Kennesaw Mountain

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

June 27th 1864

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was one of very few Confederate victories during Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. The well-dug in Confederate troops under the command of General Johnston are perched on top of the 1,000 foot tall mountain unwilling to budge and unwilling to give up this part of Northern Georgia to the Federals. The Union army stands at 100,000 men strong and is marching to the sea with General Sherman as he attempts to end his quest with the sacking of the rebel capital, Richmond. Atlanta stands in his way and then rather smooth sailing from there on to Savannah.

The mountain must be secured or the entire Union army will have to march around it, and General Sherman is unwilling to sacrifice that time for the sake of a mountain in his path. This is no ordinary mountain as it has some of the deadliest marksmen in the entire Rebel army. The battle starts out as many others yet the big difference here is that the Union troops are defenseless as the charge the hills and cut outs of the foot of the mountain and find themselves under a hail of rebel fire. The Rebels are taking some casualties themselves and within an hour of fighting have lost 250 men to the Unions 1,000.

The battle draws to a close as the Confederates realize that there are just too many Union troops to hold off. A retreat is ordered and the proud Rebel army under General Johnston is left to give the mountain up and leave for Atlanta. There will be other battles to fight. As the Confederates leave off and around the mountain a fire breaks out in the nearby woods and the screams of men burning to death can be heard over the roar of the flames. A lone Confederate soldier raises the universal sign of peaceful intentions, the white flag but not for a surrender but to allow Union troops to assist the rebels in pulling some of the charred remains and hopefully some still breathing Union troops from the torched woods. The two opposing armies, who had only an hour ago been killing each other, are now working together in order to free the men from a fiery death.

In the end this battle was a Confederate victory, which blunted the Union assault. The Union army suffered roughly 3,000 casualties to the Confederates 1,000.

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