- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
Part I - Big Kennesaw Mountain Area
One of the Napoleon 12-Pounder cannon atop Big Kennesaw Mountain.
I hadn't visited Kennesaw since May, 1989, while working on the Battle of Antietam sequences of Glory, filmed outside and south of Atlanta; on one of our days off, I drove to Marietta and visited both here and the then-new museum at Kennesaw ( Big Shanty ), home of the engine General. At that time, urban sprawl had begun to encroach upon the battlefield, noticeable since my previous visits in 1964 and 1968. Today, the National Battlefield Park is engulfed by development, especially "Yuppie"-style housing additions with their McMansions. This is better overall than the Levittown-type developments pre- and- post WWII like those that have obliterated sites within the Atlanta city limits, because their relatively large individual properties are less dense population-wise.
The view of Little Kennesaw from Big Kennesaw deceptively belies the problem of urban sprawl that has engulfed the entire region surrounding the park and indeed all of the Atlanta Metro area.
The worst problem for visitors now is automobile traffic - There remains NO central park road connecting the several important battle sites, and it's necessary to play "dodge ball" with the local traffic, much like the better-known but no less a nightmare of that at Manassas. When the park was acquired and laid out, this was all well outside the Atlanta metro area in sleepy DeKalb County, so obviously little thought was given to access. Unfortunately, though the park has grown a tiny bit since then, its layout encompassing the Confederate lines on the twin peaks of wooded Kennesaw Mountain and its adjacent knobs do not allow for a park isolated from its surroundings. Only at the Visitor Center and the road from there to the summit is one free from area traffic.
Confederate artillery placed here on the mountain enjoyed a definite advantage over the Federal batteries on lower ground and also assisted in repulsing the Union assaults on other parts of the line.
Even here well within the confines of the park, however, another form of traffic rears its ugly head: local pedestrians have appropriated what should remain as Hallowed Ground for their hiking, jogging, and ( ignoring signs forbidding it ) sunbathing. it has gotten SO bad that on weekends, the road to the summit is closed to visitor traffic, except those on the NPS shuttle bus! I visited on a weekday, and had to be VERY careful on the narrow road, especially on curves, as the locals "travel in packs" and resist giving way for automobiles. I might add they have absolutely NO interest in the park as a historic site or for any purpose other than their own recreation and amusement.
Another view of the 12-Pounder Napoleon in its gun pit.
The view from Kennesaw remains stunning and demonstrates how it dominates the terrain around. Joseph Johnston's Confederate Army of Tennessee moved here from nearby Pine Mountain and Lost Mountain, covering both the small town of Marietta and the Western & Atlantic Railroad leading to Atlanta over the Chattahoochee River to the immediate south. The Confederates were able to resist Sherman's flanking movements and probes here, prompting the impatient Sherman to commit to a series of fatal, flawed head-on assaults similar to those tried unsuccessfully at New Hope Church and Pickett's Mill, but on an even grander scale. Following the predictable result, covered below, Sherman returned to flanking movements which eventually proved successful, necessitating the actions detailed on the park marker below.
One of the Napoleon 12-Pounder cannon atop Big Kennesaw Mountain.
I hadn't visited Kennesaw since May, 1989, while working on the Battle of Antietam sequences of Glory, filmed outside and south of Atlanta; on one of our days off, I drove to Marietta and visited both here and the then-new museum at Kennesaw ( Big Shanty ), home of the engine General. At that time, urban sprawl had begun to encroach upon the battlefield, noticeable since my previous visits in 1964 and 1968. Today, the National Battlefield Park is engulfed by development, especially "Yuppie"-style housing additions with their McMansions. This is better overall than the Levittown-type developments pre- and- post WWII like those that have obliterated sites within the Atlanta city limits, because their relatively large individual properties are less dense population-wise.
The view of Little Kennesaw from Big Kennesaw deceptively belies the problem of urban sprawl that has engulfed the entire region surrounding the park and indeed all of the Atlanta Metro area.
The worst problem for visitors now is automobile traffic - There remains NO central park road connecting the several important battle sites, and it's necessary to play "dodge ball" with the local traffic, much like the better-known but no less a nightmare of that at Manassas. When the park was acquired and laid out, this was all well outside the Atlanta metro area in sleepy DeKalb County, so obviously little thought was given to access. Unfortunately, though the park has grown a tiny bit since then, its layout encompassing the Confederate lines on the twin peaks of wooded Kennesaw Mountain and its adjacent knobs do not allow for a park isolated from its surroundings. Only at the Visitor Center and the road from there to the summit is one free from area traffic.
Confederate artillery placed here on the mountain enjoyed a definite advantage over the Federal batteries on lower ground and also assisted in repulsing the Union assaults on other parts of the line.
Even here well within the confines of the park, however, another form of traffic rears its ugly head: local pedestrians have appropriated what should remain as Hallowed Ground for their hiking, jogging, and ( ignoring signs forbidding it ) sunbathing. it has gotten SO bad that on weekends, the road to the summit is closed to visitor traffic, except those on the NPS shuttle bus! I visited on a weekday, and had to be VERY careful on the narrow road, especially on curves, as the locals "travel in packs" and resist giving way for automobiles. I might add they have absolutely NO interest in the park as a historic site or for any purpose other than their own recreation and amusement.
Another view of the 12-Pounder Napoleon in its gun pit.
The view from Kennesaw remains stunning and demonstrates how it dominates the terrain around. Joseph Johnston's Confederate Army of Tennessee moved here from nearby Pine Mountain and Lost Mountain, covering both the small town of Marietta and the Western & Atlantic Railroad leading to Atlanta over the Chattahoochee River to the immediate south. The Confederates were able to resist Sherman's flanking movements and probes here, prompting the impatient Sherman to commit to a series of fatal, flawed head-on assaults similar to those tried unsuccessfully at New Hope Church and Pickett's Mill, but on an even grander scale. Following the predictable result, covered below, Sherman returned to flanking movements which eventually proved successful, necessitating the actions detailed on the park marker below.
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