Historian 'pieces together' an Illinois soldier's story that ended in attack at Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia

Charlotte Reid and daughter Katy Johnson at Kennesaw

Charlotte Reid and her sister, Twilla Zellman, began their journey of discovery with a last name, a little family history and a cannonball tucked away in a bedroom dresser. 

Through research, they attached a first name with the last name of an ancestor who fought and died during the Civil War: Pvt. John G. Wilson of Potomac, Ill.

From there, the sisters, with the help of Reid’s daughter and an historian in the Atlanta area, have reconstructed a young life lost at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia.

The family’s journey came to an emotional apex on the evening of June 28, 150 years and one day after the battle.

More than 3,100 memorial luminaries flickered during a sesquicentennial ceremony at the battlefield. One shone for Reid’s great-grandfather, mortally wounded in a desperate, failed attack on strong Confederate defenses on Cheatham Hill.

John G. Wilson grave at Marietta National Cemetery

“We turned around (to see the luminaries) and I had no words,” Reid recalled last week. “Tears were going to flow if I did not get my Kleenex out. It was overwhelming.”

Reid, who lives in Modesto, Calif., last month made her fourth visit to Kennesaw in five years. Joining her was daughter Katy Johnson, of Franklin, Tenn.

They met up again with Brad Quinlin, a Civil War author and historian, who took a call from mother and daughter in 2009 while volunteering at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

Quinlin has filled in holes in the service and last days of Pvt. Wilson:

-- Wilson was buried at Marietta National Cemetery near Kennesaw, rather than in Chattanooga, Tenn. The family had thought the soldier was buried in Chattanooga and checked there first. “Mom was pretty much speechless when we first found his grave,” said Johnson.

-- The 125^th Illinois Infantry, Company I, soldier was shot in the gut on June 27, 1864, and died two days later at a tent hospital in Big Shanty, as the nearby town of Kennesaw was then known.

-- Wilson and 61 others Union soldiers were buried in a peach orchard behind the hospital. His remains, likely marked by a wooden headboard, were moved to Marietta National Cemetery on April 27, 1867. 

Brad Quinlin and Charlotte Reid at battlefield

Reid said Wilson’s wife, Mary Melissa Copeland Wilson, and a young daughter died just before the war. The soldier, who enlisted in September 1862, left a 2- or 3-year-old son in care of his wife’s parents while he went off to fight. There are no known surviving photographs of Wilson, thought to be about 28 when he was killed.

“He went anyway because her parents were going to raise the boy and President Lincoln made a real push to get a large number of men to enlist from Illinois,” said Reid. 

Reid’s mother came to live with her in California about 15 years ago. Reid and Twilla discovered two objects in a dresser. One proved to be a round rock, the other a small cannonball.

Reid theorizes that Wilson brought the cannonball home to his boy as a souvenir while he was on a medical furlough in Kentucky.

Wilson was buried in peach orchard that is now a lawn.

The three women traveled to Marietta in September 2009 and spent the full day with Quinlin, who showed them where Wilson camped and fought on the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield. They also got to see the hospital site, now a vacant parcel, and made a return visit to the national cemetery and the grave.

“It was interesting to … walk on the soil he was on,” Johnson said. “You didn’t know you were missing something until someone informed you.”

“Brad was the one who put all the pieces of the story together so far,” said Reid.

Quinlin, who was volunteered at the battlefield for 27 years, said the day “was very emotional” for the women.

“All day, we took the journey of John Wilson from where he camped June 21 to June 26 … down to the Cheatham Hill site, where we talked about the attack of (Brig. Gen. Dan) McCook’s men.”

The historian pulled regimental books, Union hospital records and pension and muster records kept at the National Archives. The 125^th Illinois saw service in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

Hospital once sat on what is now a vacant lot.

The regiment was right in the thick of things during the fruitless June 27 assault on the “Dead Angle” at Cheatham Hill.

“They came up right where the Illinois Monument is,” said Quinlin.

Having done extensive research at Marietta National Cemetery, Quinlin knew that Section J contained graves from men buried near a spring and Camp McDonald in Big Shanty.

Books at the National Archives gave the hospital’s location and accommodations. “That hospital had no main building; it was just made up of tents.”

Wilson and other wounded soldiers were first treated at a field hospital on what is now Cheatham Hill Road. “Once they were stabilized, they were taken to this hospital at Big Shanty.” 

Quinlin said he is allowed to pull National Archives muster rolls down to the company level. 

The records included notations on Wilson’s wounding and death two days later.

Twilla Zellman, Brad Quinlin and Charlotte Reid at the gravesite.

“It was very personal to these sergeants. These were their friends.” Quinlin said of the records. “The sergeant wrote down, “'Comrade John G. Wilson, stomach wound.’”

The author considers Union Chaplain Thomas B. Van Horne a hero for his development of Federal cemeteries in Chattanooga and Marietta. Van Horne, of the 13^th Ohio, was tapped to recover the remains of Union soldiers who died in the Atlanta Campaign.

The chaplain was known to go to every grave, kneel down, recite a prayer and document everything that was found with a soldier’s remains, said Quinlin, whose great-grandfather, John James of the 93^rd Indiana, is buried in an unmarked grave at Vicksburg, Ms.

Van Horne kept hospital records for the 62 soldiers buried behind the Big Shanty hospital.

Quinlin said he has identified 49 Marietta National Cemetery graves, previously marked as unknown, in his extensive research of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign.

At his website, Quinlin offers battlefield and cemetery tours. For $150, he provides a “complete record” of a Union soldier’s service, including regimental and muster information kept at the National Archives. 

“You will know day by day what happened to your soldier. With the regimental records, find out the days they were on guard duty, picket duty, on report and the days they were present on duty or in the hospital,” the site says.

Quinlin said he has done research for about 70 families. Many are more difficult than the Wilson project, he said. “Everything fell in place with everything gathered.”

During the sesquicentennial observance at Kennesaw Mountain, Quinlin spent some time with 42 families who traveled to the battlefield.

Among them were descendants of 125^th Illinois commander Lt. Col. Oscar Harmon, also cut down at Kennesaw Mountain. The family brought Harmon’s uniform, boots and sword to the events. 

A formal ceremony that weekend on Marietta Square included comments from other descendants of men who fought in the war.

“We had this really cool moment when this lady from India walks out and takes the mic from me. She looks at all the descendants and said, ‘I just got to this country, and I had no one who fought and died from this country. I want you to know I am here and know what the word freedom means because of the sacrifice of your ancestors. Thanks to your ancestors I know what freedom means.’”

Charlotte Reid with daughter Katy Johnson

“There was not a dry eye in the place,” said Quinlin.

Charlotte Reid said her quest to learn more about John G. Wilson is not over. She’s interested in the different battle engagements and details of where the 125^th Illinois campaigned for almost two years before Kennesaw Mountain.

Despite the heat, hilly terrain and the use of a cane, Reid, 81, said she was determined to attend the June 28 rededication of the Illinois Monument, not far from where her great-grandfather fell in battle.

Katy Johnson recalled, too, gazing down at the thousands of lighted luminaries.

“It pretty much took your breath away…."

Taking in the Southern Museum, Big Shanty

The Great Locomotive Chase, the Southern Museum points out, actually began on foot.

Western & Atlantic Railroad conductor William A. Fuller was shocked to see a group of men commandeer “The General” while passengers and crew were enjoying breakfast at the Lacy Hotel in Big Shanty, Ga., on April 12, 1862.

Fuller and a couple others ran north after his train. He didn’t yet know it had been taken by James Andrews and a group of nearly two dozen Union commandos. Andrews was on a doomed mission to destroy track and disrupt communications.

The conductor ran across a handcar and three trains and 86 miles later he -- along with Confederate horsemen who had been reached by telegraph -- had chased Andrews to Ringgold, a few miles south of Chattanooga, Tenn. Out of fuel and water for the locomotive, Andrews and his party fled, only to be captured.

Eight, including its leader, were later hanged in Atlanta for espionage and conspiracy. Fuller became a Georgia hero.

Today, Big Shanty is known as Kennesaw, a Cobb County suburb about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta. The city lies near Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield and is home to fast-growing Kennesaw State University, whose dorms rise along nearby Interstate 75.

I spent a few hours Thursday at the museum and in downtown Kennesaw, which hosts the Big Shanty Festival this weekend.

I was impressed by the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, a well-landscaped brick building which rises alongside the busy tracks used by up to 70 CSX trains a day.

The front portion gives an insightful history of the crucial role played by railroads during the Civil War. The exhibits include weapons, photos and uniforms and civilian clothing.

Like almost every aspect of the war, the North had more materiel than the South. In 1860, its rail production was 234,000 tons vs. 26,000 tons. And the Union had an amazing military railroad system. Both sides leveraged tracks to move thousands of troops into Chickamauga, Ga., and Chattanooga.

Another fascinating feature of the Southern Museum is a display on Pullman Porters and a large re-creation of Glover Machine Works, which produced 200 small but versatile locomotives between 1902 and 1930 in nearby Marietta. The family-owned company continued to make pipe and other parts into the 1950s.

The museum acquired Glover tools, parts patterns, locomotives and more when the complex was cleaned out and leveled in the mid-1990s. This part of the museum is a must for railroad buffs because it shows a side of railroading you rarely see.

The facility also has a hands-on Education Center for kids.

A large theater presents a fine 25-minute drama on the Great Locomotive Chase. Outside are photos of the Andrews raiders and several of the key Georgians who went after them. The presentation includes a description of the Medals of Honor the raiders received. One medal on display was posthumously awarded to hanged raider Sgt. John Scott.

After that tribute, you walk in to the room with the “The General,” the museum’s star attraction. Remarkably, the train was reconditioned after the war and made several tours, including during the Civil War centennial in the 1960s.

Although its paint scheme and features changed over the years, “The General” still looks imposing enough. And its boiler is certified to operate through 2019 in the very unlikely chance it will return to the tracks after its 40-year rest.

The only other surviving train involved in the chase, “The Texas,” is housed at the Atlanta Cyclorama. Fuller and crew had to drive it in reverse to catch up with Andrews at Ringgold. Interestingly, the Southern Museum says “The Texas” doesn’t get as much notice as it should, given it was “the true eventual winner” of the race.

Afterward, I crossed the tracks to a small park, home to several signs remembering Big Shanty, Fuller and the Andrews Raiders. Big Shanty was also home to Camp McDonald, which trained Confederate troops. The camp was on land near the current Kennesaw City Hall.

Kennesaw Trains owner Kevin Mills told me business in downtown has been slow over the past few months and a couple of restaurants have relocated or closed. But condos and offices are expected to go up when better times return.

Main Street is also home to Wildman’s Civil War Surplus Shop operated by Dent Myers. Myers in 2008 applauded a U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming Americans' right to defend themselves with guns.

In 1982, Kennesaw passed a law that every head of household must own a firearm. That law is still on the books.

Nearby, the city is building a pedestrian tunnel so that visitors and locals can walk from one side of the busy tracks to the other.

Unfortunately, it will not be completed in time for this year’s Big Shanty Festival, which is this Saturday and Sunday. It features more than 250 arts and craft booths, a parade and fireworks.

• Click here for more info on the Southern Museum.
• Click here for more info on the Big Shanty Festival.