A forearm bone, believed to be from a Union soldier, has been buried at Blakeley State Park in Alabama. A ceremony will pay tribute to those in unmarked graves

The gravesite contains a granite marker and memorial plaque (Historic Blakeley State Park)

Whether resting under cornfields, dense woods or are ensconced in marshes and swamps, the remains of young men who gave all dot battlefields across the South, their names lost to history.

Many Civil War sites have markers for the unknown buried in mass graves or cemeteries. Historic Blakeley State Park near Mobile, Ala., on Saturday will dedicate a memorial that speaks to those who have never been found, or – as in this unusual case – only a partial remain has been discovered.

The park on Tuesday buried a forearm bone that likely belonged to a Union soldier and it installed a granite marker with the words "Unknown Soldier, Civil War." Several feet away is a new metal plaque that reads:

“Here lie the remains of an unknown soldier who died during the siege of Spanish Fort, about four miles south of Blakeley, in 1865. This stone is a memorial to all of those unidentified soldiers, Federal and Confederate, who perished during the Campaign for Mobile and yet lie in unmarked graves.”

Note and display case that contain the forearm bone (Historic Blakeley State Park)

The brief ceremony, which will include a prayer by park director Mike Bunn, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT Saturday during Veterans Day events at the site along the Tensaw and Apalachee rivers. Cannon will fire as a salute to the fallen.

The relic was sent to the park earlier this year after a Gettysburg, Pa., shop bought a collection of artifacts and discovered the partial remains in the groupings. 

The arm bone is believed to belong to a soldier who was part of the fight for Spanish Fort, just below the Confederacy’s Fort Blakeley. Both sites were captured in April 1865.

Greg Goodell, longtime museum curator at Gettysburg National Military Park, acted as a middle man between the Pennsylvania shop and Bunn, ensuring a proper and respectful resting place for the bone.

Bunn (right) said he believes the forearm piece was found with other artifacts by a relic hunter in or near a Federal trench in Spanish Fort. The park director said he does not know the finder’s name but believes he died several years ago. “He had a pretty big collection.” The items were sold by family members to the Gettysburg business.

With the bone, which was wrapped in bubble wrap, was a note: “Found in Extreme Northern end of Union Army lines at Spanish Fort (near Basin Batteries). December, 1973.”

A water artillery battery near the end of the Yankee line was in swampy ground at a body of water called Bay Minette. “All of that stuff is gone,” Bunn said of this part of the Spanish Fort siege line.

There’s plenty of mystery about the bone remaining, despite a story that appears to have a good ending.

Robert Knox Sneden map showing battle zones in and around Mobile, Ala. (Library of Congress)

Relic hunters frequently pored over the area, which is on private land, as a subdivision was built in stages. “I can’t confirm all the details, but I don’t believe the section this came from was developed at the time. Probably dug as they were clearing land for it, though,” Bunn added.

It’s possible the bone was part of a mass grave. Bunn doesn’t know whether the rest of the skeleton was left intact, scattered by animals or taken by other collectors.

Relic hunters today are more likely to report human remains to authorities or leave them in place, officials said.

Officials see no need for DNA testing of the remains at this point.

A long row of Rebel fortifications at Fort Blakely (Civil War Picket photo)

Bunn wanted to place the grave near a main park road and impressive remnants of Confederate defenses.

“We know not every person in the (Mobile) campaign has been found and marked,” Bunn told the Picket of his aim to honor them.

Other events Saturday include firearms demonstrations, a guided river cruise highlighting the fighting at Fort Blakeley, Spanish Fort and elsewhere in the Mobile area and historian and author Kent Masterson Brown’s lecture on Meade at Gettysburg. That talk will be at the fort’s Redoubt 6, not far from the new grave. Details can be found here. The park charges admission.

'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.

These unusual Rebel forts outside Atlanta were never tested by Sherman. A few Shoupades survive; volunteers toil to reveal a trench between two of them

Ron Wendt steps near exposed trench leading up to First Shoupade; Matt Larson wields a mattock; work Sunday was near Shoupade, 2, and redan, 3; the other Shoupade is marked 4; diagram shows defense design (Picket photos)

Where cannons and rifles once bristled, mattocks, saws and loppers were the weapons of the day Sunday afternoon for a small, but hardy crew working to clear vegetation and expose a trench that connected unique Confederate fortifications outside Atlanta.

The nonprofit River Line Historic Area (RLHA) sponsored the “Trimming the Trenches” workday at Shoupade Park in Smyrna, Ga. The goal is to “enrich the visitor's visual educational experience.”

Timber and earthen redoubts – known as Shoupades -- were built by enslaved laborers near the Chattahoochee River and were briefly manned in July 1864. The arrowhead shape allowed defenders to shoot in several directions. Artillery placed in nearby redans added to “the killing zone.” (Bill Scaife model of a Shoupade, left)

RLHA  and individuals have been working to expose the outline of an infantry trench between one Shoupade and a redan. The park is in the middle of a residential development.

While the work is still to be completed, progress was made Sunday. I could see the faint line indicating the trench where troops could move from one fortification to the next.

Born in Indiana, Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup (right) lent his name to a fort system that Union Maj. Gen William T. Sherman, intent on taking Atlanta, called “one of the strongest pieces of field fortifications I ever saw.”

The Chattahoochee River was the last natural obstacle for Union troops moving on Atlanta.

Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered a series of defenses and the Rebels built 36 Shoupade forts, said Roberta Cook, executive director of RLHA. Ten remain in various levels of condition. Some are on public land and some on private property.

For all their ingenuity, the Shoupades never saw action. Sherman, using his familiar flanking strategy, crossed the river elsewhere, forcing Confederates to retreat to Atlanta. There is a belief that Johnston and some of his soldiers did not fully appreciate Shoupade's work.

Author Brad Butkovich says the forts were meant to be an impregnable barrier to the river with a small force, freeing up troops to guard the army flanks. He argues Johnston failed to use the forts to his advantage.

Cobb County owns the two-acre Shoupade Park and cuts the grass in the common area between its two Shoupades.

The shoupades are in vegetation in the center and a cleared area to the right (Cobb County Parks)

The earthworks are fenced but visitors get a good view and four signs explain how they worked. Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, wrote the text. That organization has lamented development around several River Line sites.

“The River Line Historic Area adopted the park eight years ago to improve its level of care with volunteer labor, but it has been a challenge,” said Cook.

Volunteers have concentrated on clearing excess vegetation from the redan and the “First Shoupade.” English ivy is being kept in place to ward off erosion on the latter, Cook said. Recent work days have concentrated on the connecting trench so people can a better idea of how the defensive system was designed. 

Roberta Cook, Matt Larson, Gould Hagler, Julie Schrodt, Ron Wendt (Picket photo)

Shoupade Park is bordered by the Park Avenue subdivision. Pulte Homes donated the fortifications to the county when it built the large neighborhood on Oakdale Road, and it paid for the interpretive signage.

Cook led Sunday’s effort. Joining her were Matt Larson and Julie Schrodt, Park Avenue residents, and Gould Hagler and Ron Wendt, members of area Civil War roundtables. Schrodt  is a RLHA board member.

The nonprofit is involved in several endeavors, including maintaining historic cemeteries.

The Chattahoochee River Line stretched for nearly six miles and was meant to slow Federals. But Johnston was largely buying time before he was outflanked.

Cobb County maintains Discovery Park at the River Line, which features a Shoupade, anchor fort and an impressive stretch of Confederate earthworks. It is a few miles south of Shoupade Park.

I visited the park after the work day and enjoyed the walk on the top of a ridge and down below where a trail parallels the Chattahoochee River. 

Cobb County Parks maintains a helpful web page about Discovery Park, including a guide to Civil War markers. New trails and signs have been introduced in the past five years.

“Designed by a Confederate officer and built by army engineers, heavy units of the Georgia militia, slightly wounded soldiers and about a thousand enslaved Africans, these fortifications are some of the few still remaining,” the page says.

Julie Schrodt removes branches; interior of First Shoupade at Shoupade Park (Picket photos)

“The defensive line became known as Johnston’s River Line after Confederate General Joseph E. Johnson and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These fortifications are important as a reminder of the way war was fought in the 19^th century. Their historical importance and undisturbed state have led to their preservation.”

Another view of the trench line, with Ron Wendt inside (Picket photo)

Crawford, with the GBA, said a Federal artillery battery site at Discovery Park is currently off-limits. Battery D, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, served west of Nickajack Creek.

The city of Smyrna's River Line Park includes another Shoupade. The park includes playing fields, concessions, trail and a playground.

The Second Shoupade at the park off Oakdale Road (Picket photo)

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park expands by 21 acres with the help of the Trust for Public Land and the National Park Foundation

Kennesaw and Little Kennesaw mountain rise behind the 21 acres (TPL)

A 21.4-acre tract on which Union troops advanced upon Little Kennesaw Mountain has been added to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, a victory amid the continued threat of residential development, the Trust for Public Land says.

The national nonprofit recently announced it had closed on the property that belonged to the Hensley family of Marietta, Ga., which previously sold 34 acres to the National Park Service in 2008.

George Dusenbury, Georgia director for the TPL, said the NPS paid the fair market value of $2.58 million using funds from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The parcel is north of Burnt Hickory Road.

“TPL worked in partnership with NPS to complete the necessary property due diligence and secure the federal funding needed for the acquisition,” he told the Picket.

The property is largely meadow with some woods. A stream that flows through the property was dammed in the 1950s to form a small pond; it will remain as a fire suppression resource. The property is surrounded on three sides by land already owned by the NPS.

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain occurred on June, 27, 1864.

Union troops that moved through the parcel were part of the extreme left of Logan’s XV Corps, said Ray Hamel, park ranger and chief of interpretation at Kennesaw Mountain. Troops serving under brigadier generals Harrow, Williams and Fuller and the 64^th Illinois skirmish line were among those present. (See Logan's, Harrow's and others' names at left, map courtesy American Battlefield Trust)

“Troops here did not take part in the assault on Pigeon Hill,” said Hamel. “Confederate defenses were east of the property. Nearest was a skirmish line of the 9^th Texas."

The TPL said “The newly acquired property, now under National Park Service ownership, safeguards not only the rural, open character of the area but also any Civil War-related archaeological resources that may lie beneath its surface."

The park said the acquisition "furthers the preservation of historically significant sections of the original battlefield from modern development."

The Picket reached out to the Hensley family for comment but has not yet received answers to questions about the transaction.

The National Park Foundation provided funding to assist with associated costs, such as the demolition of an old barn, said Dusenbury.

The park -- the most-heavily visited national battlefield in the country -- recently commemorated the 161^st anniversary of the Atlanta Campaign battle in Cobb County.

Click to enlarge to see details of newly acquired tract in orange; park boundaries in green (TPL)

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, told the Picket, “We appreciate landowners who are committed to preservation and will wait on the slow federal government process for acquiring additional land for the National Park Service.”

The TPL said is goal is to help create a cohesive park that “supports public exploration and learning.”

“This acquisition isn’t just about adding acreage -- it’s about preventing the fragmentation of this irreplaceable landscape and keeping it from being lost to suburban development,” Dusenbury said in the announcement.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield spans 2,923 acres, including three battlefield areas and 11 miles of preserved Civil War earthworks.

The TPL said its land additions to the park include:

Early 2000s: Approximately 50 acres to expand park access and continuity.

2008: Acquisition of 34 acres from the Hensley family, featuring forests, fields and a lake.

2013: Addition of the 42-acre Hays farm, home to Nodine’s Hill, with remnant Union entrenchments, rifle pits and cannon placements.

Another view of the 21 acres recently added to the NPS park (TPL)

Sam Hensley, a former Georgia legislator, once owned the land involved in both family transactions. The property includes trenches built by Federal Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s forces in June 1864.

“Our parents never let us forget that we stand on hallowed ground. They always told us that it was never going to be developed and that we would never see rooftops on this property,” said Sam Hensley Jr. during a ceremony in 2008 concerning the 34 acres. (Sam's brother Shuler is a notable Tony Award-winning actor and singer.)

“That became a very difficult thing to accomplish over the years. There was not a week that went by that my father did not have an unsolicited call from a developer or somebody that wanted to build a subdivision out here.”

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)

Letters from Camp Stephens: Remnants of earthworks at Ga. training site survive, as well as stories of soldiers and their loved ones

Interior of training entrenchments at Camp Stephens (Picket photo)

Letter written from Camp Stevens to Sarah Brinson (Siegel Auction Galleries)

Within weeks of the April 1861 bombardment of Fort Sumter, young men rushed to enlist, and training centers were soon established across the North and South. In Georgia, Camp Stephens trained thousands of eager recruits before they were sent to the front.

Remnants of trenches and breastworks built for training are still visible at two sites in a neighborhood on the northern outskirts of Griffin, a railroad city about 40 miles south of Atlanta. I made a short visit this week and walked some of the grounds on a muggy morning.

(As a side note, the land used for Camp Stephens had been owned by the father of John Henry “Doc” Holliday, a local boy who became a dentist and later gained fame as a gambler and gunman in the Old West. More on him in an upcoming Picket post.)

Several Confederate units, including the 27^th and 44^th Georgia infantry regiments, were formed at Camp Stephens. For most of the men, this was their first extended time away from home, and they became accustomed to drilling, discipline and perhaps a little homesickness.

While researching the camp, I came across envelopes of letters mailed by two soldiers, one of whom died in combat only a few months after his stint at Camp Stephens.

David Greene is believed to have enlisted with the 27^th Georgia in September 1861. Members of his Company K were from Talbot County. Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga., has several of his letters in its collection.

On Oct. 25, 1861, Greene wrote to his mother Isabella, telling her that many in the camp had the measles and he “decided to raise the price of his horse from the $250 to $350.”

The soldier wrote her again on Nov. 8, from Manassas, Va., saying his company was building a bridge over the Occoquan River. In letters from February-May 1862, Greene detailed service at Manassas and Camp Rappahannock.

In an April 23 letter, according to the university archives, Greene “tells that they have now moved to York Town.  Here he was very sick and went to Richmond to get well.  He tells of a fight in York Town in which they lost eight men and the enemy lost between 400 and 500.”

Greene’s last correspondence home may have been on May 5, 1862, telling them the army was evacuating Richmond. He was killed at Seven Pines in Virginia – the regiment’s first major battle -- on May 31, 1862. The unit broke Federal lines the next day, with more than 150 casualties in the two-day battle.

Greene was 25 or 26 when he died. Two brothers who also served in the Civil War survived.

Letter from David Greene to his mother (Siegel Auction Galleries)

My impetus to learn more about Greene was an envelope posted online by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries. The soldier used an envelope (above) he purchased at Camp Stephens to write his mother from Tudor Hall, Va., on Dec. 2, 1861.

The sender information includes the name Capt. Hezekiah Bussey of the 27^th Georgia. According to my brief internet research, Bussey was captured and exchanged in autumn 1862 and later promoted to lieutenant colonel. He died at age 77 in Columbus in November 1917.

Another Siegel Auction Galleries envelope (top of this post) provides no clues to the Camp Stephens sender. It was simply addressed: Miss Sarah Brinson, Cannoochee (sic).

I found that a Sarah Missouri Brinson of Emanuel County married Confederate veteran James Emmett Coleman on Oct. 22, 1865, several months after the war’s end. This letter is postmarked Sept. 7 (likely in 1861 or 1862).

Sarah had two brothers who served in the Southern army and perhaps one wrote her from Camp Stephens. Or it could have been authored by Coleman while they were courting or engaged. I just don't know.

Coleman was a sergeant with the 5^th Georgia Cavalry and Sarah served as a postmistress for both the Confederate and US governments in Canoochee, according to Findagrave.com.

The couple had 10 children and the couple lived to be 74 (1912) and 77 years old (1923), respectively.

Emmett, Sarah Coleman with family (Courtesy Emanuel County Preservation Society)

Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series includes photographs gathered by the Emanuel County Historic Preservation Society. One photograph, taken circa 1895, shows the Colemans with most of their children outside the home.

The caption provides a family memory from the Civil War.

“In November 1864, Emmett was with Company E, 5^th Ga. Cavalry fighting a delaying action in front of Sherman’s army. His unit came to Canoochee, where Sarah Brinson was serving as postmistress, in time to warn her that a Yankee Cavalry unit was just behind them. Arriving soon after, the Yankee unit began loading pigs, hogs, and taking everything they could find including butter out of a butter dish. Sarah gave a masonic distress signal she had learned from her father. A young lieutenant ordered his men to unload everything and posted a guard to protect her. Sarah and Emmett were married shortly after the war.”

(Civil War Picket photo)