Now you see them ... now you don't. Civil War markers sometimes are casualties to manmade and natural forces. In Georgia, a historical society and volunteers make them whole

Marker in 2008 (Photo by Felch Dumas, HMdb.org) and remnants of post, near stop sign (Picket photo)

It’s not easy being a historical marker. The elements take the shine off you, things fall from the sky, people sometimes want you moved and – worst of all – motor vehicles can take you out at any moment.

One of those casualty situations recently occurred in an Atlanta neighborhood. The “Battle of Atlanta Began Here” sign, detailing how marching Federal troops chanced into a surprise Confederate assault on July 22, 1864, was either hit by a vehicle or a downed power pole, said Henry Bryant, a local preservationist.

Like other safekeeping custodians of damaged markers in the area, Bryant is working with the Georgia Historical Society to see that repairs are made and the sign is put back up.

But that takes time, funding and the proper materials, depending on whether the sign, its pole or both are damaged.

A couple miles from where Bryant and a tour led by the Battle of Atlanta Commemoration Organization (B*ATL) encountered the damaged sign on July 18 is a spot where a suspected drunken driver knocked down another Civil War marker.

Marker before it was hit by car (Photo by Felch Dumas, HMdb.org) and in storage (David Mitchell)

This one, with the mesmerizing title “Noon Under the Trees,” details how Union Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson met for lunch with other commanders before riding toward the sound of gunfire, only to be killed a short time later.

The DeKalb Avenue marker was damaged a few years ago and is currently being kept by David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, until it can be repaired. The base, where the post is inserted into the sign, is gone, Mitchell said.

James McPherson

“The marker is on the Georgia Historical Society’s list of projects to be addressed in the future,” said Elyse Butler, the organization’s marker manager. “Due to the damage marker collar, it will certainly need to be recast prior to reinstallation.”

The state of Georgia ran the Georgia historical marker program from the 1950s until the mid-1990s. The historical society began to erect new markers in 1998. GHS took over the coordination for maintaining the older state markers in 2015, Butler said.

“As such, we are currently working through the state’s backlog of marker projects. While it may take some time to address the damaged marker (Noon Under the Trees), please be assured a plan for replacing the marker is currently under review.”

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, has led countless tours of area Civil War sites and is very familiar with pertinent historical markers.

It was common for 50-60 historical markers to be in a state maintenance shop awaiting repairs in the mid-1990s, he said. They came from around Georgia, but the highest concentration was from metro Atlanta, scene of the worst traffic.

“I feel comfortable saying that more markers were victims of vehicle collisions in the Atlanta area than elsewhere around the state. Often, the aluminum markers would survive a vehicle collision but the posts would not, so not all markers would need repair, but they might languish in storage until resources -- i.e., workers, materials, and funds -- were available,” Crawford wrote in an email.

Another view of damaged Clay Street sign post near utility pole (Picket photo)

Sometimes, markers are moved, Crawford says. They can be precipitated by road widenings or homeowners who want them to be relocated because people walk through their lawns to view them. And motor vehicles are a constant threat.

“The Surrender of Atlanta” marker that was at the V-intersection of Northside Drive and Marietta Street was knocked over so frequently that it was moved to the west side of Marietta Street. A Georgia Tech alumni and businessman paid for the relocation, Crawford said. When it ran the marker program, the cash-strapped state increasingly turned to donations for maintenance.

A homeowner in Kennesaw, northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, does not mind having a marker in his yard but would like it relocated a few yards away so that it doesn’t block his view of traffic when trying to exit his driveway,” said Crawford.

In 2010, the Picket wrote about a Civil War marker that mysteriously ended up a few miles from its original location. The sign, which details the movements of the Federal left wing in Decatur in 1864, had been missing for some time. The state picked it up and the marker eventually was reinstalled at the proper location near Interstate 285.

Volunteers expect to have this sign back up soon (Henry Bryant)

Back in East Atlanta, Bryant is coordinating the return of the Battle of Atlanta marker to its longtime home on Clay Street near Memorial Drive. All that currently remains of the marker is half of its shattered post, rebar jutting from the exposed end.

“The sign was not significantly damaged. The post was a near total loss. The power pole is still on the ground at the site. Fortunately, I had another post for the marker,” he said in an email.

He has located a power auger and will work with volunteers to make the repairs and installation. “At this point a schedule for completion is a matter of logistics.”

Bryant described what can happen when a sign needs to be fixed or replaced. The “Bate’s Battle Line” sign a couple blocks east on Memorial Drive is listed by the GHS as missing.

McPherson monument in East Atlanta (Henry Bryant)

The post he will use for the “Battle of Atlanta Began Here” repair was initially intended for the Bate marker. “We have had the money to recast that sign, but had run into issues with obtaining property owner permission. Now a new (grocery) store is being built at that location.”

A traffic accident last year damaged the fence to an East Atlanta monument where McPherson was killed. Two volunteers reconstructed the fence's pipe rails and masonry posts, Bryant said in email.

B*ATL still raising money to restore monuments to US, Confederate generals; city advisory panel suggests keeping both

Monument to Confederate general is only a battered remnant (Picket photo)

Vintage post card shows it had more features (Courtesy of B*ATL)

A neighborhood group that wants to restore two Battle of Atlanta monuments – one to a Federal general, the other to a Confederate – is carefully navigating the national conversation about what to do with monuments that honored Southern generals and leaders.

“The Battle of Atlanta can be the beginning of a conversation about race,” leader Henry Bryant wrote last year in a Zocalo Public Square article.

“Our group’s mission has always been to explore American history -- not just the Confederacy and not just the Union,” Bryant wrote. The nonprofit Battle of Atlanta (B*ATL) Commemoration Organization includes multiple aspects of the city’s history, including civil rights, in its neighborhood tours and activities, he said.

A monument fund-raising hike about the battle is planned for this Sunday afternoon (April 29).

Months after Bryant’s article, B*ATL spoke before a study committee appointed by then-Mayor Kasim Reed. That panel was tasked with making recommendations on what to do with city-owned monuments and street names paying tribute to the Confederacy.

15 -- McPherson marker, 16 -- Walker (Picket map)

B*ATL for several years has been raising money to cover a $192,000 restoration of old monuments to Union Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson and Confederate Maj Gen. William H.T. Walker. McPherson was killed when he rode into Confederate lines early during the July 22, 1864, Battle of Atlanta. Less than a mile away, Walker was knocked out of his saddle by a sniper.

Battle marker, or one with a message?

It’s the Walker monument, of course, that came under scrutiny.

“It was pointed out that both monuments, by marking the sites of the deaths, had as much to do with the shooters” as with the killed officers, Bryant recently told the Picket.

The advisory committee, while recommending changes for other monuments, recommended that what’s left of the weathered Walker monument – dedicated in 1902 and located on a small city patch of land – be kept.

The McPherson monument on McPherson Avenue (Picket photo)

How it looked in its early years (Courtesy of B*ATL)

In its report submitted in November, the committee said it considered a monument’s purpose and whether it omitted key information or glorified the Confederacy. The Lost Cause view of the war, promulgated by white Southerners in the decades following the conflict, contends the conflict was justified and about defending states’ rights. Such a view, the advisory committee found, “ignores the moral atrocities of slavery.”

While considering emotional attachments to monuments, the committee made distinctions about their purpose, and that thinking was evident in the Walker monument recommendation.

Gen. Walker

“This monument represents an important companion to the McPherson monument when telling the story of the Battle of Atlanta. The committee recommends that B*ATL be responsible for appropriate contextualization of this monument. It is the opinion of the committee that this monument is a battlefield marker and does not serve a purpose of glorification, but rather is a reminder of an important historical event. Public comments indicate that the neighborhood has embraced the two monuments and its site on the location of the battlefield as an important part of its identity. The committee supports retention of the monument and its continued support by B*ATL and the adjoining neighborhoods.”

Walker monument in limbo

The Walker monument’s fate is not certain. Reed left office without taking action in December, as had been expected. The matter is now under the administration of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

The issue of Confederate monuments, more than five months since the recommendations were filed, does not appear to be a priority. City Hall is under criticism or investigation for a number of reasons, including a bribery probe that predates when Bottoms took office.

The Picket asked Atlanta officials for a status update.

“As of now, there aren’t any scheduled meetings of the committee, or possible updates or announcements confirmed,” said Melissa J. Martin, public information officer for the Department of City Planning.

Walker monument is off-center and near a busy road (Picket photo)

Bryant acknowledged that the issue remains sensitive, given the McPherson and Walker memorial are in small city parks. But he contends B*ATL provides an inclusive story about Atlanta and its residents.

“It’s not a story of black and white, but a story that is shaded with a wide range of tones,” he wrote last year. “We want to tell the whole story, not just one side. Our events have long featured programming about East Atlanta’s civil rights history as well as its Civil War history.”

George Barnard photo of McPherson death site (Library of Congress)

Aging memorials need a facelift

The East Atlanta monuments each feature a cannon.

Time and, in one case, traffic have taken a toll on the memorials. They sit on dislodged or structurally weak foundations. The cannons have water damage and are rusting in places. In recent years, the McPherson cannon has taken on a green color from what appears to be lichen or moss and a surrounding fence and posts are aged and cracked in places.

Gen. McPherson

After McPherson's death, Union Brig. Gen. Andrew Hickenlooper rode to the mangled woods where McPherson died. There were no homes in the area at the time. Hickenlooper nailed a sign to the tree at the death site, which was photographed by Atlanta Campaign photographer George Barnard.

An early fence surrounding the 1877 monument featured gun barrels at the corners, said Bryant, but they disappeared. “From the very beginning there was problem with vandalism,” he told the Picket in 2012.

The McPherson monument, now surrounded by homes, was moved in 1906. Eventually, it was raised to make it more visible.

The Walker monument to the east is more easily seen, but doesn’t get the protection the McPherson monument receives. It sits on a busy road (Glenwood Avenue at Wilkinson Drive) near Interstate 20. Walker was shot will leading his troops across the backwaters of Terry's Millpond in Kirkwood and East Atlanta.

Motorists have hit the marker several times, knocking it off-kilter on its pedestal. The red granite monument’s steps and plaque are gone. At least two feet of water and gunk are in the cannon barrel.

The memorial used to rest on a nearby hill, to make it convenient for visitors, but was moved to its current, more accurate location, in the late 1930s. B*ATL would like to move the monument to the center of a triangle and build steps to raise it, so it will match the appearance of the McPherson monument.

Proposed upgrade for memorial near Interstate 20, courtesy of B*ATL)

Bryant said the tiered steps were buried when the surrounding land was raised during road construction. “Only the top of the top tier is visible. The fencing and cannon balls were not moved from the original site.”

“Hopefully, we can clean whatever is below ground and reuse it. If it matches the above ground base it will be orange (rust and red clay), both above and below ground stone to be returned to their gray granite color.”

Walk this weekend benefits effort

The campaign to restore the monuments has been a long march; the Picket first wrote about it in 2011.

B*ATL has about $150,000 to $155,000 in pledges and in the bank, Bryant said. Grants from the Frances and Beverly DuBose Foundation and matches account for $40,000 of that. The city’s parks department has pledged $32,000. but has not issued formal funding, he said.

McPherson monument has cracks at base, on features

(Picket photos)

“I do not have all of the money needed, but feel that we could come up with the remainder by going only to the neighborhood to pass the hat. There are other deadlines that might require that we begin before we have all of the money. We are trying not to lose any of the money that we have been given,” Bryant said.

B*ATL might consider reducing some landscaping and other features, or use concrete instead of granite curbing if it doesn’t reach the $192,000 target.

This Sunday is an opportunity for those who want to learn about the Battle of the Atlanta and support the monument restoration effort. B*ATL is doing a 5-mile “Battle in Reverse” hike at 3 p.m. “We start at the end of the battle traversing the Union front lines, seeing historic sites as we go towards the beginning where the Confederates entered the scene to challenge and then returning to the end,” Bryant said.

The tour will take up to three hours and costs $15. You can register here.

Current plans for restoration on McPherson Avenue (B*ATL)

Past and present: Scenes from 2014 B*ATL

Re-enactors and patrons braved the rain on Saturday during B*ATL (Battle of Atlanta) events marking the 150th anniversary of the fighting in Atlanta neighborhoods on July 22, 1864. While there was homage to those who endured hardships of war, there also were words about the future. Abraham Lincoln portrayer Dennis Boggs encouraged children to stay in school, realize their own dreams and make a difference by helping others. The annual event included music, tours, a gala, performances and stories about the war's impact on civil rights.

Dennis Boggs, as Abraham Lincoln, discusses importance of preserving the Union.

A soggy camp at Gilliam Park in Kirkwood neighborhood

Stereoviews providing a 3D effect gave way later to View-Masters.

Wreaths were laid at monuments to two generals who fell during the battle.

Storyteller Mama Koku at East Atlanta Library

Eighth Regiment Band performs in East Atlanta fire station.

Weapons table at Gilliam Park in Kirkwood.

Beth Woodward spins cotton into yarn.

3'' ordnance rifle artillery demonstration

Re-enactor photographed for promotion for upcoming play

This weekend: Tours, talks and 'moonshine' mark 150th anniversary of Atlanta battles

One of the bike tours offered at B*ATL weekend

Perspectives that went largely unnoticed during the nation’s centennial of the Civil War – those of civilians, children, slaves and a prison guard -- are being heard this week at two major events marking the bloody conflict’s impact on Atlanta.

The Atlanta History Center in Buckhead is commemorating the Battle of Peachtree Creek from Friday night through Sunday. The weekend includes family-oriented events and one, “Civil War After Dark,” largely geared for adults.

On Sunday, the 150^th anniversary of the battle, a history center blog will be posting real-time updates, personal accounts, images and artifacts related to the clash, which occurred not far from the AHC and ended in the first of three defeats in the city for attacking Rebel troops.

The eclectic, annual event known as B*ATL began last weekend and has events throughout the week. Its prime focus is the July 22, 1864, Battle of Atlanta, which sprawled across the neighborhoods of East Atlanta, Kirkwood and Inman Park and occurred two days after Peachtree Creek. Events continue through Sunday, with Saturday featuring the most activities.

B*ATL will feature its customary van, walking and cemetery tours. But that’s not the only way to learn about the battle’s significance, said Chairman Henry Bryant.

“Someone interested in running, will learn something from the Doublequick (Saturday morning’s 5K run), as unlikely as that may sound,” Bryant said. “In some ways, they might learn more about the soldiers’ actual experience than someone riding around in an air-conditioned tour bus. And the bike tour even simulates a cavalry ride.”

The scheduled storytelling and living histories includes a slave narrative, accounts of African-American soldiers, a farm boy turned soldier and a family that could not escape war.

“A 4-year-old who knows nothing about the Civil War might learn that history can be fun and entertaining by visiting the storytelling making her want to get to know more later on,” Bryant told the Picket. “She might remember years later that she got ice cream or pizza after the story on that hot battle day.

Re-enactors will display military life at B*ATL

 

“For people who enjoy music, our concerts become an entry point to this history or it becomes something that can bring a tear for its poignancy. The plays can tickle a funny bone or bring a story to life.”

B*ATL’s “Front Lines” experience features re-enactors who demonstrate camp life, drilling and artillery fire. “It offers little boys and grown men and women the chance to get inside the frontlines and up close to soldiers . . . to hear the boom of the cannon or rifles and the smell of black powder. It can rattle your teeth.”

The “Civil War to Civil Rights” tent will feature costumed characters who bring together and connect or contrast the generational experiences from 1864 to 1964.

Bryant also recommends the wreath-laying ceremonies Saturday morning at the monuments of two generals – one Union and one Confederate – who fell that day in battle.

Many people who come to intown neighbors don’t realize they sit on a battlefield or know what happened. B*ATL is geared toward them, too, said Bryant.

“A tour guide … can take you around to the sites and help you know what all of those markers are about, while giving you a feeling for what the people felt and went through on that day, let alone some of the larger political and social implications for that day and now,” he said.

Doing the laundry wasn't quite so easy (Atlanta History Center)

The Atlanta History Center’s program begins Friday night with a musical and theatrical performance, “A Sweet Strangeness Thrills My Heart: The World of Sallie Independence Foster, 1861–1887.”

Dolores Hydock and Bobby Horton tell the story of an Alabama girl who kept a diary and wrote letters to his brothers away at the front. The performance costs $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers.

Most programs Saturday are free for members of the Atlanta History Center and are included in the general admission price for nonmembers.

Events include family activities focused on Civil War cooking, clothing crafts, music and a soldiers’ encampment. A theatrical performance also is scheduled.

At the Smith Farm, living historians portraying civilians, soldiers and enslaved workers will talk about the war’s impact on various populations.

Robert Jenkins, author of “The Battle of Peach Tree Creek: Hood’s First Sortie, July 20, 1864,” will speak Saturday afternoon.

Civil War injured await treatment (AHC)

That evening, curator Gordon L. Jones will lead a tour of the new AHC exhibit, “Confederate Odyssey: The George W. Wray Jr. Civil War Collection.” The collection features rare items made for Confederate troops.

Events continue into Saturday evening, with many aimed for the older visitor.

“The idea for the evening program is to tell about the side of the Civil War that may not be discussed in classrooms  -- details about the battlefield and hospitals, etc. -- and provide interpretation designed for more mature audiences,” said Martha Tye., AHC marketing communications manager.

Betsy Sprayberry will be in her boudoir to discuss undergarments during the Civil War.

Guests can attend an improvisational performance and a guided tour of the “Turning Point” exhibit “to learn weird superstitions and vices that soldiers had during the Civil War. Hear about the seedy underbelly of the war that texts books never taught you!” 

A cash bar will offer moonshine-themed cocktails and local beers.

The Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum in Grant Park won’t be offering adult beverages on Sunday, but is having a family fun day focused on the Battle of Atlanta and the Civil War.

The program, free with regular paid admission, includes storytelling, face painters, games and Civil War re-enactors.

B*ATL stays busy with 150th Atlanta events, raising money to fix monuments

As it continues to raise money for the restoration of monuments to two opposing generals, the Battle of Atlanta Commemoration Organization (B*ATL) is preparing for May and July events marking the 150^th anniversary of the pivotal clash in what are now largely residential neighborhoods

B*ATL is a charter member of the Atlanta Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, which has a kickoff event scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. May 3. (Click here for details)

W. Todd Groce, president and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society, will lay out the day’s programming, entitled “Civil War to Civil Rights: Our 150-Year Journey,” at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. The topic of his talk: "Civil War Atlanta:  Why it Still Matters."

Venues for the day will include the Atlanta Preservation Center and the Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum. Tours include Sweet Auburn, Fort Walker at Grant Park and Oakland Cemetery.

B*ATL is based in East Atlanta, where there will be an afternoon tour of key battle sites and a “Salute to Fallen Heroes” at the statue memorializing Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, a favorite of Union Gen. William T. Sherman.

McPherson was killed when he rode into Confederate lines during the July 22, 1864, Battle of Atlanta. Less than a mile away, Confederate Maj. Gen. William H.T. Walker was knocked out of his saddle by a sniper.

Henry Bryant, chairman of B*ATL, had hoped the restoration work on the Walker and McPherson monuments would have been completed in time for the sesquicentennial events. But it needs about $191,000 and has a good distance to go.

Walker monument

“We have made progress with the fundraising, but it has been slow going,” said Bryant. “We are now about halfway there and have prospects for a large chunk of the remainder.”

“Monument restoration is looking less likely this year, although it could still happen if our big chunk comes in.”

Bryant said the group might do a groundbreaking sometime this year if it nears the goal. B*ATL continues to solicit donations (see end of article).

The monuments, each featuring a centerpiece cannon, went up years after the Civil War.

Time and, in one case, traffic have taken a toll on the memorials. They sit on dislodged or structurally weak foundations. The cannons have some water damage and are rusting in places.

B*ATL each summer puts on events marking the battle and its impact on what are now-thriving communities east of downtown Atlanta.

McPherson memorial

This year’s sesquicentennial edition, set for July 12-20, includes a July 12 gala at East Lake Golf Club, walking, van and cemetery tours on Saturday, July 19, the DoubleQuick 5K race and the 8^th Regiment Band on July 19, a soldiers’ encampment, storytelling, two plays and appearances by authors during the week.

The organization will update its main website soon and is posting updates at its Facebook page. This year’s logo features the McPherson and Walker monuments.

For details on donating for the monument restoration, see the B*ATL website or contact sponsorship@batlevent.org. Donations are tax-deductible and there are gifts for various levels of support. B*ATL is working with Kroger grocery stores’ community rewards program. Register your Kroger card at www.krogercommunityrewards.com by clicking sign in/create your account, follow the prompts to update your information, select the NPO for BATL - 58394.  This will not affect fuel points accumulation, said Bryant.