Gratuitous Civil War Posting

(Image of Gen. Sherman lifted from this site.)

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, fought this day in 1864 during William Tecumseh Sherman's drive on Atlanta. The battle, in which Gen. Sherman attempted to break a well-entrenched Confederate defensive line head on, quickly ended in heavy Union casualties and stalemate, forcing Sherman to return to his previous tactic of flanking the Confederate positions and forcing them to fall back, a tactic which eventually led to Atlanta's fall roughly five weeks later.

Although this battle meant little in the larger scale of things, I note it with some pride, as my great-great-grandfather fought in it, serving as an officer in the Ohio 10th Independant Light Artillery Battery in the Army of the Cumberland under Gen. George H. Thomas. A number of years ago, the Missus put together a family tree for me and actually tracked down great-great-grandad's military files at the National Archives. They included his induction, promotions (he volunteered as a private, became a sergeant and then later a lieutenant), discharge and a beautiful copperplate handwritten leave request. All fascinating stuff.

According to this site, the area all around Kennesaw is being developed and many of the old battlefield works are being lost. However, if you scroll most of the way down the page, you'll see a photograph of the 10th Ohio's later position at Nickajack Creek.

UPDATE: It seems some guys have got together to recreate the 10th Ohio. Pretty cool. (I believe that one of them actually contacted me the last time I mentioned my affiliation, but there wasn't really much I could tell him.) According to their site, the gun pits I mention above appear to be being saved.