Kennesaw Mountain, the battle for Atlanta 1864

In the early hours of June 27, 1864 Union soldiers received orders  from

A misty Kennesaw Mountain morning.

General William T Sherman, regarded by many to be a suicide mission.  They were to assault Confederate forces entrenched along the Kennesaw Mountain line, an 1800 foot precipice known as the “Gibraltar of Georgia”.  Sherman’s mission was to capture Atlanta, a critical rail center and industrial hub of the Confederate war machine.  All that stood between Sherman and Atlanta was Kennesaw Mountain.  The battle raged in rain and mud and cannon fire, the canons having been dragged up the mountain in the dark and torrential rain by the Confederate troops.  By July 2 the Confederate soldiers had abandoned Kennesaw Mountain for other defensive positions closer to Atlanta, although the larger Union army went around them each time.  Atlanta was captured on September 2, a bitter blow to the Confederacy.