This Civil War history presents a lively and detailed study of one of the bloodiest and most important battles fought in Georgia. In the summer of 1864, Georgia was the scene of one of the most important campaigns of the Civil War. William Tecumseh Sherman’s push southward toward Atlanta threatened the heart of the Confederacy, and Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of Tennessee were the Confederacy's best hope to defend it. In June, Johnston managed to grind Sherman’s advance to a halt northwest of Atlanta at Kennesaw Mountain. After weeks of maneuvering, on June 27, Sherman launched a bold attack on Johnston's lines. The Confederate victory was one of the bloodiest days of the entire campaign. And while Sherman’s assaults had a frightful cost, Union forces learned important lessons at Kennesaw Mountain that enabled the fall of Atlanta several months later.

Published here for the first time, the Civil War combat memoir of Lieutenant Colonel James Taylor Holmes of the 52nd Ohio Volunteers presents a richly detailed firsthand account of the action on Cheatham's Hill during the June 1864 Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Written in 1915, Holmes' insightful narrative, with original hand-drawn diagrams, differs on key points from the accepted scholarship on troop movements and positions at Kennesaw, and contests the legitimacy of a battlefield monument. An extensive introduction and annotations by historian Mark A. Smith provide a brief yet comprehensive overview of the battle and places Holmes' document in historical context.

As Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman swept through Georgia in 1864, he fought several small battles against an ever-retreating Gen. Joseph E. Johnston who had replaced the beleaguered Gen. Braxton Bragg as leader of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. After heavy rains slowed Sherman’s advance, Johnston’s army entrenched along the Brushy Mountain line. Hemmed in by the mountains and impassable roads, Sherman noted in his reports to Washington, “Kennesaw is the key to the whole country.” Ultimately, Sherman would outflank Johnston and grind down his army’s defenses with a brazen frontal assault. Federal forces suffered 3,000 casualties compared to Johnston’s 1,000, and yet the Confederate Army of Tennessee was forced to retreat to Smyrna, and continued defeats led to Sherman’s infamous burning of Atlanta in August of 1864. Decisions at Kennesaw Mountain explores the critical decisions made by Confederate and Federal commanders during the battle and how these decisions shaped its outcome. Rather than offering a history of the battle, Larry Peterson hones in on a sequence of command decisions that provides us, retroactively, with a blueprint of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain at its tactical core. Identifying and exploring the critical decisions in this way allows students of the battle to progress from a knowledge of what happened to a mature grasp of why events happened. Complete with maps and a driving tour, Decisions at Kennesaw Mountain is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a concise introduction to the battle can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the campaign and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself. Decisions at Kennesaw Mountain is the seventeenth in a series of books that will explore the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.

While fighting his way toward Atlanta, William T. Sherman encountered his biggest roadblock at Kennesaw Mountain, where Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee held a heavily fortified position. The opposing armies confronted each other from June 19 to July 3, 1864. Hess explains how this battle, with its combination of maneuver and combat, severely tried the patience and endurance of the common soldier and why Johnston's strategy might have been the Confederates' best chance to halt the Federal drive toward Atlanta.

Exploring the significance of places that built our cultural past, this guide is a lens into historical sites spanning the entire history of the United States, from Acoma Pueblo to Ground Zero. Historic Sites and Landmarks That Shaped America: From Acoma Pueblo to Ground Zero encompasses more than 200 sites from the earliest settlements to the present, covering a wide variety of locations. It includes concise yet detailed entries on each landmark that explain its importance to the nation. With entries arranged alphabetically according to the name of the site and the state in which it resides, this work covers both obscure and famous landmarks to demonstrate how a nation can grow and change with the creation or discovery of important places. The volume explores the ways different cultures viewed, revered, or even vilified these sites. It also examines why people remember such places more than others. Accessible to both novice and expert readers, this well-researched guide will appeal to anyone from high school students to general adult readers.

From early June to mid-July of 1864, North Georgia's Kennesaw Mountain loomed as the focal point around which the Union and Confederate armies fought and suffered. This dramatic tale covers one of the Civil War's most gruesome battles, offering insight into the strategic turning point in Sherman's battle for Atlanta. From the Georgia rail towns of Acworth to Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) and Marietta, this book covers the Atlanta Campaign's deadly, month-long struggle over possession of Kennesaw Mountain. From the fight through squalid trenches and adverse weather to the swarms of insects and the stench of lifeless soldiers, no misery endured by the troops is left out. Along with details of the grisly battle-which took the lives of nearly 200,000 men-author Russell W. Blount, Jr. provides insight into the character of the major players on both sides of the conflict. The battle's common privates and their outlooks are chronicled as well, along with civilian accounts of the tragic occurrence. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Russell W. Blount, Jr. is a Civil War enthusiast who taught American history at the high-school level. He received a BS in history from the University of South Alabama, and his affinity for history is apparent in his involvement with such organizations as the Civil War Preservation Trust, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Historic Mobile Preservation Society. Blount is also the author of Pelican's The Battles of New Hope Church. When not researching the Civil War, Blount enjoys reading, writing, and playing racquetball. He resides in Mobile, Alabama, with his wife.

compiled and written by workers of the Writer®s program of the Work Projects Administration in the state of Georgia ; sponsored by the Georgia Board of Education.

Civil War aficionados and historians will welcome Jackson's analysis of the participation of New Jersey African Americans on the home front and in the military - an important, and much-needed, part of the book."--BOOK JACKET.

A three-time All-Star, Cecil Travis (1913–2006) was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career when he was drafted for World War II in 1941. When he returned To The game in 1945, after three and a half years in the army, Travis was no longer the dominant player he had been. In the three seasons that followed—the last of his career—only once did Travis play in more than seventy-five games, and his offensive numbers plummeted. Yet his prewar accomplishments were such that he finished his twelve-year career with a .314 batting average, and baseball maven Bill James put Travis atop his list of players most likely to have lost a Hall of Fame career To The war. This biography documents Travis's life and dynamic career. it recounts his childhood years on his family's Riverdale farm in rural Georgia, his demonstration of talent during high school, The beginning of his professional career with the Minor League Chattanooga Lookouts in 1931, his rise with the Washington Senators, The historic 1941 season in which Travis led all of baseball in hits, his time as a soldier, The decline in his play from 1945 to 1947, and his retirement. In an epilogue Cecil Travis comments on his baseball career, The effects of the war, and his life in Riverdale, where he raised livestock on the farm that was his childhood home.