'Recognized as soldiers': A Black regiment fought on this NW Georgia tract that has been recently saved. The site includes Confederate earthworks and redoubts

Sgt. Charles Tyree of the 14th USCI was born into slavery  (Indiana Historical Society, M0470), Garrity Battery's site (at right) and Washington Artillery position on the top of 61 acres (Courtesy Bob Jenkins)

Sixty-one acres that feature impressive Confederate artillery and infantry earthworks and were the site of the first Civil War combat in Georgia involving Black troops have been saved following a 20-year effort.

Save the Dalton Battlefields recently trumpeted the preservation of 61.43 acres just north of Interstate 75. The American Battlefield Trust, among its partners in the effort, closed on the property last month after it and numerous groups and individuals raised $677,000.

SDB president Bob Jenkins said the site would likely have been converted to residential use if the sale had not occurred.

“The property immediately below (to the south of) this property was developed into four apartment buildings in the past couple of years and we lost earthworks on that property,” Jenkins told the Picket in an email. “Also, there are other condo units and apartments adjacent to this property to the east, as well.”

Parcel marked in green is near Rocky Face Ridge Park (American Battlefield Trust map)

Unlike Atlanta, Northwest Georgia has numerous remaining Civil War fortifications, including at Rocky Face Ridge Park, which is near the 61-acre site. About 300 acres in the Resaca battlefield have recently been saved, officials said.

For those who closely study troop movement and action during the Atlanta Campaign, the names of Confederate units defending the land the first months of 1864 are familiar: Stanford’s Mississippi Battery, Washington Artillery from Louisiana, Garrity’s Alabama Battery, Baker’s and Clayton’s Alabama infantry brigades and Stovall’s Georgia brigade.

Between them, they erected numerous lunettes, redoubts and earthworks -- much of which survive..

Save the Dalton Battlefields' sign about Black Civil War regiments in the area

But it was the infantrymen belonging to the 14^th U.S. Colored Infantry who made history months after those Rebel units left.

They became the first Blacks troops to see combat in the Peach State during the war.

Black regiment was drawn from formerly enslaved

The clash involving the 14^th USCI came months after important battles in Whitfield County, including Rocky Face Ridge. By August 1864, most of the fighting was happening well south, in and around Atlanta.

The regiment – organized in Gallatin, Tenn., mainly of former slaves -- was part of a Federal force that came in two trains from Chattanooga, Tenn., before dawn on Aug. 15, 1864, after Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his force threatened Dalton with the intent of destroying railroad tracks and supplies.

Black troops are shown in this camp scene near Citico Mound in Chattanooga ( photo CL 491 (44), Isaac Bonsall Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.)

“The three Union regiments disembarked from the trains on the west side of Mill Creek Gap where they deployed, with the 14th USCI placed in the front left of the formation and given the honor of leading the predawn attack,” said Jenkins. They were part of the skirmish line.

“This regiment swept across the southern end of the newly acquired property on their way to Wheeler’s cavalrymen, who were encamped along the banks of Mill Creek to the east.”

Eventually, Wheeler withdrew.

In his memoirs, Col. Thomas Jefferson Morgan (left), wrote the fight was short, with few casualties.

“To us it was a great battle, and a glorious victory. The regiment had been recognized as soldiers. It had taken its place side by side with a white regiment. The men had behaved gallantly. A colored soldier had died for liberty. Others had shed their blood in the great cause.”

The regiment marched into Dalton in a rain. A White regiment, standing at rest, “swung their hats and gave three rousing cheers for the Fourteenth Colored," wrote Morgan.

The 14^th later took part in the siege of Decatur, Ala., and the Battle of Nashville. The Slaves to Soldiers website features remarkable information about the regiment and other Black units.

Hikers will be able to see site near Rocky Face Ridge

Jenkins said numerous groups were involved in the preservation project, including the Georgia Battlefields Association, Open Space Institute, Georgia Piedmont Land Trust, various Civil War roundtables and Whitfield County officials.

“While it is not contiguous with Rocky Face Ridge Park, it is to be added to the profile of that park and managed accordingly, but without any bike trails or other high-density use,” he said. “This property is to be used for only hiking, historic and environmental preservation, i.e. low density use.

Lunettes were shaped as a half moon to protect men. (Courtesy Bob Jenkins)

While the terrain is not as rugged as Rocky Face Ridge, the parcel does not have easy car access.

Jared Herr, communications associate with the American Battlefield Trust, said the nonprofit negotiated the purchase agreement. He said the trust has championed several Civil War properties in the region, including Rocky Face Ridge, Ringgold Gap, Kennesaw Mountain and Resaca.

Once the Trust places a conservation easement on the 61 acres, it intends to transfer the property to Whitfield County. “Trails and interpretive signage will be installed on the property. Save the Dalton Battlefields will work on the signage under the guidance of the county. The Trust will lend its expertise, including sign text review, to the process.”

Brian Chastain, chief of Whitfield County parks, said he recently toured the site and said the earthworks are particularly notable. “It is a great asset.”

“While the property is not yet open to the public, I can provide private tours of the property on a limited basis and for now would like to limit that to our donors or potential future donors,” said Jenkins. “There’s no timetable yet for the public, but we will be working to get the property and hiking trails safe and ready to be dedicated and opened to the public as soon as possible.”

Bragg, Johnston deployed guns to slow Yankees

Another lunette at the 61-acre site (Courtesy Robert Jenkins)

It’s important to note Dalton and Whitfield County were occupied by Confederate and Union troops at different times during Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. The Rebel artillery was in place around the time or during the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association laid out this timeline:

The four-gun batteries were part of the defensive line Braxton Bragg (for the initial weeks) and Joseph E. Johnston (subsequently) built from December 1863 through April 1864. The artillery was positioned more to defend Mill Creek Gap than the ridge, said Crawford.

When Maj. Gen. George Thomas was ordered to attack Rocky Face Ridge in late February 1864, he determined quickly that a direct assault with the forces then at hand (only the Army of the Cumberland at that point, whereas Gen. William T. Sherman would have three armies when he approached the site in early May) would just result in casualties. But Thomas’s assault did have the effect of Johnston being allowed to recall two divisions he had been ordered to send to assist Polk in Mississippi. Thomas withdrew.

“There were certainly artillery exchanges in this area in February and May, but the principal infantry assaults were elsewhere. In one sense, the defenses here accomplished their purpose of defending the gap,” said Crawford.

Atlanta Campaign got bloody start at Rocky Face Ridge

The well-known Battle of Rocky Face Ridge came on May 7-8, 1864. It was the first significant clash of what became known as the Atlanta Campaign.

In 2022, Bob Jenkins (left) with reproduction 3-inch ordnance rifle at Rocky Face Ridge Park. (Picket photo)

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, known for its steep terrain.

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.

Here's when the Rebel batteries were in place at site

Jenkins provided these details on what occurred on the 61 acres.

There were two artillery battery sites on this property used by three different Confederate units: the one near the top of the ridge used by Garrity’s Alabama battery, and the one on the lower part of the ridge used at various times by the Washington Artillery and Stanford’s Mississippi Battery.

-- Garrity’s Alabama Battery served in the redoubt near the top of the property in action in May (May 6-13) 1864.

Georgia Division reenactors take part in 2022 ribbon cutting at Rocky Face Ridge Park (Picket photo)

-- The Washington Artillery served in the redoubt near the bottom of the property in action in February (24-26, 1864), May and October (13, 1864).

-- Stanford’s Mississippi Battery also served in the lower redoubt in May 1864. (Different batteries were pulled up into line and after 24 hours, pulled back and replaced to rest) But not Garrity’s Battery, because they were up on top and harder to get up and down.

-- The August 1864 action saw no artillery on this property, but instead was a running fight as the Federals lined up west of Mill Creek Gap, swept through the gap, including the 14^th USCI across the lower half of this property, as they surprised and swept Wheeler’s sleeping Confederate cavalrymen in the predawn hours of August 15, 1864, along the banks of Mill Creek between just west of the gap and down toward Dalton.

A giant oak at the Resaca battlefield in NW Georgia was a thing of beauty. Now the witness tree is gone, a victim of time and a storm

Tree in better days, after storm, reduced to stump, a writing in the wood (Friends of Resaca)

An imposing witness tree that greeted visitors to Resaca Battlefield Historic Site in northwest Georgia is gone, lost to weather and old age.

Ken Padgett with the Friends of Resaca said the oak was only about 10 years old during the May 13-15, 1864, Battle of Resaca, the second-bloodiest of the Atlanta Campaign. A Georgia Department of Natural Resources employee performed a drilling of the tree in about 2014 and came up with the estimate, he said.

The friends group recently posted photos of the stump and said a storm last year finished off the oak, which was showing signs of decay.

“She was a beautiful tree,” one Facebook commenter said. “The field looked bare yesterday without her, even though it needed to be done.”

Before it was recently cut up and hauled away, portions of the tree were propped up and it was a safety risk to the public, according to Tony Patton of the friends group.

Much of the western part of the battlefield is contained within the park, which is bordered by Interstate 75.

The spot where the tree was located is approximately where the Union’s 20th Corps and the 14th Corps overlapped, said Patton (in Friends of Resaca photo).

Federal units attacked the Confederate line on May 14, and Hooker’s 20th Corps supported Palmer’s 14th Corps in the Camp Creek area near the witness tree. (See American Battlefield Trust map below for details on units)

The once-proud oak had broken limbs after a 2022 storm (Friends of Resaca)

Patton said it’s difficult to pin down specific units that attacked near the oak but the 102^nd Illinois of the 20^th Corps was there a short time before it was “pulled out and sent around to the north end of the battlefield to help repel the Confederate attack on the afternoon of the 14th.” The regiment fought through the end of the Atlanta Campaign and was in combat in South Carolina and North Carolina at war's end.

Carlin’s brigade within the 14^th Corps was in that part of the field much of the day. 

There are impressive accounts of the 21^st  Wisconsin Infantry, which had recruits from the Oneida tribe, according to Patton.

The Federal assault on the Confederate right-center (Cleburne, Bate and Hindman) petered out around 3 p.m., “having achieved nothing but casualties,” according to the American Battlefield Trust.

Fighting continued the next day but the battle proved to be inconclusive.

There was one result: The South’s Joseph E. Johnston was forced to retreat from the field due to a wide flanking maneuver by William T. Sherman.

Resaca Battlefield Historic Site in Gordon County contains significant remnants of Rebel earthworks, including an impressive length of trenches visible on the Red Battlefield Trail (Signs point out metal detectors are banned and artifacts cannot be removed).

Patton said a witness tree on the Blue Battlefield Trail survives.

Northwest Georgia is replete with Civil War sites, and the Resaca area includes the park, a Confederate cemetery in the town, Fort Wayne and an annual battle reenactment on a separate property.

“The attendance is great by both local recreation users and history buffs alike,” Padgett said of the historic site a few years back. “We have hosted many tour groups from around the South and had many national visitors.”

(Note: To see where the witness tree was located at Resaca Battlefield Historic Site, click the map and see the red arrow west of River Battlefield Trail)

Witness trees still can be found in many Civil War battlefields, including Gettysburg and Manassas, where the park suggests soldiers got under the leaves for shade or rested by leaning on a trunk.

The National Park Service also has a protection program at historic sites in the Washington, D.C., area, including the White House and National Mall.

The witness flora “provide essential context and markers on battlefields, allowing us to better identify where parts of chaotic battles occurred,” says the American Battlefield Trust. “The trees, like the land we save, have seen things we cannot imagine, and bear the marks of those events.”

Patton puts the situation at Resaca succinctly:

”It's very tragic that another piece of history is gone.”

Bennett Place in NC holds 100th birthday party for a monument that focuses on national unity stemming from war's largest surrender

The largest surrender during the Civil War occurred at what is now a North Carolina state park. But a granite monument next to reconstructed farm buildings doesn't focus solely on a stinging Southern defeat. Rather, the message is of national unity.

The site manager of Bennett Place State Historic Site near Durham emphasized that point Saturday at a 100^th birthday party for the park and the Unity Monument, which was decorated in festive ribbons for the occasion. (Photo: BPSHS)

“The monument … is a unique in the Civil War world,” Ryan Reed told the crowd minutes before birthday cake was served on a warm and sunny afternoon. “It is unique because it is a monument to peace and not war. It is a monument to both sides.”

The monument has two Corinthian columns, one representing the Confederacy and the other the Union. The lintel across the top of both has the word “UNITY.”

The Rebel surrender in April 1865 occurred after three days of talks between Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at the James Bennett farm. Days before, Robert E. Lee had surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia and President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

The lintel includes two American shields (Photo: BPSHS)

Most Americans have no idea that Bennett Place witnessed the real end to the war, not Appomattox.

Negotiations were not without controversy. Initially, Sherman and Johnston’s agreement included political terms that were generous to the South. Officials in Washington, angered over the recent assassination of Lincoln, turned them down in favor of purely military terms.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis had ordered Johnston to dissolve his army into guerrilla bands to continue the fight, but the general, who knew continuing the fight was useless without Lee’s forces, disobeyed the order and signed the revised agreement. His surrender ended the war for nearly 90,000 Confederates in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Johnston and Sherman at the James Bennett farm (Harper's Weekly)

Reed said unlike the carnage at Gettysburg, Antietam and elsewhere, no blood was shed at Bennett Place. “There is big history in a small house.”

The dedication of the Unity Monument in autumn 1923 followed years of neglect of the property by the state and the donation of a few acres by the Samuel Morgan family. The Bennett house where Sherman and Johnston met burned in 1921 – leaving only a stone chimney.

North Carolinians weren’t keen on remembering the war’s end result. But legislators and others thought a sign of unity would make the project possible. Still, the United Daughters of the Confederacy boycotted the dedication because of the defeat. (Interestingly, a UDC chapter helped with Saturday’s event, which drew about 250 people).

According to a state history, the 1923 dedication did indeed focus on national unity and some more contemporary issues.

A reconstructed farm house was erected at the site in the 1960s. Bennett Place became a state historic site a few years later.

Those who drive by or visit the site are drawn to the Unity Monument. The base and monoliths are from Mount Airy, N.C., while the lintel is from Vermont and the copper used for a marker was mined in Montana.

“Done intentionally, 100 years ago, to incorporate materials from all over our nation,” Reed said.

Rocky Face Ridge Park: North Georgia community celebrates 20-year effort to open scenic site featuring Civil War earthworks and recreation trails

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 64^th and 125^th 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 64^th 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.

It’s a beautiful setting, topped by the spiny ridge that offers breathtaking views.

“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 125^th 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)

In Atlanta, John A. 'Black Jack' Logan picked up the pieces and helped save the day for the Union. He inspired his men in several battles

In the nick of time, Logan rallies the troops on July 22, 1864 (Picket photo)

On Friday, I marked the 158^th anniversary of the Battle of Atlanta in a rather unusual way. Rather than walking paved-over battleground, I drove to the Atlanta History Center and bought one of two puzzles it stocks depicting the Cyclorama painting. It's been a while since I put one together.

The AHC, of course, houses the colossal Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama, which focuses on a brief Confederate breakthrough on the afternoon of July 22, 1864, at the Troup Hurt house.

Galloping furiously to the rescue, hat in hand, is Union Maj. Gen. John A. “Black Jack” Logan, temporary head of the Army of the Tennessee. That’s the scene shown in the 48-piece puzzle (I know, not super challenging to put together).

Known for his flowing hair and marvelous mustache, Logan was perhaps the best “political” or non-West Point general fighting for the Union. His clutch performance in Atlanta and a few days before, at Dallas in nearby Paulding County, were perhaps his shining moment.

Capt. DeGress trails Logan as they ride forward (AHC)

Entering the battle, Logan, commanded the 15^th Corps, which with the 16^th  Corps and 17^th Corps, made up the Army of the Tennessee. During the pitched fighting on the 22^nd, Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, commander of that group, was killed. Logan took command of the three corps and rallied troops after the breakthrough and pushed the Rebels back, securing a decisive victory.

“He was a damn good leader -- indispensable in restoring 15^th Corps morale that afternoon,” says Gordon Jones, senior military historian and curator at the AHC.

Jones cited remarks made by J.W. Long of the 2^nd Iowa Infantry in a National Tribune article in September 1888:

"No one can describe how Logan looked in battle any more than he could describe the raging sea. I am satisfied that the biggest coward in the world would stand on his head on top of the breastworks if Logan was present and told him to do so."

Logan excelled despite no military training before war (Library of Congress)

Logan, from Illinois, served in the U.S. House before the war. He opposed abolition of slavery, but his thoughts on that changed during the war and he later espoused equal rights for African-Americans. He served with distinction at Fort Donelson, where he was wounded, and Vicksburg.

In his review of Gary Ecelbarger’s biography of Logan, Charles R. Bowery writes of the general: “Logan was a quick study in tactics and the operational art. He took care of his men, shared hardships with them, and led by example at all times, placing himself in danger to inspire his men on numerous battlefields. The units he commanded responded in kind, often stopping to cheer him when he appeared on the field of battle to reverse a deteriorating situation.”

Such a potential situation presented itself at Atlanta, when Logan, as ranking officer, found himself in the hot seat after McPherson (right) was shot down. The news of the popular McPherson’s death tore through the Union lines that afternoon. He was a favorite of Gen. William T. Sherman.

Ten years after the war, Logan made these remarks at the unveiling of the McPherson monument in Washington, D.C.

“The news of his death spread with lightning-speed along the lines, sending a pang of deepest sorrow to every heart as it reached the ear; but, especially terrible was the effect on the Army of the Tennessee. It seemed as though a burning, fiery dart had pierced each breast, tearing asunder the flood-gates of grief, but, at the same time, heaving to their very depths the fountains of revenge. The clenched hands seemed to sink into the weapons they held, and from the eyes gleamed forth flashes terrible as lightning.

“The cry ‘McPherson, McPherson! and “McPherson and revenge!’ rose above the din of battle, and, as it rang along the lines, swelled in power, until the roll of musketry and booming of cannon seemed drowned by its echoes.”

The Cyclorama, which was painted in Milwaukee to show a Union victory, was later modified and misinterpreted in Atlanta as showing a Southern triumph – however short.

At 4 p.m. on July 22, the battery of Federal Capt. Francis DeGress was firing canister as fast as it could near the Troup Hurt house (left). Determined Confederates continued to push forward and were about to be upon them.

DeGress knew the horses could not pull back the guns in time, Jones said, and he had two guns spiked. The captain and Sgt. Peter Wyman stayed with the other two weapons, firing double canister. They eventually had to flee; Wyman was killed while DeGress fled back to the collapsed Federal line.

Fast-forward to the scene depicted in the Cyclorama: Logan – riding a black horse named Slasher -- rallying his troops and rushing toward the breach, with DeGress riding behind.

DeGress, already a respected veteran, is about to become a folk hero to the Northern cause. He retakes the four 20-pounder Parrott guns and turns them on the retreating Confederates.

(It’s important to note the battlefield on July 22 was much larger than what is shown in the painting. For example, troops clashed for a much longer time on Bald (Leggett’s) Hill south near current Interstate 20.)

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, told the Picket that Logan was “inspirational” at Dallas and Atlanta.

“Didn’t function much as an army commander, but was great at restoring the line of his own 15^th Corps. McPherson and Dodge (16^th Corps) deserve credit for repulsing the initial attack on the far left flank, and Blair (17^th Corps), Leggett, and G.A. Smith did most of the command work in the Battle for Bald Hill.

“By the time (approx. 2:30) that Logan knew he was an army commander, 17^th Corps was facing repeated attacks by Cleburne and Maney, but Blair, Leggett, and G.A. Smith were effective in their respective command roles without a lot of direction from Logan. Once breakthrough occurred in 15^th Corps sector (approx. 4:30), Logan justifiably focused on that emergency.”

Logan, DeGress and others head for the Troup Hurt house breakthrough (AHC)

Despite his heroic service that day, Logan served as commander of the Army of the Tennessee for only four days. Sherman gave that job to Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, a West Point grad. Sherman reportedly was skeptical of politicians in uniform, but there may have been personal differences, too. Logan was crushed by the news.

He “viewed this as a personal slight which gave him a very dim view of West Pointers in the future,” says the American Battlefield Trust. He performed well in the coming days at Ezra Church and Jonesboro.

“Logan put on his politician hat in the fall of 1864, returning to his home state to campaign for Abraham Lincoln -- a marked contrast for the erstwhile Democrat,” the trust says. “In December, the major general returned to the field at the head of the Fifteenth Corps until the cessation of hostilities. He was given command of the Army of the Tennessee on May 23, 1865 -- just in time to lead it in the Grand Review in Washington, DC.”

Logan got back into politics, serving several terms in the U.S. House and Senate. He was an unsuccessful Republican vice presidential candidate in 1884 and was considered a front-runner in the upcoming presidential election. He died in 1886 at age 60 from the effects of rheumatism.

The artists made this sketch of Logan, other figures for the painting (AHC)

He also is remembered today as the father of Memorial Day, which began as Decoration Day in 1868. As head of the Grand Army of the Republic, Logan lobbied for a special day to commemorate America’s war dead.

Logan obviously is the star of the Cyclorama, given there are no recognizable Confederate officers during the fight at the Troup Hurt house.

The circular painting debuted in Minneapolis in June 1886, a few months before the general died, but there is no evidence that he saw it (Logan later in life, right. Library of Congress photo) .

Harper's Weekly illustrator Theodore R. Davis is responsible for Logan and DeGress being prominently depicted in the painting. Davis, who traveled with the Federal army, submitted an illustration and article for the publication about DeGress soon after the battle and served as an advisor to the artists in Milwaukee.

Jones, the AHC military historian, told the Picket that stories claiming Logan commissioned the painting to promote a political campaign amount to an untrue urban legend.

“The Battle of Atlanta was paid for by about 40 Chicago-area investors in the American Panorama Company. Logan had nothing to do with it,” said Jones.

“Theodore Davis ... was a personal friend of Logan and all the top brass of the Army of the Tennessee. He was the one who placed Logan so prominently in the foreground of the painting. Besides, having him there would give the painting celebrity star power and help sell tickets in the upper Midwest.”

Advertisement for painting when it was show in Minneapolis in 1886 (Picket photo)