Georgia Natural Wonder #139 - Nickajack Gorge - Smyrna/Ruff Mill Line. 1,387

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #139 - Nickajack Gorge - Smyrna/Ruff Mill Line

Two more spots left on our Mountains to Classic South theme. We stay in Cobb County a little bit more as I got out last weekend to walk around this spot. On the Internet, I am discovering Heritage Park bringing you to this area, but I discovered it years ago when my Company van would not fit under the bridge. I have visited the Silver Comet Trail many times, so our Natural Wonder today is the Nickajack Gorge and that whole area around Ruff's Mill and the Concord Covered Bridge. We also do a tangent on the Civil War in Smyrna.


Dam and bridge trusses all antebellum.

It is all about the Nickajack Gorge and Nickajack Creek so we start there.



There is this great little tube rapid just under the Railroad Bridge.



Just hanging out on the Creek by this rapid is a wonderful spot.



Looking downstream.



Looking upstream.



Under the Silver Comet Bridge.



The Silver Comet Trail is named for the Silver Comet passenger train that traversed the same route from 1947 to 1969. Due to declining ridership, the Silver Comet was downgraded in the 1960s, losing its sleeper-lounger cars. In 1969, the Silver Comet was downgraded again and finally discontinued in June of that year.



Deck plate girder bridge over Nickajack Creek and Covered Bridge Road on Silver Comet Trail.



Walking across Gorge Bridge.



Looking off bridge into gorge.



The Silver Comet Trail begins in Smyrna, Georgia, runs west through Cobb, Paulding and Polk counties, and continues as Alabama's Chief Ladiga Trail at the state line.


You can see where the railroad was blasted out from solid rock.



The Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga trails join to form one continuous 94-mile trail from Smyrna, Georgia to Anniston, Alabama.



Neat how this bridge spans the East West Connector.


Looking north,


Looking south.

Both trails together form the second longest paved rail trail in the U.S.



What virus?



The Heritage Park Trail follows the Nickajack Creek along to the ruins of Concord Woolen Mill and Ruff's Mill.



Pretty trail along pretty creek.



The trail ends at the Ruff's Mill and the Concord Covered Bridge.

Funky trees along trail add to Natural Wonder of this spot.



Some fine photos taken.





Artsy TRD.



Biggest water feature is by Mill. TRD no gumption to angle down 20 foot embankment, so daughter's boyfriend took these.



Rope tied off to help you up and down bank to beach. Pretty good swimming hole for locals.



The ruins of the Concord Woolen Mills are situated near the north corner of  linear Heritage Park. 


TRD sneaks into a picture of the ruins of the side building.

Cobb County's Dept of Transportation protected the remaining structure with ghost framing.



I visited the area years ago with JMU Dawg.



The Concord Woolen Mill is located along Nickajack Creek and within the Concord Historic District.  The community located around the mill was named "Nickajack Factory" and was within close proximity of a community named Mill Grove.



Marin Luker Ruff and family moved to Cobb from Henry County in the 1830's.  About the same time, Robert Daniel, a great grandson of a colonial Governor of South Carolina, moved from Clarke County, GA.  The two men developed a complete mill community with a school, church and general store.  The Union Army destroyed the factory on July 4, 1864.  The Mill was rebuilt and began operations in 1869.  It was eventually sold by Ruff and Daniel in 1872.



The Daniell and Ruff’s Mill was built in the 1850’s as a grist mill. It is located adjacent to the Concord Covered Bridge and overlooks Nickajack Creek.



Ruff's Mill and Concord Covered Bridge, in Smyrna, Georgia, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.



Ruff's Mill and Concord Covered Bridge are historically and geographically related structures that constitute a small rural mill complex. They were built just before and shortly after the Civil War. They are located on a low, narrow rise of ground bordered on three sides by Nickajack Creek.



Centrally located in the complex is the Miller's House. It stands on a terraced promontory overlooking a bend in the nearby creek.



Built about 1850, the house is a variant of the Plantation Plain type of residence, with Victorian exterior alterations and twentieth-century interior renovations. The original part of the house displays the long, narrow, and tall arrangement of the Plantation Plain type; it originally contained five rooms (two front and three rear) and a central stair hall on the ground floor and two or three rooms upstairs, plus a front shed porch and a rear kitchen well. During the Victorian period the house was renovated. A projecting second-story room or office was added to the front, a porch with turned posts replaced an earlier porch, the kitchen may have been enlarged, windows were replaced with four-over-four double sash, and decorative motifs were applied to the gables. During the 1930s, the interior was thoroughly remodeled; first-floor partitions were largely removed, exposed ceiling beams were installed, new stone masonry fireplaces were built, and the stairway was relocated to a corner. More recently, the house has been enlarged with a two-story addition to the rear, which houses a kitchen, a bedroom, bathrooms, and utility spaces. Structurally, the original parts of the house contain a heavy timber frame with hand-hewn beams resting on field- stone foundations. Later additions feature balloon framing. The entire house is sheathed in weatherboards. The two end chimneys, apparently original, are built with field stone bases and brick stacks. The grounds around the house feature terraces, walks, field stone retaining walls, a concrete in-ground swimming pool, and remnants of formal landscaping carried out in the 1930s.



Approximately 100-150 feet north of the Miller's House, and contemporary with it, is Ruff's Mill. The mill is roughly square in plan and two stories high with a basement and gable roof. The exterior walls are built almost entirely of field stone masonry, although portions of the walls are framed. The west or front wall is roughly stuccoed. The gable ends are sheathed in board- and-batten siding; the roof is covered with sheet metal. Windows and doorways are framed with wood timbers. On the interior, the structure consists of a heavy timber frame and plank floors and ceilings. Some structural members are hand-hewn and pegged together; others are machine-sawed and nailed. The structure shows signs of extensive alterations. No waterpower or milling equipment remains in or around the structure, although the remains of the raceway, largely buried, can be discerned north of the mill. This raceway once connected to a dam and millpond above the covered bridge; the dam has been demolished and the millpond drained.



Approximately 300 feet northwest of the Miller's House is  the 1872 Concord Covered Bridge. It spans the Nickajack Creek just below the site of the dam. Rufff s Mill and Concord Covered Bridge are significant in historical archaeology and the history of Georgia's architecture, industry, military, landscaping and transportation. Taken together, the buildings and structures exemplify the integrated rural complex that was once common in Georgia but has largely disappeared. Taken individually, they represent the various types and styles of buildings and structures commonly associated with such rural complexes. The miller's house, gristmill and covered bridge, arranged along the banks of Nickajack Creek, give a representation of the character and appearance of a mid-to-late-nineteenth-century rural complex. Along with the ruins of the water-power system, the sites of other buildings and structures, and the property's historical associations, a fairly complete picture of this kind of rural complex can be visualized.



Martin L.  Ruff, Sr.  (1809-1876), was living in Henry County, Georgia, 50 miles south of this area when he won land in the 1832 Land Lottery of Georgia. The lottery opened this area, where the Cherokee Indians were soon to be re- moved, to white settlement. Ruff and his young family moved here shortly thereafter. It was not until 1856 that he purchased from Lacey W.  Griffith, a farmer who came from South Carolina in 1843, land lots 171, 190 and 191. The gristmill and miller's house are in lot 190 and part of lot 171; the covered bridge is in lot 171.



The industrial significance centers around the gristmill. The gristmill was probably already in existence when Ruff bought the land in 1856, but it became known as Ruff's Mill. It survived the Civil War battle that was fought here in the summer of 1864. The 1880 manufacturing census.indicates that the widow of Martin L,  Ruff ran the mill, employing one male hand and operating the mill 12 hours a day in the summer and 10 hours a day in the winter. A day's wages was $1.50 for an annual salary of  $234.00. Its maximum capacity was 80 bushels of wheat a day. The total yearly production was 3,000 bushels valued at $1.00 per bushel. She also produced corn meal and feed.



In the 1890s, the newspaper referred to  the "Concord Grist Mills" being rebuilt for merchant work in meal as well as  continuing to do custom work. The gristmill was later run by Asbury Martin as Martin Feed and Grain, ca. 1914-1930. When he sold out, he took the mill works with him to a new location. The two-story mill structure has been used for some social events since then, but now stands vacant and the millpond is drained.



The bridge is 133 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 13 feet high, with an eight-foot clearance. Its structure consists of wooden Queen post trusses fabricated from heart-pine timbers and iron rods; this original structure has been recently reinforced with two 12-inch steel I-beams. Thick wood planks, laid crosswise, with no runners, form the  floor of the bridge.



The sides are sheathed with vertical boarding. The roof is covered with sheet metal. The bridge rests on two stone masonry abutments, a central stone- masonry pier, and two intermediary concrete piers. The stone masonry supports are original and may date from an antebellum bridge at the same location; the concrete supports were added in 1965 to strengthen the bridge so that it could accommodate modern automobile traffic.



American Whitewater

Nickajack Creek, like all fall-line streams, drops over punctuated drops and rock ledges. Unfortunately, the water quality is poor and the ever present stream side sewer line occasionally overflows. In recent years, the increasing encroachment of metro Atlanta has paved much of the watershed. For boaters this has a remarkable benefit of producing float-able water levels immediately after big thunderstorms. Unlike Sweetwater Creek, this little stream does not crash through big formidable waterfalls, but the rapids are entertaining.



There are some problematic strainers. About a 1.5 mile run with two pretty good class III rapids that can be hiked and hucked multiple times because the hike is only about .5 miles. The float goes from the East West Connector down to about a mile past the Concord Woolen Mill ruins. The run is somewhat continuous class II with two class III rapids.



One of the class III's is directly under the Silver Comet Trail bridge (We covered that) and the other is around the bend downstream of the Covered Bridge (We showed that). It's all bedrock ledges and slides.



Internet shows Nickajack Falls on creek somewhere.



O.K. that was my Natural Wonder 54 images, so we have enough room to tangent on Civil War action on the Smyrna Ruff Mill Line.

Still dug in Kennesaw Mountain

Now we covered the Battle of Kennesaw mountain in our last post on Cheatham Hill (Dead Angle) GNW #138. Sherman wasted no time in unavailing regrets over the failure of the effort to break Johnston's lines, but frankly said that among the chances for and against successes, the unfavorable ones had prevailed. The enemy had been found vigilant and prepared to hold the works at all the points assailed. Even the demonstrations produced no results except on the Sandtown Road where Schofield's position got beyond Olley's Creek. He regarded it as really important, and described it as "the only advantage of the day." Probably this advantage would not have been attained but for the hot work along the line, which so thoroughly occupied Johnston that no detachments could be spared to help Jackson, whose cavalry was waging an unequal contest on the extreme flank. Not only was Schofield's infantry engaging them in front, but Stoneman's Cavalry was demonstrating in Powder Springs Village. 


George Stoneman Jr.

Sherman at once resumed the plan for the flank operations he had conceived before, and an inspection of the position occupied by Schofield's advance determined him to move McPherson's Army of the Tennessee boldly to the right flank, as soon as a few days supplies could be accumulated. The rains were over, and a scorching sun was rapidly drying up the more open country. A movement became daily more practicable.


Yankees drying out.

Johnston had not failed to see the fact that his position was already turned, and his engineers were already at work on the 28th with heavy details of the Georgia militia and of impressed African Americans, fortifying two lines north of the Chattahoochee River. One of these crossed the railroad at Smyrna on a ridge running northeast and southwest, but which about three miles from Smyrna on his left curved south, following the line of Nickajack Creek. The other was closer to the river covering about two miles of the railroad on the hither side of the Chattahoochee River Bridge, which was in a deep southerly bend of the river. On the northeast it was protected by the deep ravine of Rottenwood Creek which enters the Chattahoochee with a southeast course. Turning nearly at right angles, the line then, crossing a ridge, reached the Nickajack Creek again, which here runs for several miles above its mouth nearly parallel to the Chattahoochee and about a mile distant from it. 

July 2nd, 1864

The Confederate forces under General Johnston withdrew from their Kennesaw Line the night of July 2-3. We covered the capture of Marietta with GNW#133 (Part 3). The Rebels took up a new position at a double line of breastwork, prepared in advance, running from the old Smyrna Camp Ground east of the R.R. From this point, the Confederate line ran east to Nickajack Creek, south of Ruff´s Mill. Maj. Gen. William W. Loring's Corp on the right, Lieutenant General William J. Hardee's Corp held the center and Lieutenant General John B. Hood's Corp held the left. This line become known as the Smyrna-Ruff Mill line.


William Wing Loring and  William Joseph Hardee

The battles and troop movements in and around Smyrna (at Smyrna Camp Ground, Ruff's Mill, and at the River Line fortifications) were far more important and decisive than is generally recognized. General Francis Asbury Shoup's two defensive barriers constructed in South Cobb---the Smyrna Line and the River Line (the latter dubbed by historians "The Maginot Line of the Confederacy"); the near death experience of General William Tecumseh Sherman, not once, but twice here in Smyrna and the likely consequences had Sherman been killed on our home turf; the critical importance of the W&A railroad in the Atlanta Campaign as a line of supply for the federal army; and finally, how the conquest of Atlanta and the collapse of the Confederacy were virtual certainties once Sherman's federal juggernaut breached that last great physical barrier on the road to Atlanta, the Chattahoochee River. 


"The Maginot Line of the Confederacy" To be covered next post.

July 3rd 1864

SHERMAN'S HEADQUARTERS, July 3, 1864.
General THOMAS:

I have sent Audenried to you, telling that Stoneman's cavalry has pursued the enemy across the Chattahoochee near Campbellton. Schofield reports all quiet in his front, and I have ordered him to cross Nickajack Creek. I want you with your entire army to follow substantially the main army till he is across the Chattahoochee or makes a stand. McPherson will occupy Marietta and Kennesaw until further developments, and Garrard's cavalry will feel over toward Roswell Factory.

W. T. SHERMAN,Major-General.


Smyrna Ruff Mill Line.

The Confederate forces under General Johnston withdrew from their Kennesaw Line the night of July 2-3 and took up a new position at a double line of breastwork, prepared in advance, running from the old Smyrna Camp Ground east of the R.R. From this point, the Confederate line ran east to Nickajack Creek, south of Ruff´s Mill. Maj. Gen. William W. Loring's Corp on the right.


The Extended Right Marker is at the intersection of Concord Road SW and Hicks Road SW, on the right when traveling east on Concord Road SW. Marker is difficult to see, at the right of the intersection.



HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, In the Field, Marietta, Ga., July 3, 1864-6.45 p.m.
General THOMAS:

The more I reflect the more I know Johnston's halt is to save time to cross his material and men. No general, such, as he, would invite battle with the Chattahoochee behind him. I have ordered McPherson and Schofield to cross Nickajack at any cost and work night and day to get the enemy started in confusion toward his bridges. I know you appreciate the situation. We will never have such a chance again, and I want you to impress on Hooker, Howard, and Palmer the importance of the most intense energy of attack to-night and in the morning and to press with vehemence at any cost of life and material. Every inch of his line should be felt and the moment there is a give, pursuit should be made-by day with lines, but by night with a single head of column and section of artillery to each corps, following a road. Hooker should communicate with McPherson by a circuit if necessary and act in concert. You know what loss would ensue to Johnston if he crosses his bridges at night in confusion with artillery thundering at random in his rear. I have reason to know that if our head of column had marched for Ruff's instead of Marietta we would have cut off 2,000 men and 300 wagons. But still we have now the best chance ever offered, of a large army fighting at a disadvantage with a river to his rear. Send copies of this to Hooker, Palmer and Howard. I have instructed Schofield, McPherson, and Garrard.

Yours, W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General, Commanding.


Mable House used as hospital.


The Mable House Marker is on Floyd Road (Georgia Route 139) 0.1 miles north of Clay Road, on the right when traveling north. The marker is barely visible to the right.

Today's battle line continued when Lieutenant General William J. Hardee Corps held the center and Leiut. Gen. John B. Hood's Corp the left. This line become known as the Smyrna-Ruff Mill line.


The Smyrna Ruff Mill Line Marker is missing. It stood at intersection of Old Concord Road and Concord Road. It read in part - July 3, 1864. Johnston´s army, retreating from Kennesaw, took position in a double line of breastworks, prepared in advance, along this road -- the right, E. of the State R.R.; the left at Nickajack Cr., S. of Ruff´s Mill. From right to left were: Loring's, Hardee´s & Hood´s corps [CS].



MOSS' HOUSE, July 3, 1864-10.30 a.m.
Major-General SCHOFIELD, Commanding Corps:

GENERAL: I have advanced a regiment in front of Colonels Strickland's and Hobson's brigades and General Smith had advanced two regiments on the road toward Watson's house, and two on the Ruff's Station road. My regiment in front of Colonel Strickland soon encountered the enemy's cavalry skirmishers, but drove them back to the vicinity of Nickajack Creek; Colonel Hobson's regiment not yet heard from. General Smith's two regiment on the Ruff's Station road encountered the enemy in considerable force, and found more difficulty in pressing him back. They have two or three pieces of artillery already operating on the Ruff's Station road. General Smith's regimental commanders report that a strong line of infantry skirmishers are advancing against them on the Ruff's Station road, backed by a line of infantry. This may be so, or it may be dismounted cavalry.

If it is infantry, an attack here is not improbable. I am by no means certain that it is infantry. General Smith and myself thought we could not develop much by advancing our skirmishers simply, so left them where they were, and made the dispositions already described. General Smith's force on the Watson house road have encountered nothing but cavalry, and are now about a mile and a half in advance; skirmishing with the cavalry somewhat brisk. Artillery firing is heard in that direction, but it may be our artillery with General Stoneman. The enemy's earth-works are visible from our advanced position, and are probably beyond Nickajack Creek.

Yours, respectfully,MILO S. HASCALL.
Brigadier-General of Volunteers, Commanding Division.


Milo Smith Hascall

The Battle of Smyrna Camp Ground took place on July 3 and the Battle of Ruff's Mill at Nickajack Creek occurred on July 4. Most of the buildings in the area were burned by Sherman's troops. Notable exceptions were the Smyrna Academy which served as a Confederate and Union hospital, Ruff's Mill, the Ruff family home and the Gann House.


Smyrna Academy demolished 1950's.


Ruff Mill.

The South Cobb phase of the Atlanta Campaign was more significant than is generally recognized. The fighting on the Smyrna Line (the Battles of Smyrna Camp Ground and Ruff's Mill) were the last pitched battles fought before the fateful crossing of the Chattahoochee River. Once that important physical barrier was breached by the contending armies, the fall of Atlanta was virtually certain. The Smyrna Line and the River Line were thus the last opportunities to significantly delay Sherman's advance on Atlanta. 


Gann House, Smyrna’s oldest extant residence, was constructed in 1841 by Captain John Gann, Cobb County’s first state senator.

In the first week of July 1864, it was commandeered as quarters for Union officers just prior to the Battle of Atlanta. Executing the punitive “razed earth” policy of Gen. William T. Sherman, the officers torched the house as they were preparing to depart. Gann family lore relates that a superior officer galloping by on his horse spotted a Masonic banner being waved from a window and immediately ordered the flames extinguished. The house—and old Capt. Gann in his wooden wheelchair—survived Sherman’s merciless March to the Sea. Scorched timbers atop the stone foundations were discovered during the recent restoration work.


Gann House is Boxwood Gardens now.

Until now, the Battle of Smyrna Camp Ground has simmered as an untold and unanalyzed potential turning point in the Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Had the Confederates succeeded in significantly delaying the progress of Union forces with a strong stand at the Chattahoochee River, they might, at the very least, have slowed down the advance of Sherman's federal juggernaut long enough to change the results of the November 1864 presidential election, in which Lincoln's Democratic opponent, General George B. McClellan, was committed to a negotiated settlement. A McClellan victory in that election would almost certainly have saved the Confederacy.


1800's map of Smyrna.

Another potential game changer was the possible death of General Sherman on the Smyrna Line, and the impact his death might have had on the Atlanta campaign. Sherman was almost killed in the Smyrna area not once, but twice. It almost happened when the Confederate soldiers opened fire on the Federal commander and his officers in the woods near Windy Hill (described in detail in General Oliver Otis Howard's memoirs). Confederate artillery opened fire on a house that Sherman was visiting (which oral tradition identifies as a house on Gilbert Street) resulting in a second near-death experience which is briefly described in Sherman's memoirs. The death of Sherman could have changed everything.

 
Smyrna was was originally Smyrna Campground around the Methodist Church as seen through the years.

Ok, there were two actual battles on July 3rd. The first one took place at Windy Hill and Atlanta Road. This was the Battle of Smyrna Church yard. Sherman was all in a hurry to catch Johnston before he crossed the Chattahoochee, not realizing he was entrenched on this side of the river still just in Smyrna Church campground. Smyrna was not an official town then. The Rebels had built a seven sided fort right at Atlanta Road and Windy Hill just north of Hawthorne. Sherman was riding forward against General Howard's advice and suddenly his group came under an unceasing fire from several batteries at unexpected points. Shells were exploding at the very place he was at. He moved from tree to tree back to the rear. He said "Howard, you were right"


Sherman went back to this house on Dixie Avenue, just north of present day Barrow Wrecker Service. 
 
The house seems to have been extensively remodeled and looks condemned now. That day it was struck several times by cannon balls and was "perfectly riddled" with musket balls. This was Sherman's hat from that day on display at the Smithsonian.


Just a few inches lower and Smyrna would have been on the map as a possible Civil War Turning point with the death of Sherman. 

This was where the Grouse Brigade was battling Patrick Cleburne. This is the Williams Park Neighborhood established in 1872 along old Smyrna Roswell Street. While Sherman didn't destroy much in Smyrna, he did demolish the Dempsy farm house and chopped down 30 acres of timber to reinforce Union entrenchments. He also made it a point to burn down the Concord Mills the next day off Nickajack Creek. 


Old ruins of Concord Mills in 1940’s


He didn't burn down the superintendent's house over there. 

Rebel report.

Hard to read anything on Johnston thoughts and strategy by his reports, kinda short and dry. 

SMYRNA CHURCH, July 3, 1864.
General BRAXTON BRAGG:

The extension of the enemy's intrenched line several miles nearer the Chattahoochee than our left has compelled us to fall back about six miles to this point near Smyrna Church Camp.

J. E. JOHNSTON.

The 2nd main battle today was up on Windy Hill Road about where it crosses Highway 41, Cobb Parkway. There Union general David Sloan Stanley reported getting on a Wooded Hill and quickly being attacked and having to barricade. They made a bloody repulse of some Georgia troops. A Lt. Col. Watson lead the 40th Ohio vs. the 54th Georgia under a Captain Taylor.


Stanley.

The 54th Georgia Volunteer Infantry was organized at Savannah, Georgia on May 16 1862. men were recruited in the counties of Lamar, Appling, Harris, Muscogee, Bartow, Chatham, Emanuel and Barrow. The company served the Confederacy as a defensive company on the coast around Savannah. They were on duty at Battery Wagner during the assault the 54th Massachusetts. Then in 1863 they joined the Army of Tennessee at Dalton, GA.


54th vs. 54th. Georgia troops didn't get no damn movie.

The Georgia men did overrun their left but the 99th Ohio faced them up after a shift right. The Union men did lose 250 here and the South almost that many also. Now some of these battles carried over to the next day. The whole battle lasted 36 hours.


Can't find anything about the battle, but I always notice this Hargrove House Marker on Windy Hill Road 0.1 miles east of North Park Place NW, on the right when traveling east. The marker is just inside a heavy fence enclosing the Hargrove Family Cemetery.


Blink and you will miss it.
 
July 4th, 1864

Federal forces attacked both ends of the Smyrna Line today. The Smyrna Line extended to the northeast along the today Smyrna Roswell Road and Windy Hill Road down to Rottenwood Creek, just east of I-75. To the Southwest the line extended across present day Smyrna, then along Concord Road, continuing to Cooper Lake Road where it turned southeast to near Nickajack Creek. Smyrna campground founded in 1833, was a Methodist retreat and meeting place used by all denominations. It was located just to the west of the Atlanta Wagon Road and the Western and Atlantic Railroad. There was no Depot there, just a stop in the train if flagged down. Much of the campground was just in front of the Confederate lines. It was pretty much at the center of the line. 



The Smyrna Line was actually two parallel lines, typically about 100 yards apart. They were trenches and earthen fortifications for infantry and artillery emplacements. There was a large heavily armed earthen fort just in front of the line, apparently on the west side of the wagon road. Confederate General Loring's troops were along the east side of the railroad. Loring had just taken command when Polk was killed back on the 14th of June. General Hardee was on the west side of the railroad. Hood was covering the southwest end. The east flank was covered by Joseph Wheeler's Cavalry. The west or left flank along the Nickajack Creek was protected by General John William's Cavalry and General G.W. Smith's 1st Division Georgia Militia. Much of the Smyrna Line was formed on militarily defensible high ground along a series of ridges. Unfortunately virtually nothing of the line remains today as the area has been thoroughly plowed under for agriculture or built up with houses and businesses. 



The singular notable feature of the line was the fort best described in the words of a reporter from the New York Tribune who was traveling with Sherman's troops. He said "On the Marietta Road proper is cleared space of some twenty acres, where, on a rise of land, they have a regular fort, septagon in shape, one hundred feet in diameter in the inside with embrasures commanding every point on the compass." The he states that "The fort is about 250 yards in front of the main line. On the road, the work is particularly strong, and has embrasures for seven guns on one side, and four on the other, sweeping the road." The walls were likely 15 feet thick as that was the accepted thickness of dirt to stop a typical cannonball fired at close range. There was undoubtedly one or more protected trench accesses back into the main line. This large artillery studded fort, and the extensive fortifications along the Smyrna Line , made the overall Confederate Position quite strong, as General Sherman was soon to discover.


Yankee troops in colorized image of captured Confederate Fort in Atlanta.
                                                                                                                                                                         
Union troops occupied Marietta on the 3rd and quickly headed straight south toward the Smyrna Campground with General Oliver Howard's troops down the east of the railroad and General John Palmer's troops down the west side. They had no idea what was just in front. Early on the morning of July 4th, the Federals made first contact with the picket line about 8/10 of a mile north of Smyrna Campground, across from present day Belmont Hills Shopping Center. Howard's advance slowed as a number of Confederate skirmishers were killed or captured. Sherman rode forward to see what the slowdown was. Howard tried to convince him that a large force of some sort laid just ahead. Sherman said to Howard "You are mistaken; there is no force in front of you; they are laughing at you."


Battle of Smyrna Marker is on Atlanta Road SE, on the left when traveling south. At the Smyrna Railroad Station.



Howard replied "Well General, let us see." With that Howard pressed his soldiers forward as one. The 75th Illinois Infantry Regiment of Grouse's Brigade led the charge across a large cornfield. They drove back the remaining pickets and took a number of prisoners. Then suddenly, they were met by a "Sheet of lead" that came from the hidden fort and Confederate trenches. Unseen batteries hurled shot after shot into their lines. They had suddenly met General Patrick Cleburn's famous Division at the main Smyrna Line. Fire from the fort would have been particularly devastating as it was enfilading fire into the exposed side of the attackers. This was all quite a 4th of July surprise for General Sherman as the Federal attack was repulsed with heavy losses, including the commander of the 75th Illinois. Many of the federal troops were forced to seek whatever cover they could find in front of the Confederate works as they were totally exposed if they tried to retreat. Few were able to get back to a grove of trees. This was where Sherman had to go from tree to tree and back to the house we showed yesterday. He later told Howard that his report of a strong force was "indeed correct". 



Sherman's goal in this battle, was only to hold the Confederates until Generals McPherson and Schofield could get into position below him at the Chattahoochee crossings. Sherman would later say that he came close to being shot there, and Cobb County legend has it that the general suffered a complete demolishment of his hat. Howard failed to break the Confederate line. Both sides kept up intermittent musket and cannon firing for some time into the afternoon. 
 
HEADQUARTERS FOURTH CORPS, Near Neal Dow Station, July 4, 1864-8.20 p.m.
Major-General THOMAS:

GENERAL: In accordance with your instructions, General Stanley strengthened his skirmish line and pushed it rapidly across the open corn-field in his front, taking the rebel rifle-pits, under a severe artillery and infantry fire. He immediately moved forward his main line and covered it by a barricade. Later in the day Generals Newtown and Wood seized portions of the enemy's skirmish line, and have established their main line facing the same open field across which General Stanley advanced. The conduct of the troops in the charge to-day could not be surpassed. We have taken 88 prisoners, 3 of whom are officers. General King moved upon our right in conjunction with Stanley and intrenched important heights on the right. Our losses about 95 wounded according to hospital report this afternoon.

O. O. HOWARD,


Oliver Otis Howard always worth a tangent link. Father of Howard University.

Concurrent with this attack, on Concord Road, General Greenville Dodge approached the Smyrna Line near present day Hurt Road. He was facing General Hood's troops. Hood was still at his headquarters along present day South Cobb Drive.


The Alexander Eaton House: Hood's Headquarters Marker is on South Cobb Drive (Georgia Route 280) 0.1 miles south of King Springs Road, on the right when traveling north.


The marker in front of the Emory Adventist Hospital.


Alexander Eaton House.

General Grenville Mellen Dodge had crossed Nickajack Creek by Ruff's Mill earlier that day. There had been some skirmishing near the Ruff family cemetery, where they drove the Confederate pickets out of their positions. He had then ordered an assault on the Smyrna Line about 300 yards away at present day Concord Road and Hurt Road, but countermanded his order when he suddenly had second thoughts. The assault troops then waited on the ground for hours in the hot sun. One division commander complained that "More men will be lost by sunstroke then bullets." 


Hood's Corps at Battle of Ruff's Mill Marker is at the intersection of Concord Road SE and Hurt Road SE, on the right when traveling west on Concord Road SE. Looking west on Concord Road, toward Ruff's Mill and the Concord Covered Bridge.


Looking up Hurt Road.

Eventually, at about 6PM, the order was given and Fuller's troops, a column of six regiments from Dodge's Sixteenth Corps led by Colonel E.F. Noyes (39th Ohio Infantry) attacked an advanced position near this angle. More than 80 quickly fell in a short charge against General Carter Stevenson's Division. Gen. Fuller´s men, supported by Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Sweeny´s 2nd division succeeded in capturing the first line of breastworks and about 100 prisoners, but they left way more dead men than the Confederates did. General Edward Follansbee Noyes actually lost a leg in this battle. He went on to be the 30th Governor of Ohio and US Minister to France.


Shot in the ankle, took his leg.

The Confederates thinking Fuller would charge again had simply fallen back to the 2nd trench of the Smyrna Line. McPherson decided not to press the action anymore and by early nightfall the action at the Smyrna Camp Ground and the Ruff's Mill came to a close. The fight was over, another Confederate victory, in the action that was known as the battle of Ruff's Mill. 


Battle of Ruff's Mill Marker is on Concord Road SW 0.1 miles east of Covered Bridge Road, on the right when traveling east. The buildings barely visible in the background are Ruff's Mill and the miller's home. 



Here we find General McPherson's report.

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT AND ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,Near Ruff's Mill, Ga., July 4, 1864-8.45 p.m
Major-General SHERMAN: Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL; In pursuance of your instructions at daybreak this morning I directed Major-General Dodge to take his entire command and push across Nickajack Creek at Ruff's Mill, General Blair to send two regiments and a section of artillery, supported by Stoneman's cavalry, from Widow Mitchell's down to Nickajack, near Turner's Ferry. Dodge moved across and ran against Stevenson's division, and as he developed his lines captured a few prisoners from each division of Hood's corps. I sent over Morgan L. Smith's division, and General Schofield sent in an brigade on Dodge's left to try and communicate with Hooker. As soon as the troops were over and in position, I directed Dodge to strengthen his skirmish line, so as to make it almost equivalent to a line of battle, especially over rough ground, and to assault the enemy's rifle-pits. The order was gallantry executed, the works taken, and some 50 prisoners captured; our loss not heavy; Colonel Noyes; Thirty-ninth Ohio, severely wounded. This gives Dodge a position about one mile and a quarter east of Nickajack Creek. He has one brigade of Schofield on his left, and Morgan L. Smith's division on his right and rear. The cavalry and infantry demonstration on the Turner's Ferry road reached a point, as they think, half a mile* from Nickajack and found it tolerably well fortified, with four guns in position.                                   

This brought the infantry to a halt, and they have not advanced since. They will, however, hold all the ground they have gained, and be ready to try the strength of the enemy's works, if it is deemed desirable. I have about 15,000 men across the creek with Dodge, and Logan's two divisions (Osterhaus' and Harrow's) in reserve at the forks of the road. They got in late and completely worn out. I do not think more than half of the divisions arrived.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JAS. B. McPHERSON, Major-General.


James Birdseye McPherson only 18 more days to live.

Unfortunately for the Confederates , Maj. Gen. Francis Preston Blair Jr. and his 17th AC of the Army of the Tennessee (USA) was able to drive Maj. Gen. Gustavus Woodson Smith (CSA) Georgia Militia and Brig. Gen. Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross (CSA) and his Texas Cavalry Brigade back toward Smyrna at fight further south west. We see the report of general Ross below. With his left threatened, General Johnston (CSA) was forced to retreat to a prepared position west of the Chattahoochee at the Railroad Crossing. Johnston abandoned the Smyrna position during the night and withdrew to the river.


Advance of the 17th A.C. Toward the River Marker is at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Highway (U.S. 78) and Harding Drive, on the right when traveling west on Veterans Memorial Highway.



HDQRS. ROSS' BRIGADE, JACKSON'S CAVALRY DIVISION, In the Field, Ga., July 4, 1864-3 p. m.
Brigadier-General JACKSON,Commanding Division:

GENERAL: My command has just repulsed, and then charged in brilliant style, a heavy column of infantry at least one brigade strong, driving them pell-mell for half a mile, running them back on their battery, and forcing them to draw off to keep it from falling into our hands. The flag bearers of two of my regiments were shot down. My loss is not very heavy.

GENERAL: The enemy is moving around my left flank, and are now very near the road leading to General Armstrong's headquarters. I have not learned what force is thus flanking me. My skirmishers are being forced back by cavalry, and cannot discover what is in its rear. My position here is now no longer tenable, as I have no protection either on the right or left. I am moving back.

I am, general, very respectfully, &c., 

L. S. ROSS, Brigadier-General, &c.

 
Father of Texas A & M - Will place coins on his boots when UGA travels out there finally.

Sherman didn't think much of the Smyrna Campground and Ruff's Mill as he later characterized the engagement as a noisy but desperate battle. However battles have casualties and this one was no exception. Federal losses were 373 killed or wounded while Johnston lost only about 100. 

In our Smyrna theme, I present Smirnoff GNW Gals.


It leaves you breathless.