Kennesaw Battlefield Park preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta campaign, and also contains Kennesaw Mountain. It is located at 900 Kennesaw Mountain Drive, between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia. The name "Kennesaw" derives from the Cherokee Indian "Gah-nee-sah" meaning "cemetery" or burial ground. The area was designated as a U.S. historic district on October 15, 1966. Part of the natural area is old-growth forest and recognized by the Old-Growth Forest Network.
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, fought here between Generals William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union army and Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederate army, took place between June 18, 1864, and July 2, 1864. Sherman's army consisted of 100,000 men, 254 cannons and 35,000 horses, while Johnston's army had only 50,000 men and 187 cannons. Johnston had successfully contrived to block Sherman's advance with another defensive position, and this time Sherman tried a direct frontal assault. Much of the battle took place not on Kennesaw Mountain itself, but on a spur of Little Kennesaw Mountain known now as Pigeon Hill, and the area to its south around Cheatham Hill. A total of 5,350 soldiers died during the battle, which was deemed a Confederate victory, but Johnston's army nonetheless retired.
Established as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Site on February 18, 1917, it was transferred from the War Department on August 10, 1933, and redesignated a national military park on June 26, 1935. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park is a 2,923-acre (11.8 km2) National Battlefield that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. There are three battlefield areas: In front of the Visitor Center, off Burnt Hickory Road and a major site at Cheatham Hill (commonly known as the Dead Angle). At the southern tip of the park, Peter Valentine Kolb's farm house, where a minor battle was fought, has been restored to its original condition. The Visitor Center contains an information desk, museum, and a theater which screens movies about the battle fought there. While walking some of the 17.3 miles (27.8 km) of interpretive hiking trails, historic earthworks, cannon emplacements, and various interpretive signs can be seen. There are three monuments representing some of the states who fought here - Illinois, Texas, and Georgia. Kennesaw Mountain is 1,808 feet (551.1 m) above sea level. It is approximately a 664-foot (202 m) gain in elevation from the Visitor Center to the mountain's summit. The hike up is approximately 1.4 miles (2.3 km) on the road and 1.1-mile (1.8 km) on the trail.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
This page covers Battle of Kennesaw Mountain — Pigeon Hill. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside historic sites, land records, and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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