Little Kennesaw Mountain

[tdstepen]

I am just beginning to research my Sylvester Brown Stephenson's role in the Civil War. That is Sylvester in my avatar. He belonged to Ward's Battery,Alabama Light Artillery, He was with Storrs' Battalion at Little Kennesaw Mountain. I have seen a drawing of the Storrs' men dragging cannon up Little Kennesaw Mountain. I am thankful that Sylvester was in a big battle;otherwise,I might not know that much about Ward's Artillery. Sylvester Brown Stephenson might not have been so thankful he was in a big battle and had to drag cannon up Little Kennesaw Mountain. Mr. Elmer Oris Parker, who was Assistant Director of the National Archives in Washington,D.C. and who supplied me with my Stephenson information in South Carolina, wrote me that his wife's grandfather was at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and her grandfather fledged to God if He would see him through the battle he would serve Him the rest of his days and he did so by becoming a Baptist preacher and preaching for over fifty years.
Sylvester joined Ward's Artillery in Huntsville,Alabama on October 10, 1862, and in 1863,received a clothing allowance in Mobile,Alabama. At the Battle of Selma his battery was overrun and he finished the war with the 27th Tennessee Cavalry.
http://www.lat34north.com/HistoricMarkers/MarkerDetail.cfm?KeyID=033-KS2&MarkerTitle=Cannon on Little Kennesaw
I clicked on that picture at the above website and I can see the marker has the drawing of the men dragging the cannons up the mountain.

 

[Chattahooch33]

That marker is on the drive up to the top of big Kennesaw. There is an small treeless area that affords this look at Little Kennesaw.

Expired Image Removed

 

[tdstepen]

I now know that Ward's Artillery was on Little Kennesaw Mountain and Ward's Battery was one of the batteries that hauled cannons up Little Kennesaw Mountain.

 

[Will Carry]

Our ancestors chewed some of the same Georgia clay at Little Kennesaw. There's a man named Earl J. Hess who wrote an excellent book on the battle of Little Kennesaw Mountain. He includes lots of maps and drawings of troop movements and where they were and when.

 

[donna]

We always pass the turnoff to Kennesaw Mt. National Park on way to Florida. We always say we need to stop and look. We will have to next time we go. It does take time when going straight to Florida from Northern Ky. But if we don't stop probably never will and really want to tour it.

 

[nitrofd]

We always pass the turnoff to Kennesaw Mt. National Park on way to Florida. We always say we need to stop and look. We will have to next time we go. It does take time when going straight to Florida from Northern Ky. But if we don't stop probably never will and really want to tour it.

Kennesaw Mountain gets the most visitors of all the military parks according to the NPS, but in this case they are not civil war buffs.it has become the most popular place in the metro Atlanta area for joggers, runners, hikers and families to picnic or just go out into the park.traffic and parking have become a major problem there.

 

[nitrofd]

We always pass the turnoff to Kennesaw Mt. National Park on way to Florida. We always say we need to stop and look. We will have to next time we go. It does take time when going straight to Florida from Northern Ky. But if we don't stop probably never will and really want to tour it.

On your trip down I-75 you really should plan to spend a day at Chickamauga.weel worth your time and one day really isn't enough time to visit.

 

[donna]

We have been to Chickamauga several times. Great area to visit.

 

[DR_Hanna]

Visit Kennesaw on a weekday - as mentioned above it is crowded with folks on wknd and the road up the mt is closed to auto traffic on wknd.

 

[DR_Hanna]

Samual G. French, in his autbiography "Two Wars" relates this incedent from Little Kennesaw:

22d. The constant rains have ceased, the sky is clear, and
the sun, so long hid, now shines out brightly. Skirmishing (I
am tired of that word) on my line last night. I rode to the
top of the mountain quite early, to where I had placed nine
guns in position. During the night the enemy had moved a camp
close to the base of the mountain. It was the headquarters
of some general officers. Tent walls were raised, officers
sitting around on camp stools, orderlies coming and going,
wagons parked, soldiers idling about or resting in the shade
of the trees, and from the cook fires arose the odors of
breakfast, and all this at our very feet. It was tantalizing,
that breakfast, not to be tolerated. So I directed the powder
in a number of cartridges for the guns to be reduced, so as
to drop the shells into the camp below us. I left them in
their fancied security--for no doubt they believed that we
could not place artillery on the height above them, and they
were not visible to our infantry on the mountain side by
reason of the timber. How comfortable they appeared, resting
in the shade and smoking! At length the gunners, impatient
of delay, were permitted to open fire on them. Thunder from
the clear, blue sky could not have surprised them more. They
sprang to their feet, and stood not on the order of their
going, but left quickly, every man for himself, and soon
"their tents were all silent, their banners alone," like
Sennacherib's of old, and there was a deserted camp all this
day.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

The trail behind the visitor center leading up to the top of Kennesaw Mountain is a bear.

And be prepared to step aside on the path for joggers and fast walkers.

The trip up this mountain will make the visitor appreciate the struggle of soldiers on both sides dealing with this terrain during this battle.

Bill

 

[donna]

We always drive down on Saturday and come back on Saturday. May have to rethink this one right now. Getting around Atlanta is a bear, We always hit traffic coming and going. Of course, there is always construction.

 

[tdstepen]

That Hess book is at GOOGLE Books. There are also several other books on "Kennesaw Mountain" if you put those two words in the main search engine. That is how I discovered that my Sylvester Brown Stephenson and Ward's Artillery was on Little Kennesaw. Of Course, Sylvester was not mentioned.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

I am just beginning to research my Sylvester Brown Stephenson's role in the Civil War. That is Sylvester in my avatar. He belonged to Ward's Battery,Alabama Light Artillery, He was with Storrs' Battalion at Little Kennesaw Mountain. I have seen a drawing of the Storrs' men dragging cannon up Little Kennesaw Mountain. I am thankful that Sylvester was in a big battle;otherwise,I might not know that much about about Ward's Artillery. Sylvester Brown Stephenson might not have been so thankful he was in a big battle and had to drag cannon up Little Kennesaw Mountain. Mr. Elmer Oris Parker, who was Assistant Director of the National Archives in Washington,D.C. and who supplied me with my Stephenson information in South Carolina, wrote me that his wife's grandfather was at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and her grandfather fledged to God if He would see him through the battle he would serve Him the rest of his days and he did so by becoming a Baptist preacher and preaching for over fifty years.
Sylvester joined Ward's Artillery in Huntsville,Alabama on October 10, 1862, and in 1863,received a clothing allowance in Mobile,Alabama. At the Battle of Selma his battery was overrun and he finished the war with the 27th Tennessee Cavalry.
http://www.lat34north.com/HistoricMarkers/MarkerDetail.cfm?KeyID=033-KS2&MarkerTitle=Cannon on Little Kennesaw
I clicked on that picture at the above website and I can see the marker has the drawing of the men dragging the cannons up the mountain.

Here is my video of our trip to the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield.

Enjoy,
Bill

 

[Legion Para]

You travel more than most Bill and it gives you a better appreciation for terrain. Kennesaw Mountain was difficult enough for the Infantry and even more so for the Artllery.

Northern Georgia is beautiful.

 

[tdstepen]

Bill,

I enjoyed that video! At my age and circumstances, I will never personally see where my two ancestors fought. Sylvester was on the mountain and his brother James Harvey Stephenson was with the(6)Tennessee Cavalry.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tngiles/cvlwar/cavalry.htm
In the early summer of 1864, Wheeler's 6th Tennessee Cavalry participated in Confederate General Joe Johnston's retreat to Atlanta, fighting at Resaca, New Hope Church, Pine Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain, and at Atlanta. During this struggle the regiment was again and again dismounted and took the place of infantry in the trenches.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

You travel more than most Bill and gives you a better appreciation for terrain. Kennesaw Mountain was difficult enough for the Infantry and even more so for the Artllery.

Northern Georgia is beautiful.

My son and I conducted the "Atlanta Campaign" tour in 2014. Northern Georgia is absolutely beautiful! I shall return in the near future, especially a trip to the new Resaca Battlefield (west of I-75).

 

[donna]

We want to stop at Resaca too. I didn't know there was new battlefield. Think we will do that instead of Kennesaw as probably not so crowded on a Saturday.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

We want to stop at Resaca too. I didn't know there was new battlefield. Think we will do that instead of Kennesaw as probably not so crowded on a Saturday.

The new Camp Creek complex is almost finished. If you are traveling southbound on I-75, the complex in on your right. Take the Resaca exit, turn right (westbound) and make the first right into the complex. This area is known as Camp Creek and this area is the heart of the battle. There are other sites just east and northeast of the Resaca exit.

http://www.resacabattlefield.org/FoRstart.html

Bill

 

[DR_Hanna]

If we are suggesting alternatives and you don't have a lot of time, my favorite stop along the road is Allatoona Pass, between Resaca and Kennesaw - it is a small mountain with a railroad cut (no longer used) - just off the highway, uncrowded, and has a very well preserved system of trenches and 2 forts. The battle fought there - a Confederate defeat - was a short, desperate fight resulting in 30% casualties among the 5200 or so in the fight.