial role in crushing Hood’s Confederate forces at Franklin, Tenn. Crawford points out some critics claim the general took too much credit for some victories.

Nothing in his background indicated Cox (left, after the war) would be a successful military man.

“I have become used to being surprised as to my own fate, and take it rather quietly, feeling a kind of third person’s curiosity at looking on to see what is to become of me,” Cox wrote in 1866.

One aspect of Cox’s service to the country has not aged well.

While his family had abolitionist ties and he was anti-slavery, Cox opposed moves toward racial equality after the war.

“Some of his post-war comments about what to do with 3.5 million former slaves put him on the wrong side of current thinking,” says Crawford. The politician had advocated for a separate colony or territory for blacks.

Cox died in 1900 at age 71.

As for that historical marker, I asked Crawford what happened in the area during fighting for Atlanta. (Emory University as we know it did not exist in 1864; its forerunner, Emory College, was established in Oxford, Ga.)

On July 21, 1864, Cox's division transited west from north of Decatur along what is now N. Decatur Road (known as Paces Ferry Road at the time) to a position north of the Augustus Hurt house. (Above, Crawford map of Cox division leaving the Emory area)

Stanley's division was almost simultaneously marching southward along what is now Briarcliff Road and passing just west of what is now the campus (right, Picket photo).

During the July 22 fighting in Decatur, a 17th Corps wagon train escorted by 43rd Ohio Infantry and part of the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry was heading south toward Decatur along what is now Clairmont Road, says Crawford.

“Hearing the sound of the fighting and also being warned by couriers and 15th Corps wagon drivers who (Brig. Gen. John) Sprague had instructed to flee northward, the lead 17th Corps wagons turned west on North Decatur Road and passed along the south edge of the campus,” says Crawford.

“Wagons that were farther behind (17th Corps train being about four miles long) turned west on other roads.” 

As I prepared this blog post, I reviewed my 2011 article on the little-known Aug. 5-7, 1864, engagement at Utoy Creek. (Below, Picket photo of Federal trenches)

Coincidentally, I had mentioned both Kurtz and Cox in that post.

In 1932, Kurtz wrote about an Atlanta family that hid in a bombproof, or "dugout," during the fighting there. Up to 26 people huddled inside at the height of the fighting in western Atlanta.

Gen. Cox on Aug. 11, 1864, wrote this compelling passage.

“In this bomb-proof four families are now living, and I never felt more pity than when, day before yesterday, I looked down into the pit, and saw there, in the gloom made visible by a candle burning while it was broad day above, women sitting on the floor of loose boards, resting against each other, haggard and wan, trying to sleep away the days of terror, while innocent-looking children, four or five years old, clustered around the air-hole, looking up with pale faces and great staring eyes as they heard the singing of the bullets that were flying thick above their sheltering place.”

More markers depicting Federal trench line have popped up in Franklin, Tenn. Meanwhile, battle-damaged Carter House is breaking ground for new visitor center

At right, Sam Huffman of the Civil War commission and planners Emily Huffer and Elizabeth Bulay (City of Franklin)

The city of Franklin, Tennessee – which makes preservation the name of the game -- has installed new markers identifying where Union Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield’s troops dug in before the Nov. 30, 1864, assault that cost the Confederacy six generals and 6,200 casualties.

The announcement this week came ahead of a March 28 groundbreaking for a new visitor center at the Carter House, which was in the center of the fierce fighting.

The Federal trench line was crescent-shaped and anchored by the Harpeth River. The city’s Civil War Historical Commission erected six markers this month, according to preservation planner Emily Huffer.

The first two markers were dedicated in November 2023 near the Carter House and Carter Hill Park, “a reclaimed Civil War battlefield site where some of the heaviest fighting took place,” Kelly Dannenfelser, assistant director of long-range planning and historic preservation, told the Picket in an email. Those markers were funded by Save the Franklin Battlefield and the Battle of Franklin Trust.

Huffer said the markers, made of Indiana limestone and standing about 5 feet tall, are being placed on either side of 10 streets (20 markers total). They are labeled "U.S. Army Line."

Currently, there are posts on Columbia Avenue, Hillsboro Road, New Highway 96 W. and Fair Street. (Click map to enlarge to see the 10 locations)

“Using these markers as a reference point, locals and visitors can visually identify where the forces were located to better understand how the battle enveloped much of the central Franklin area and to obtain a sense of how much the landscape has evolved since the time of the Civil War,” Huffer wrote.

The Harpeth River served as the natural barrier for the entrenchment line. The US Army did not dig up the roads on the streets that the entrenchment line went through, only between each of the streets.

The Union soldiers were set up on the streets between the earthen mounds to protect Franklin citizens, she added.

The city is developing new software that integrates mapping, historical documentation and brief descriptions of each site and location, planners said. That is a project of the historic parks audio tour subcommittee of the Civil War Historical Commission. 

Franklin, about 20 miles south of Nashville, has long been known for working to save or reclaim battlefield. (New marker, right)

The Civil War Trust (now known as the American Battlefield Trust) worked with the city and nonprofit groups to do so following decades of rampant development over battle sites.

”Today, well over a hundred acres of battlefield land have been reclaimed and preserved, often one acre at a time over a span of many years,” says the trust.

“In 2005, (a) Pizza Hut property was bought and restored to its 1864 appearance. In 2012, the Civil War Trust and its partners secured the strip mall, another acre and a half, and thus scored another major victory in the historic journey to reclaim the heart of a battlefield that was once considered lost forever. “

Franklin formed a Civil War advisory task force in the early 2000s, said Huffer. It suggested reproduction carriages for four authentic cannons on the Public Square and the establishment of U.S. trench line markers.

The late Sam Gant was the driving force behind the latter.

The visitor center, other buildings are behind the Carter House (Tenn. Historical Commission)

Perhaps the main Civil War attraction in Franklin is the Carter House on Columbia Avenue. Over 1,000 bullet holes remain in the structure.

Among the most popular stories is of Tod Carter, a young Confederate mortally wounded 500 feet from his boyhood home. His family found the captain on the battlefield. “Dying and insensible, Tod was carried back to the Carter House near dawn and set down in his sister Annie’s room.  He died the next day, just one of the nearly ten thousand family tragedies that the battle wrought,” said the American Battlefield Trust.

The Tennessee Historical Commission said this week $8.5 million has been earmarked for the new Herbert Harper Visitor Center at the state site, which is managed by the Battle of Franklin Trust. The trust will sponsor interpretive exhibits.

The existing visitor center, which has been in use since the early 1980s, will be replaced by a new multiuse building designed to blend with its surroundings.

Map of main combat courtesy American Battlefield Trust (https://www.battlefields.org/)

Built in 1830, the brick house served as headquarters for the Federal 23^rd Corps during the Battle of Franklin. The state acquired the property in 1951 when it was threatened by demolition to make way for a gas station.

The loss at Franklin had a mighty influence on Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood and his troops.

“The scale of the Confederate charge at Franklin rivaled that of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. The action resulted in a disastrous defeat for the South and failed to prevent the Union army from advancing to Nashville,” said the American Battlefield Trust. “The fighting force of the South’s Army of Tennessee was severely diminished.”

Among the Southern generals killed were Patrick Cleburne, Hiram Granbury and States Rights Gist.

The markers are visible along the right of way, from sidewalks (City of Franklin)

Return to Utoy Creek: Walking little-known sites of the Atlanta Campaign

Remnants of Federal trenches

Surprisingly, our May 2011 post on the Battle of Utoy Creek during the Atlanta Campaign is among the most-read articles on the Picket. Few people know about this failed Union push against troops defending a vital railroad.

Two chums and I visited three Utoy-related sites over the weekend and one near East Point. With the exception of a few historic markers along busy roads, a visitor won’t glean much battle history and context.

From late July to late August 1864, Federal troops made several thrusts toward the vital Rebel rail line in East Point, just south of Atlanta. Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood’s troops were spent by this time, having suffered significant losses and initiative at Peachtree Creek, Ezra Church and Atlanta. But Atlanta’s inner fortifications were too strong to take head on.

Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman had failed to get around Hood’s left flank at Ezra Church. He wanted to extend his right flank to hit the railroad.

He transferred Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield’ s Army of the Ohio from his left to his right flank and sent him to the north bank of Utoy Creek, according to the National Park Service battle summary.

Our first stop, at Beecher-Hampton Nature Preserve, covered ground where Schofield’s troops dug in and built trenches and other fortifications to prepare for an assault. Of course, the woods look far different at the end of January compared to early August. I'm not sure whether much of the park was then farms or cleared land.

The trenches, which have been hunted out for relics, continue toward Westview Cemetery. 

Our walk reminded us of the terrain’s hilly features and we could appreciate the Federals’ position, on the top of a ridge with a yawning ravine below that attackers would not have wanted to cover.

The regrouping of Federal troops in this area allowed Confederates to build up their defenses along what is now Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta. The Union had a nearly 3-to-1 numeric superiority.

“The delay allowed the Rebels to strengthen their defenses with abatis, which slowed the Union attack when it restarted on the morning of the 6th. The Federals were repulsed with heavy losses by Bate’s Division and failed in an attempt to break the railroad,” according to the NPS.

On Aug. 7, the Union troops moved back toward the Confederate main line and entrenched. Here they remained until late in the month. Sporadic fighting occurred in the area for a couple more weeks. 

Historians to this day debate whether the Battle of Utoy Creek was a skirmish or a serious setback for Sherman during his eventually successful effort to capture Atlanta. 

Mention of fortifications (click to enlarge)

Our second -- albeit brief -- stop was gorgeous Cascade Springs Nature Preserve (above), which features the springs, South Utoy Creek and rolling hills and trails. The park was in the thick of the Utoy Creek fighting.

Unfortunately, we had no time to climb up to the high ground to see a few remaining Confederate defenses, which one of our party has seen. That’ll have to wait until next time.

Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails later this year will be installing an interpretive marker at the beginning of the walking trail at Cascade Springs.

Next, we drove about a mile and a half east to Utoy Cemetery, which has the grave of Atlanta’s first physician, Joshua Gilbert. Atlanta's oldest cemetery contains the remains of at least two Revolutionary War soldiers and a War of 1812 veteran.

Confederates established a hospital at Utoy Church (also known as Utoy Baptist and Utoy Primitive Baptist) behind the battlefield. Col. James S. Boynton of the 30th Georgia was wounded and brought to Utoy Church for medical care. He later became a politician and briefly served as Georgia governor.

The cemetery lies next to the church.

About 250-300 people, possibly including slaves and Native Americans, are buried here. There are a couple dozen graves for fallen Confederates, most of them unknown.

The church, which operates under a newer name, and cemetery are near the intersection of Venetian and Cahaba drives.

Finally, we drove south to East Point and Mount Olive Baptist Church on Washington Road. A dozen headstones (above) lie near the road, set off from other graves.

“War in Our Backyards,” an interactive produced last year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Atlanta History Center, provides this description:

“Graves of 12 unknown Confederate soldiers are buried here. Local legend has it they were in a squad that was helping guard the East Point railroad, and were having breakfast when they were surprised and killed by Union cavalry.”