The final stop on my late September 2016 visit to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was Cheatham Hill. The hill is named after Major General Frank Cheatham, the commanding officer of the Confederate troops defending this portion of the line that extended about a mile southeast and four miles north past Pigeon Hill and Little Kennesaw Mountain to Kennesaw Mountain and beyond. Because the line was so long, Major General William T Sherman assumed that it was thinly defended. The Confederate line made a sharp turn at Cheatham Hill, leaving a protruding point or salient on the hill. This was one of the locations Sherman chose for a frontal assault on June 27, 1864. After a heavy artillery barrage, three brigades of Union forces commanded by Brigadier General John Newton crossed a small creek, a marsh, and then woods so dense they couldn't see the Confederate works. Others crossed an open wheat field and then began climbing the hill. They were met by entrenched Tennesseans commanded by Brigadier General George Maney. The Confederates fired so often that their gun barrels were too hot to hold. By 10 o'clock the attack was over. A National Park Service brochure from 1959 states "Sherman lost 1,580 out of 8,000 men, while the Confederates lost 206 out of 8,000."
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| Earthworks concealing Confederate artillery |
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| Cannons like those used in the battle |
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| Cannon visible behind the earthworks |
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| After over 150 years, the trenches are still visible |
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| Commemorative marker for First Sargent C. H. Coffey of the 22nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry |
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| More earthworks along the trail |
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| The Dead Angle |
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| Former wheat field below the Dead Angle |
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| Remains of the tunnel the Union forces tried to dig under the Confederate breastworks |
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| Illinois Monument |
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| Less than 50 feet from the Dead Angle |
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| Further along the trail is this grave of an unknown US soldier |
Entry to the park is free.
The park website is
https://www.nps.gov/kemo.
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