Monday, June 27, 2016

Kennesaw Mountain, Kennesaw, GA May 5, 2016

We spent part of an afternoon at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Georgia. It is located about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Part of General Grant’s plan to end the Civil War was to send General Sherman's Army into Georgia to destroy General Joseph Johnston's Confederate Army as well as his supply operations. During Sherman’s march south from Tennessee into Georgia, the peace and serenity of Kennesaw Mountain was abruptly interrupted on the morning of June 27, 1864.

War severely altered the landscape of what is now Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Soldiers cut down trees and tore apart homes to build earthen fortifications for protection known as earthworks. The thousands of soldiers marching through the area killed grass, leaving large patches of exposed clay that, when it rained, turned into pools of thick mud. The fauna was badly damaged by foraging soldiers, fire, and the battles.

With the destruction of trees and other flora, animals fled the area. The noises of battle and the invasion of thousands of humans into their habitat forced animals to seek shelter elsewhere.

Eight miles of earthworks are still visible today at the Cheatham Hill battlefield location of the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. The plant life growing on the earthworks today helps keep them intact. Without this growth, the fortifications would be subject to soil erosion. 



Illinois Monument


On a very hazy day, Stone Mountain from Kennesaw Mountain

Atlanta from Kennesaw Mountain

Some of the information was obtained from:
https://www.nps.gov/kemo/learn/historyculture/preservation.htm

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