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HELP PRESERVE GEORGIA'S CIVIL WAR HERITAGE
A Field of Honor at Last for a Ragtag 1864 Militia Macon, Georgia...November 21, 1998...The soldiers were not really soldiers at all, but old men and young boys and others who were considered unfit for a real Confedeerate uniform, armed with squirrel rifles and shotguns and smooth-bore muskets that hurled a musket ball in the rough direction of the enemy. Their commanding General had no real experience in battle. The rag tag regiment was called the Georgia militia but the real Confederate regulars, half starved, their ranks shot to pieces by late 1864, referred to them as "Joe Brown's Pet's". Gov. Joe Brown, who had formed the militia, as a home guard, never let it fight outside the state of Georgia, Civil War Historians say, so the regulars questioned the members courage. History would probably have remembered them that way too, or not at all, if the hated Union General Sherman had not put a match to the town of Griswoldville, Georgia, 10 miles east of Macon on November 22, 1864. What happened next would go down as one of the most courageous actions of the War, but one of it's most tragic, one sided and - many historians believed - foolish. "It was never intended to be a battle," said William R. Scaife, the premier Civil War Historian of Georgia.
But that is no reason, historians and history buffs here agree, that the fields and trees should be paved over and forgotten. The State of Georgia through it's Civil War Commission dedicated 17 Acres of Battlefield - virtually unchanged since that violent day - to the Ge. State Parks, which will maintain the land as a state historic site.
Griswoldville Article by Rick Bragg of the New York Times
GEORGIA GIBRALTAR/ THE BATTLE OF DUG GAP
A BATTLE WAS FOUGHT AT DUG GAP MAY 8TH, 1864 BETWEEN CONFEDERATE AND FEDERAL
FORCES. ATTACKING FEDERAL FORCES SUFFERED MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED CASUALTIES
IN THIS BATTLE FOUGHT OVER EXTREMELY RUGGED TERRAIN. TWO CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS
OF HONOR WERE WON HERE BY MEMBERS OF THE 154TH NEW YORK REGIMENT. WELL PRESERVED
INFANTRY BREASTWORKS OF ROCK AND EARTH EXISTS HERE, AND BATTLEFIELD BURIALS
ALSO. A FEW ACRES OF THIS SITE AT THE CREST OF THE RIDGE ARE NOW OWNED BY THE
WHITFIELD-MURRAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, THERE ARE MORE THAN FIFTY ACRES OWNED BY
OTHERS THAT NEED TO BE PRESERVED AND MANAGED. THE DUG GAP BATTLEFIELD CAN BE
ACCESSED BY TAKING WALNUT AVENUE WEST ACROSS I-75 AT WHICH POINT IT BECOMES
DUG GAP BATTLEFIELD PARK ROAD AND PROCEEDS TO THE BATTLEFIELD AREA WHICH IS
LOCATED AT THE CREST OF THE RIDGE.
DEFENDING DUG GAP: ARMSTRONG'S DIVISION 1ST, 2ND, 9TH KENTUCKY CAV. (GRIGSBY'S
KENTUCKIANS)
ATTACKING DUG GAP: THE FEDERAL INFANTRY - HOOKER'S CORPS, TWO BRIGADES COMMANDED
BY GENERAL JOHN W. GEARY.
Dug Gap is located near Dalton, Georgia - an area of North Georgia rich in history.
Dalton is part of the Blue & Gray Trail.
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The Georgia State Guards, 1st Regmiment, became a part of this force. Companies
A,C.E.G. and K were made up of men from Gordon County. Companies
B,D, H, and I were from Whitfield County and Company F was from Murray County,
Ga.
Being less than 30 miles from the state line the good citizens of Tunnel Hill, Ga. responded quickly to the governor's plea. On July 4th, 1863 even as Vicksburg, Mississippi was being surrendered to Union forces, the men of Tunnel Hill were forming a company ready to serve. On July 23rd, 1863, the Rev. Hamilton Young was elected Captain. He quickly appointed his staff of 14 and designated the Company as "The Tunnel Hill Guards", and for awhile carried out that self-appointed responsibilty.
At Tunnel Hill, the Western & Atlantic Railroad passes through Chetoogeta
Mountain for a distance of 1,477 feet. The first train passed through the
mountain tunnel on 9 May 1850. Keeping the railroad tunnel open was critical
for the movement of men, munitions and supplies for the confederate Army
operating above that point. The importance of the railroads was heightened
in april of 1862 by the "Great Locomotive Chase." The General had passed
through the tunnel closely pursued by the Texas on its race to fame. In November
1861 two railroad bridges over Chickamauga Creek, above Graysville, had also
been burned. These events were fresh on the minds of the Tunnel Hill Guards.
The ultimate responsibility for guarding the gaps and passes north and west
of Dalton was relegated to General Wheeler's Cavalry.
On Dec. 15th 1863, the 1st Reg. was ordered to Calhoun and there assigned guard duty. The new year of 1864 found the Guards on their way to Atlanta. Upon arrival there (January 2nd) they reported to General Howell Cobb, that noble Georgian, and were assigned to the Provost Guard. They became a part of the police force in the City of Atlanta. For the next 29 days they performed their task magnanimously. On Jan 31st, at the expiration of their enlistment, the men of the "Tunnel Guards" mustered out of service and returned to their family in and around Tunnel Hill. A few joined other regiments and continued to serve throughout the war.
The average age of the Tunnel Guards was 44. The youngest being 17 and the
oldest 65. One man serving in the 29th Ga. Inf was shot for deserting his
company and joining the Home Guards. Times were hard and dicipline was rigidly
enforced.
"A History of the Men who Served in the Dalton Machine Guards"
In July, 1863, Captain James H. Bard, later Major, organized a company of
47 men to be used for local defense in Whitfield County. They became known
as the Dalton Machine Guard. Most of them were enrolled on July 7th and enlisted
on the 21st of August 1863 for a period of 6 months.
When war broke out in 1861, things begin to change in Dalton. The Dalton
Machine Guards made canteens by the thousands, wire buckles, harness rings
and 8,000 tin straps for 6 pound, 12 pound, 32 pound, and 44 poundshells.
These were being shipped to the Atlanta Arsenal and to Richmond, Va.
As winter apprached in 1862, their manufacturing turned to stove pipes, elbows, caps, dampers, ventilating tubes, etc...These were installed in all the hospitals and officer quarters in and around Dalton. They also supplied the hospitals with large boiling pots for soups, sheet iron baking pans, coffee pots and the like.
In 1863, the hospitals in Dalton were filled to capacity. The Machine Guards were supplying the hospitals with such things as cook stoves, dippers, mess pots and pans, wash boilers, tin buckets, candlesticks, lanterns, tin plates, and other assorted goods.
In 1864, before the fall of Dalton, the operations were moved to Macon and
they continued to manufacture thousands of harness buckles, rings,
triangles and staples. The last order filled in March, 1865 was for 60 gross
of buckles, 299 1/2 dozen harness rings.
ISTEA FUNDS TO RESTORE FAMOUS TUNNEL
Major improvements are in store for th famous railroad tunnel at Tunnel Hill
and planning is underway to open th site to the public. Improvements include
repairs that will stope water seepage and restoration of crumbling arches. When
completed in 1850, the tunnel was one of the great engineering achievements
of th 19th cemtury. It served as the lifeline for Sherman's army and was the
originating point for the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. Last December, a joint proposal
was submitted to the Georgia Dept. of Transportation by Whitfield County and
th City of Tunnel Hill. In June, Kevin McAuliff, historic preservation planner
in Dalton, learned that the DOT board had allotted $700,000 for restoration
of th 1,477 foot tunnel. This sum will be supplemented with $175,000 from Whitfield
County. The DOT grant provides funds from the federal Intermodal Service Transportation
Enhacement Act --- ISTEA. Whitfield County can be proud of Tunnel Hill.
Pickett's
Mill is one of the best preserved Civil War battlefields in the nation. The scene
of this bloody conflict looks much the same today as it did in 1864. Visitors
may travel roads used by Federal and Confederate troops, see earthworks constructed
by these men, and walk throguh the same ravine where hundreds died. On May 27th
1864, the Federal Army having been stopped in its advance on Atlanta two days
earlier by the Battle of New Hope Church, attempted to outflank the Confederate
position. Some 14,000 Federal troops were selected for the task, and General Howard
was given command. After a five hour march, Howard's force reached the vicinity
of Pickett's Mill and prepared for attack. Waiting were 10,000 Confederate troops
under the command of one of the best division commanders to ever command troops
in the field...General Pat Cleburne! The Federal assault began at 5 p.m. and continued
into the night. Daybreak found the Confederates still in possession of the field.
The Federals had lost 1,600 men compared to the Confederate loss of 500. Pickett's
Mill became one of the most successful Confederate Army victories. WILDER CAMPAIGN PLEDGE FORM
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WE WHO STUDY MUST ALSO STRIVE TO SAVE!!!
Honey Springs, Oklahoma Battlefield Preservation
ProfileHistory:
At the outbreak of the Civil War, what is today Oklahoma was known as the
Indian Territory. Disagreement over a number of issues, including slavery,
created a volatile situation in which some American Indians living in this
area supported the Confederacy, and others the Union. In April 1863, Union
troops occupied Ft. Gibson, 20 miles north of Honey Springs. The Federals
planned to use the fort as a base from which they could strengthen their
control of the territory. Confederate Brig. Gen Douglas H. Cooper and 6,000
trooops, the majority being American Indians, responded by skirmishing with
the Union troops and attacking supply trains. The Union commander in the
area, Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt, surmised that the Confederates were about
to advance on Ft. Gibson. He decided to attack before they were reinforced
by a Confederate brigade en route from Ark. By midnight on July 16, Blunt's
3,000 troops, whites, American Indians and the First Kansas Colored Infantry
were marching south toward the confederate encampment at Honey Springs. The
next morning the two forces skirmished and by late morning began full scale
fighting. Gen. Cooper was forced to retreat east that afternoon. This battle
was the largest engagement of the War where the majority of Union and Confederate
troops were Native American. This battle enabled the Union to establish Federal
control of the Indian Territory north of the Arkansas River.
Today 957 acres of this 4,726 acre battlefield are protected...to learn more
about this site contact: Mr. Ralph Jones at the Oklahoma Historical Society,
2100 North Lincoln Blvd. Oklahoma City, Ok. 73105 405 522-5234 e-mail:
ralphjones@ok-history.mus.ok.us
In Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, there is a unique, and rapidly growing, little
town called Peachtree City. It started as a planned community back in the "Fifties"
when planned communities were springing up all around the country. Peachtree City
has beautiful neighborhoods, great schools, miles of bike paths, ponds, parks,
pools, and playgrounds. But Peachtree City, according to some residents, including
the mayor, believe the lovely little city south of Atlanta has no past. It is
too new to have a history that gives it roots and heritage.