Georgia Natural Wonder #153 - Kingston - Cassville (Part 2). 1,333

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #153 - Kingston - Cassville (Part 2)

Having finished our Caves of Georgia theme with the Kingston Salt Peter Cave GNW #153 (Part 1), we were going to do a tangent on Bartow County, but it was rather large and we note many other places in Bartow County that could deserve mention as separate Wonders. So as a tangent to just the cave, we are going to do a tangent on Kingston and the ghost town of Cassville to start us off on Bartow County. I had done a Civil War history exploration of both towns and created a document with lots of personal images today.


Kingston, Ga. as presented in Harper' Weekly in 1864. Kingston was the junction of the Rome RR and the Western & Atlantic RR.

Kingston is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, United States. The population was 637 at the 2010 census.



Georgia State Route 293 (Kingston Highway) passes through the center of town, leading southeast 11 miles to Cartersville and west 13 miles to Rome. U.S. Route 411 is a four-lane highway that passes 1 mile south of Kingston, connecting the same two larger communities.

History

Native American tribes once inhabited the area. People of the Mississippian culture were in the vicinity until about 1500 AD. Cherokee removal occurred locally by 1838. White settlers were moved in as early as 1832, after a land lottery. The city was named for John Pendleton King, a United States Senator from Georgia. He was elected in 1833 as a Jacksonian (later Democrat) to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George M. Troup. He was reelected in 1834 and served from November 21, 1833, until November 1, 1837, when he resigned.


John Pendleton King

After his time in politics, King became president of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company, serving from 1841 to 1878. He worked as a railroad promoter and cotton manufacturer. He acquired large plantation holdings and by 1860 owned 69 slaves to work the cotton fields and related trades. He was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1865. King is the namesake of the city of Kingston, Georgia. Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Georgia is named for his grandson, John Pendleton King II, who died at age 29 of a brain aneurysm.


John Pendleton King II

John Pendleton King II. He was called Pendleton and grew up on the family estate. Pendleton, also an Oxford graduate, became a writer and poet, as well as an Army Liaison Officer in Paris, France during WWI. In 1918 he was cited for bravery and awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government. He is also the grandson of one of the most influential men in Georgia history - John Pendleton King (1799-1888), a judge and a member of the US Senate (1833-1837), who helped develop the Georgia Railroad, the Georgia Railroad Bank, the Augusta Canal and the King Mill in Augusta. Around 1912, while Pendleton (II) was overseas, the family home burned. Workmen preparing to paint the house used blowtorches to soften the old paint, and fire from the blowtorches got underneath the clapboards. The house burned to the ground. Henry and Elizabeth moved into a Sand Hills cottage on the estate and waited for Pendleton to return with the expectation he would rebuild the family mansion. Pendleton was discharged from the Army in 1919 and returned to Augusta. Three weeks after returning home, he heard screams coming from Lake Elizabeth. He discovered two women drowning; he managed to save one of the women, but the other drowned. Shortly after the accident, Pendleton became ill and died of a probable brain aneurysm. He was only 29 years old. His parents were heartbroken and never rebuilt the mansion. In his will, Henry Barclay King designated 64 acres of the plantation as a bird sanctuary in memory of his beloved Pendleton. Pendleton King Park, a 64-acre historic jewel in the center of Augusta, began with John Pendleton King II.



On April 12, 1862, James J. Andrews with 18 Union soldiers in disguise, and 1 civilian, having seized the locomotive The General at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) intending to wreck the Western and Atlantic Railroad, were forced to side-track here and wait for the southbound freights to pass.


The historic side tracks from that day.

After a long delay The General continued north. Pursuing from Big Shanty, William Allen Fuller (conductor) led a crew which used a push-car and other means and eventually caught the hijackers.


Hendrix sneaks into a picture of historic tracks. See earlier post on Marietta but mainly GNW #136 because of the Kennesaw City tangent, for more details on the Andrews Raiders.


Main track and downtown.

250 Confederate and two Union soldiers died of wounds, disease and sickness in the Confederate hospitals located in Kingston during 1862–1864.



These men were wounded in the battles of Perryville Kentucky, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and in the Dalton to Kingston Campaign.



The patients were moved to Atlanta in May 1864 to avoid capture by the Union, who later used the hospitals. The dead are buried in unmarked graves nearby. There are even two Union Soldiers in here.



Dramatic Confederate Cemetery in Kingston.


Main monument and marker.

TRD panoramic Kingston Confederate Cemetery.



Atlanta Campaign

Union General William T. Sherman made his headquarters in the Hargis House May 16–19, for reorganization of forces in the campaign that would end at Atlanta.




Hargis House then and today.

Assuming Joseph Johnston's army had moved, from Adairsville, directly on Kingston and the river crossings south, May 18, led Sherman to concentrate his forces here—only to discover that Johnston had gone directly to Cassville where, without making a stand, he continued to Allatoona on May 20. Sherman countered on May 23, by moving due south.


Local School project that ended up in museum showing Yankees camped in Kingston for so long.

On May 18, 1864, Lieutenant General William J. Hardee's corps marched from Adairsville on the road parallel to the Western and Atlantic Railroad en route to Cass Station.



He turned east on this road to join General Leonidas Polk's and John Bell Hood's Confederate corps at Cassville which had moved on the direct Adairsville - Cassville Road. Sherman erred when he assumed that all of Johnston's army had marched from Adairsville, as Hardee had, to Kingston.



This resulted in his ordering his forces concentrated here—discovering later that the Confederates were 5.5 miles east at Cassville and not at the Etowah River south of Kingston.


Exhibits at local museum.

On May 19 Union generals Daniel Butterfield and Joseph Hooker, the new XX Corps, were headquartered at the house of Confederate Colonel Hawkins F. Price, a state senator who had voted for Georgia secession in 1861. Hooker had been ordered from Adairsville to Kingston, on false reports that Johnston had retreated there. South of the Price house Hooker discovered that Johnston had gone to Cassville.



On May 19, 1864, the IV Corps, followed by the XIV Corps, reached Kingston at 8 a.m. The IVth turned east to Cassville. A division of the XIVth sent to Gillem's bridge over the Etowah River found no retreating Confederates. Johnston's forces were at Cassville, 5.5 miles east. General James B. McPherson's XV Corps and XVI Corps, moving south from Barnsley's, camped on Woolley's plantation 2 miles  west. The IV Corps, XX Corps and XXIII Corps were at Cassville.



May 19, 1864, McPherson's army (XVth & XVIth Corps) marched from Barnsley's and camped on the Woolley Plantation. This right wing of Sherman's advance, Kingston to Dallas, crossed the river, heading south, on Woolley's Bridge over the Etowah River, May 23.



On October 11, 1864, while encamped on the Woolley Plantation, the Ohio soldiers of the XXIII Corps voted in a state election.


Kingston Depot then and today.

In 1864, a road southward from Wooley's Bridge (Etowah River) crossed the road near this point and ran to Van Wert (Rockmart) and Dallas. This was the route of Union McPherson's Army of the Tennessee (XVth and XVIth Corps), the right wing of forces under Sherman moving from Kingston to the Dallas front, May 23 and 24. At that time, the church stood at the northwestern angle of the crossroads. Another edifice was erected on the site of the present structure, .75 miles eastward.



Sherman's forces encamped until May 23, when advance across the Etowah River began. Then Kingston and Cassville were occupied until November 1864 when the March to the Sea orders originated here.



End of the Civil War

The first Decoration Day, or Memorial Day, was observed in Kingston in late April 1865, and has been a continuous observance here since that day, the only such record held by any community in this nation. The first Decoration Day was observed while Union troops still occupied the town, flowers being placed on both Confederate and Union graves that day.



In 2014, Bellware and Gardiner dismissed this claim in The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America. They point out that the timing of the observance and locations of General Judah and Wofford during April 1865 make the claim questionable.


Neat little Civil War History Museum. Gals have cardboard cut out of mom who ran museum for years.

On May 12, 1865, Confederate Brigadier General William T. Wofford surrendered 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers to Union Brigadier General Henry M. Judah.


Wofford and Judah.

These were the last significant Confederate regulars to surrender east of the Mississippi. These were mostly Georgians, not paroled in Virginia, North Carolina, and elsewhere.



During final negotiations, Gen. Wofford's headquarters were at the McCravey - Johnson residence on Church Street.


Civil War surrender house was for sale few years back.

General Judah's headquarters were at Spring Bank, the home of the Rev. Charles Wallace Howard, 2 miles north of Kingston. Rations were supplied to the Confederate soldiery by the Federal commissary.






Woo, found this image of Spring Bank.

Big old tree Spring Bank property. After-all, this is a Natural Wonder Forum.





Landmarks

Kingston Museum

Kingston has a small museum and several historical landmarks related to the Civil War and to the Native American tribes which once lived there.



Kingston Saltpeter Cave, located south of the city, is the largest cave in Bartow County and was used by the Confederacy to produce gunpowder during the Civil War. It is closed to public access.



Other Kingston area historic markers:

Kingston Methodist Church. The original Methodist church, with another name at another location, was built in 1845. It was rebuilt in Kingston in 1854, and dedicated by Rev. Lovick Pierce. It was the only church remaining after Sherman's march through Kingston. It opened its doors to all denominations. It also served as Kingston's schoolhouse for many years.



Old Macedonia Church, organized 1847



Kingston Baptist Church, part of driving tour of Kingston.



TRD Deep Dive Civil War Kingston

Battle of Kingston


Antebellum Homes near Kingston.

May 19.--Head of column moved forward at 5 a.m., marching on the direct road to Kingston, Major-General Stanley's division leading, Wood's following, then Newton's. Very little skirmishing on the road as far as Kingston. 8 a.m., one-half of a mile beyond the town met a force of the enemy posted on a ridge running at right angles with the road; appeared to be cavalry and infantry. Citizens report Cheatham's division to be there. They opened six guns upon us and a brisk skirmish fire. Stanley's division went into line of battle. 8.30, advance of the line was ordered, and at same time Wood was ordered up as a support. The line was advanced and the enemy retired. 



9 a.m., was ordered by General Sherman to advance down the road leading to Etowah, four miles to a point near an old mill, where the road and railroad crosses, then to go into camp. 12 m., arrived at a point within one-half mile of said mill, where we met the enemy drawn up in line of battle. 


Bridge over Etowah River.

At least one division could be seen, with breast-works of rails. At once commenced to form in line of battle on some ridges that run at right angles to the road. In our front, extending about one mile from the base of the ridge, were broad, open fields; on the other side of these were the enemy's lines. One-fourth of a mile from the road, on our left, the ridge runs down to the railroad and a creek that runs perpendicular to it. On this creek our left rested. On the right of the road the ridge extended a little in front of our left, and then swept off to our right, and, in a short distance, turned to our rear. Stanley's division was on the left; then Wood's. Newton's division followed the railroad, and went into position on our left. 



250 dead in Kingston.



12.45, an aide-de-camp reported from Major-General Thomas (who had been informed of our situation) that Palmer's corps was coming up, and he would take care of our right. 1.10 p.m., General Newton was directed to relieve General Wood's brigade on his extreme left, and to supply its place by a brigade from his own division. 1.30, opened artillery on the enemy. 2 p.m., advanced a strong reserve line for the support of the skirmish line. The enemy at once commenced to retreat, and at same hour (2 p.m.) Stanley and Wood were ordered to advance. They had not proceeded more than one-fourth of a mile when Major-General Thomas ordered them to halt until Newton could mass on our left, on the opposite side of the creek, and drive out the forces that could be seen in the woods that appeared to be turning our left flank. 2.45, orders were given to Newton for said movement, and it was consummated. 3.50, advance commenced. The enemy was driven by us. We again took up the march in column, and again met the enemy one mile beyond his first position at 5.30 p.m. 



Kingston Antebellum Homes.



Halted and formed line of battle. 5.40 p.m., General Sherman ordered General Howard to put thirty or forty pieces of artillery in position; form two or three brigades in line of battle; then to shell the woods in our front vigorously; afterward feel the enemy. 4.50, artillery fire commenced. 6.30, firing ordered to cease and skirmishers ordered forward, followed by main lines, Wood on right and connecting with Baird's division, Fourteenth Corps; Stanley on Wood's left, and Newton yet on the left, connecting with Stanley; Newton connecting with General Geary's division, of Hooker's corps, having formed such connection at about 5.30 p.m. 



The line advanced, trying to move to Cassville. Skirmishing very heavy and progress quite slow. 7 p.m., a halt was ordered by Major-General Thomas, and he instructed General Howard to adjust his 1ines and remain in present position for the night. Were then within one mile of Cassville. Passed through fine rolling country to-day. Many cultivated fields. Heavy timber and undergrowth skirted the road the greater part of the way. Day warm and clear, and roads dusty. Eight or 10 men killed and 35 wounded to-day. 



The whole of Johnston's force was before us at Cassville. Hooker advanced down a road that came in on our left, and was to connect with us there. The enemy thought to strike him before we got up. The enemy had strong rifle-pits and works, and Johnston had published an order to his troops saying that he would make his fight there; this the night before we arrived.

Postwar

Not a lot has happened in Kingston since the Civil War, at least not much reported on line.


Vintage images of Kingston Home and Women's Club at Museum.


Victorian Homes of Kingston from drive around.


I did take this photo of this vintage gas station in Kingston. American Pickers took the glass pump.:F

Cassville

In our effort to be comprehensive on Bartow County, we add this about the main city of former Cass County.



Cassville is an unincorporated community in Bartow County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was originally the county seat before the name was changed from Cass County. The seat was moved to Cartersville after General Sherman destroyed Cassville in his Atlanta Campaign of 1864.



Cassville, although no longer incorporated, is said to encompass an area beginning at the Cassville Road-Firetower Road intersection and extending a mile in all directions. Cassville lies in between Adairsville and Cartersville, off U.S. Route 41. It is considered part of metro Atlanta but maintains its small town atmosphere.



Other points of interest include the Cassville History Museum, Cassville Visitors Information, and Cassville Confederate Cemetery, located on Cass-White Road.


Cassville today, two stores, 4 churches.

History

The town of Cassville was platted in 1833, as the seat of justice for Cass County. It was soon the center of trade and travel in the region recently comprising the Cherokee Nation. Both the county and town were named in the honor of General Lewis Cass, Michigan statesman and Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson. Cass took part in the Battle of the Thames, a defeat of British and Native Indian forces. As a reward for his military service, Cass was appointed Governor of the Michigan Territory by President James Madison on October 29, 1813, serving until 1831. In 1817, Cass was one of the two commissioners (along with Duncan McArthur), who negotiated the Treaty of Fort Meigs, which was signed on September 29 with several Native American tribes of the region, under which they ceded large amounts of territory to the United States. Cass was a central figure in implementing the Indian removal policy of the Jackson administration; Congress had passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. While it was directed chiefly against the Southeastern tribes, especially the Five Civilized Tribes, it also affected tribes in Ohio, Illinois and other areas east of the Mississippi River. Most were forced to Indian Territory in present-day Kansas and Oklahoma, but a number of bands negotiated being allowed to remain in Michigan. It was the county seat of Cass County from 1832–1861.



A statue of Cass is one of the two by Michigan to the National Statuary Hall collection in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. It stands in the National Statuary Hall room along with President Gerald Ford. The village of Casstown, Ohio, the community of Cassville, West Virginia, Cass City, Michigan, and the Cass River in Michigan.


Great grandfather of Mama Cass.

Bartow County, Georgia was originally named Cass County after Lewis Cass, but was changed in 1861 after Francis Bartow died as a Confederate war hero and due to Cass's alleged opposition to slavery, even though he was an advocate of states' rights via the doctrine of popular sovereignty. Cassville, Georgia is an unincorporated community in the same county, was originally the county seat before the name was changed from Cass County. The seat was moved to Cartersville, Georgia after General Sherman destroyed Cassville in his Atlanta Campaign of 1864.



The name was changed to Manassas in 1861 after the success of the Confederacy in the First Battle of Bull Run. Plus, that is the battle in which Francis Bartow died. On July 21, 1861during a critical moment, he seized the regimental colors and attempted to lead a charge on a Union battery, but he was shot through the heart. He died moments later, supposedly uttering the oft-quoted last words, "They have killed me boys, but never give up the field," Sherman didn't like the name change and the town was burned by Sherman 1864 and never fully recovered.


Map around Cassville Station.

About 300 unknown Confederate soldiers died of wounds or disease in Cassville's several Confederate hospitals. These hospitals operated from late 1861 until May 18, 1864, when ambulances moved patients south out of the path of the invading Federal forces. In May 1899, the Cassville Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to honor these unknown soldiers, placed headstones at each of their graves in the local cemetery.



On May 19, 1864, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston tricked Union General William T. Sherman into dividing his forces at Adairsville and sending the XXIII Corps under General John M. Schofield across the Gravelly Plateau to Cassville.



Johnston placed Lt. General Leonidas Polk's corps behind Two Run Creek northwest of Cassville to oppose Schofield in front as he began crossing the creek. Johnston then sent Lt. General John B. Hood's corps northward along the Spring Place Road, to ambush Schofield on the left.



Atlanta Campaign. On May 19, 1864, Johnston, entrenched on the ridge east of the marker, planned to give battle but Sherman threatened his flank and his corps commanders objected to the position. He therefore withdrew to Allatoona Pass. Rather than attack this strong position Sherman moved past it toward New Hope Church.



There is a Pavilion for the Civil War built by the CCC to commemorate the Atlanta Campaign action in Cassville.







CCC Civil War Pavilion Cassville.





Confederate Army of Tennessee at Cassville. Johnston’s forces, reaching Cassville May 18, 1864 from Resaca, 30 miles north, took positions on ridge west of the town and prepared to withstand the advancing Federals. On May 19: Pursuant to this intention, Hood's corps moved north of the town to oppose the Federal XX and XXIII Corps marching south from Adairsville. But Hood's corps, diverted by an attack on its right by McCook's cavalry [US], changed front and was ordered with the rest of the Army [CS] to withdraw to ridge east and south of the town.



The Confederates held a council of war at the William Neal McKelvey residence May 19. They discussed the advisability of holding the position east and south of Cassville. Present were: Johnston; Polk; Hood; Maj. General S. C. French; and Captain W.J. Morris, Chief Engineer, Polk's aide-de-camp. After hearing the statements of the council, Johnston ordered the withdrawal of the army at midnight.



May 19, 1864: Butterfield's (3rd) Division, XXth Corps [US], moving southeast from McDow's, left the road here and marched to the Hawkins Price house, en route to Kingston The 1st and 2nd Divisions [US], on roads west, had the same objective - an erratic move by Sherman who assumed that Johnston's Army [CS] had retreated on Kingston. Butterfield's march disclosed that Johnston's Army was at Cassville, not Kingston. The XXIII Corps (Schofield) [US] marched on this road from McDow's, reaching Cassville at dark.



Here the night of May 19, 1864, the Confederate Generals Johnston, Polk and Hood, conferred and decided to abandon Cassville and to move south of the Etowah, although Johnston originally had intended to fight here.


McElelvey house marker by a tree by the marker Leonidas Polk Headquarters.

Cassvile Female College was founded in 1853. On May 19, 1864, skirmishers of Polk's Army Corps [CS] withdrew from this ridge east to Cassville when pressed back by Butterfield's (3d) Div., XXth Corps [US], from the Hawkins Price house. Battery C, 1st Ohio Light Artillery, supported by 73rd Ohio Infantry, 19th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment and 20th Connecticut Infantry regiment [US] occupied the ridge and shelled the town as Johnson's Army [CS] withdrew to a ridge east of it. At night Cassville was seized by the 19th Mich. & 20th Conn. the Female College and town were burned by the union.





Noble Hill Rosenwald School, now known as Noble Hill-Wheeler Memorial Center, was built in 1923 as the first standard school for black children in the Bartow County School System. The school closed in 1955 when all the county's schools for black children were consolidated to form Bartow Elementary School at a central location.



Today the restored building is a cultural heritage museum with emphasis on black life in Bartow from the early 1900s to the present.



On Chapman Hill, a school for boys was established in January 1854. This was a large three-story brick building flanked by two-story wings.



It burned in 1856, was rebuilt in 1857, and was destroyed by Federal forces on October 12, 1864. This, and the Methodist Female College 3/4 miles northeast, were the first chartered institutions of higher education in Cherokee Georgia. Their destruction, together with the burning of Cassville, marked the passing of a notable educational center in this section of the state.

Notable People of Cassville.

Barry Loudermilk, U.S. Congressman from Georgia's 11th congressional district.


Barry Loudermilk and Willie T. Wofford - sounds like some Lewis Grizzard characters.

Brigadier General William T. Wofford is buried here. He surrendered the last remaining Confederate troops east of the Mississippi in nearby Kingston. See earlier link in this post where he surrendered in Kingston. .



TRD Deep Dive Civil War Cassville

Battle of Cassville

Cassville was created by the Georgia Legislature in 1832 to serve as county seat for simultaneously created Cass County (now Bartow), one of ten original counties carved from the former Cherokee territory. By the 1850's Cassville was the cultural center of north Georgia with two colleges (male and female), four hotels, a newspaper and wooden sidewalks. 



Site of Courthouse.

 

Georgia's first Supreme Court decision was delivered at Cassville in 1846. Many of the Cherokee Nation's legal battles to hold on to north Georgia were staged at the Cassville Court House.



But by the end of the Civil War, all that remained of Cassville's former eminence was three homes, two churches and a Confederate Cemetery.


Foundations for burned buildings downtown Cassville. Only Antebellum home still standing.

Cassville is remembered by students of the Civil War for what did not happen here: The Cassville Affair. During the Atlanta Campaign, Confederate General Joe Johnston intended a major offensive here after tricking General Sherman into dividing his forces at Adairsville. 


Cassville Depot not sure if there anymore. Turns out it is three miles from downtown, I didn't get to travel there.

The Cassville battle did not reach major proportions of a major conflict. There were not that many killings in the little fighting that actually took place. The battle was fought Thursday, May 19, 1864 and was of more importance as to what would happen in the future than it was of that day. Hood's Advance and Retreat call the battle, "The Controversial Cassville Battle," or the "Question Mark" of the Atlanta Campaign. There were skirmishes in and around Cassville the day before and then there was further action which came a few days later.


Confederate Cemetery Cassville.



On May 18th Sherman waited in Adairsville with the Army of the Tennessee under McPherson on his right. However, McPherson had been stopped at Woolley's home just days before and only a fragment of his force remained in nearby Kingston. Sherman had the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of the Ohio with him at Adairsville. Strangely enough however, Sherman had no idea where the Johnston Army was at the time. He had allowed the Confederates to retreat out of his reach.


You loved Liberty more than Life. Is it Death to fall for Freedom's Cause.

Sherman assumed that since the remains of McPherson's troops were in Kingston, that Johnston's Army had retreated to Kingston as well. However, Johnston was in Cassville busy digging in for a defensive stand. Sherman, still in Adairsville, made plans to attack Kingston. Fortunately for the Union General, he had allowed Butterfield's division to move southward around Kingston prior to this decision. Since they were already to the South, Sherman sent word for Butterfield's division to move into position to assist in the taking of Kingston. As Butterfield marched his division, he moved in a route which took him near Cassville. It was Butterfield's march that disclosed that Johnston's Army was actually at Cassville -- not Kingston. Butterfield quickly notified Sherman in Adairsville and the Kingston plans were abandoned.



The majority of Sherman's Army came into Cassville from the northeast and arrived during the night of May 18th. It should be remembered that the fragments of the Army of the Tennessee that were in Kingston were cut off from Cassville at this point and never were able to get to Cassville. The discovery of Johnston's Army in Cassville came about as a stroke of luck and there is no way of really telling what the outcome would have been if Sherman had wasted his time attacking Kingston. One thing is for sure though, Butterfield's discovery saved McPherson's troops in Kingston because the Army in Cassville could have never arrived in Kingston in time to bailout the Tennesseans.


Col. William Harvey Gibson of 49th Ohio. William Harvey Gibson is best remembered for his eloquent oratory during at a difficult period in U.S. history. Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe said that she had "listened to many of the most gifted orators of Europe and America, but have never listened to such eloquence as poured forth for two hours and half as from the lips of William H. Gibson, of Ohio." At Gibson's funeral in 1894, William McKinley, who at the time was Governor of Ohio, and later U.S. President, made the eulogy and also noted Gibson's gift for oratory. He said that, General Gibson believed the two most important things in life were piety and patriotism. In his creed they were linked in indissoluble union. His piety was broad enough to include every creed and his patriotism wide enough to cover the whole country.


Actual image Union troops camping in Cassville.

On the 19th, General Johnston issued orders that he would no longer retreat in front of the enemy but would turn and destroy the invaders. It was at Cassville that he meant to turn his troops to fight. Johnston's lines consisted of Hardee on the left, Polk in the center, and Hood on the right. Wheeler and Jackson were on the flanks with their cavalries. Johnston was ready for battle and he issued orders that meant for two corps to completely surround certain sections of the Federals. The Confederates were anxious for a fight too, and they were confident of turning back the Yankees. However, Johnston's plans were never carried out and his orders fell apart. Hood and Polk complained of being exposed to Federal artillery and Hood took it on his own to move off toward the right. Polk followed closely behind Hood and the two had completely abandoned Johnston's orders. Meanwhile, Hardee was maintaining his position on the left up on the ridges just South of Cassville in a line just North of Cass Station. This left an enormous gap which spelled ruin to Johnston's battle strategy.


Cass Station

It was late in the day when Johnston called a conference at the McKelvey home near Cass Station. At this conference Johnston met with Polk and Hood and decided to retreat from Cassville. Hardee was also summoned to the meeting, but arrived just as the conference was breaking up. The McKelvey home was a mere log cabin and the family was helpless when these Confederate leaders decided to overtake their home for a meeting. As the McKelvey's waited outside their home, Johnston, Polk, and Hood gathered around a table and studied maps under candlelight. Couriers went running back and forth, artillery was dragged into position, and men began digging in for safety's sake.


Old burned cotton warehouse ruins near Cassville Station.

The decision to retreat was made and the worst the War would offer, as far as fighting goes, passed Cassville by for the first and last time. What was in Cassville's near future was even worse however! Johnston quickly began his retreat. He crossed the Etowah and withdrew to Allatoona Pass where he planned to dig in and fight again. Yet rather than attack this strong position, Sherman moved past it toward New Hope Church in Paulding County. You see, Sherman was not totally unfamiliar with the landscape of this area and he knew that following Johnston to Allatoona Pass could be disastrous. Long before Sherman came to old Cass County at the head of his army, he visited one of its homes near Cartersville.



Sherman tells about it in his Memoirs:

"In 1844 when a lieutenant in the Third Army I had been sent from Charleston, South Carolina, to Marietta, Georgia. . . . . after completing the work at Marietta our party was transferred to Bellefonte, Alabama. . . I had ridden the distance on horseback and had noted well the topography of the country, especially that about, Kennesaw, Allatoona and the Etowah river. On that occasion I had stopped some days with a Colonel Lewis Tumlin to see some remarkable Indian mounds on the Etowah river usually called the Hightower. I therefore, in 1864, knew that the Allatoona Pass was very strong and resolved to move instead from Kingston to Marietta via Dallas."


Memorials to Confederate Dead annually Cassville.

So the major fighting was over for Cassville and only its destruction was in its future. A few minor incidents followed on May 22 and on May 24th Wheeler's Confederate cavalry struck Federals in Cassville and destroyed about 250 Federal wagons and took many cattle. On other days, May 27, June 20th, and November 7th skirmishes were fought in Cassville. On October 10th, Federals in pursuit of Hood occupied old Confederate trenches. Cassville was now north of the War and the Confederate leaders at the, Battle of Cassville would rarely be together again. Polk died atop Pine Mt. in Cobb County in June. Hardee, who hated Hood, was transferred after Atlanta fell. Hood, with the backing of Jefferson Davis, would soon start his disastrous Tennessee Campaign in November.



There have been several historians who have written about Sherman's famous "March to the Sea." Almost all of these begin with the siege of Atlanta and follow it from that point on. It was here, they claim, that Sherman decided that "War is Hell" and from that point on total destruction and foraging took place. Still there have been others who claim that Sherman's change in thinking about war came at a spot he referred to in his Memoirs as "Hell Hole." Actually this was New Hope Church, near Dallas, Georgia. In opposition, I feel that his change in thinking must have begun at Cassville. After all, it was Cassville which suffered the torture of being burned and Cassville was the spot Joseph Johnston had chosen to entrench and fight. New Hope Church was ground of Sherman's choosing. Therefore, the orders to burn Cassville possibly came in celebration of victory over Johnston on his own ground. Cassville was the victim of fire, not New Hope Church.



It was on November 5, 1864 when the city of Cassville was destroyed by fire at the hands of the Fifth Ohio Regiment of the Federal Army under the command of Colonel Heath and Major Thomas. They said they had orders from Sherman "that not a house be left within the limits of the incorporation, except the churches." The town had been in the hands of Yankee forces since May 25th, when General Johnston had retreated without a fight, and left the city to the mercy of the Union Army. Sherman's forces had marched on in pursuit and, as General Sherman gave no order to burn the town at that time, many people believe that possible he never did, but the burning of the town was the work of Yankee stragglers who had some sort of grievance against the people of Cassville.



One reason behind this theory is that Yankees had a special grievance against the town because it had changed its name from Cassville to Manassas and the name of the county from Cass to Bartow just after the Confederate victory at First Bull Run. Francis Bartow was killed at Manassas. The names of the county and county seat had been altered because the state legislature did not believe that a Southern town should bear the name of a Michigan general who held the "wrong" views on the slavery question.


Lot of Vandalism in the Cassville Cemetery.

The Union Army destroyed the city and left behind a mass of smoked walls and charred timber around the limits of the town. During the summer of 1864 the Federals were in complete control of Cassville and her citizens went through hard times. The nearest mill was fifteen miles away and those fortunate enough to have a little wheat or corn had to walk that distance to use the mill. They walked because all their horses had been seized by either Union or Confederate cavalries. Usually a few small boys would get together and sneak over to the mill because if they were caught by Federal troops, their grain would almost always be taken away. One person remembered that his old home was near the cemetery and his mother built a tent against a fence that ran around the cemetery and she and her children spent the night there. His father had died in the army only a short time before and the family watched the city burn just a short distance away from their father's grave. All the people had to pick berries to help toward their daily meals. It would have been tougher on the people of Cassville if it had not been for the kindness of a Federal captain stationed in Kingston who often sent assistance to the people in Cassville.


Real shame to see graves desecrated. 

Another person remembered that on the morning of November 5th the Union Army marched into town and, after giving a short notice about what was to follow, began their work. Within a short time the whole town was in flames. That night the people found themselves out in the street in a cold rain with not a shelter left over their heads. They could have found shelter in churches but they had to watch over the few personal belongings they had saved from the flames. They knew the Yankees would either steal or destroy them if they had a chance.



The three churches which still are on the same grounds and three residences were the only structures left standing by Sherman's Army. The home of Dr. Weston Hardy served as a hospital and was not burned for that reason. The Mercer home also, was spared because of sickness. Tradition has it, the home of Mr. A. C. Day was saved when the captain saw a certain Masonic emblem as it dropped from a bible while the family brought out their furniture. These three homes and the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches were unharmed.


Can still see Civil War brickwork on Cassville Baptist Church.

There is a story that goes along with the burning of Cassville, that Mr. Tom Word who was clerk of the court loaded his buggy with county records and some of the files of the county paper when he heard that the town was to be burned and rode away just before the courthouse building was destroyed. Supposedly he salvaged many of the old books which contained records of Cassville.


Another Antebellum Cassville Church.

With Cassville now gone, the county seat was moved to the nearby rail center at Cartersville. It seemed useless to rebuild Cassville because of its location and total destruction. Cartersville Quickly became the new center of activity in Bartow County and remains so today. All of the businesses, including several of the businessmen of old Cassville made themselves new locations in Cartersville. Cassville was only a memory, except for three churches, three homes, and the die-hards who decided to rebuild. Meanwhile, Cartersville was growing by leaps and bounds.


Vintage image Cassville Church.

By the 1870's, the state owned Western and Atlantic railroad made Cartersville a major travel center. The "Kennesaw Route" went through Cartersville and made one of only four stops along its route. It was about a four hour train ride from Cartersville to Chattanooga and two hours to Atlanta. Occasionally Pullman Palace Cars came through on their way to final destinations such as Columbus, Savannah, Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans, Baltimore, and New York. However, the daily route was from Chattanooga to Atlanta and back again.


Cartersville grew, Cassville got a cemetery.

It was this railroad that ended any possibility of rebuilding Cassville. Cassville could only be reached by horse or stagecoach, while Cartersville was a major rail center. It is for this reason that Cassville today is only a small community consisting of the three old churches, a store, a post office, a new fire station, an empty courthouse square, and a Confederate Cemetery.


Pushing up daisy's Cassville Cemetery.

Quite likely, this last best offensive would have been successful and leveled the playing field for Gen. Johnston's extremely out-numbered Confederate troops. However, the evening before the battle that was not, May 18, 1864, Confederate Gen. John Hood convinced Johnston to withdraw south to Allatoona. (The same evening, Gen. Johnston succumbed to another's wish and was baptised at Cassville by Gen. Polk, a clergyman, at the request of Mrs. Johnston.) 


Can see the Civil War era brickwork on this building still standing. Was a Hospital during war, now a Volunteer Fire Station.

Union Forces occupied Cassville from that night until November 1864. On October 30, orders were issued to destroy Cassville. Residents were given only 20 minutes notice the town was being burned. No images of the town, nor official records of her citizens, survived.



Three homes in Cassville burned including Warren Aiken's, David Conyngham observed," For several days a most disgraceful scene of rifling houses, breaking up furniture, ripping up bedticks, and after making a general mess of things, then firing the house ensued." In one particular instance, Conyngham was passing a home when he witnessed this scene. 

" The yard was covered with the debris of furniture, beds and bedding; dead poultry and pigs lay around, while soldiers were making desperate charges on others that had not yet fallen. All the beehives were rifled, and the infuriated bees were flying around like so many little demons. To add to the savage scene children were rushing about screaming for their lives; on going into the house I found four miserable women huddled together and trembling in fear." 


There was an antebellum school for Cherokee Indians. Tricky seeing this marker.

According to Lizzie Gaines ( Cassville Citizen) "The Yankees lost no time, after entering town, in ransacking and plundering every house from cellar to garret." She added, "No closet, drawer, nook, or corner escaped their search. They took the most valuable articles and sent home trophies to their friends. Some of us who remained did not even find a change of clothing ore one morsel of provisions - they had torn sheets, pillow cases, counterpanes, dresses, and everything of every kind into strings, broke crockery and cooking utensils, destroyed furniture, took what provisions they wanted , and if there was any left, messed it up in such a manner that it could not be eaten. For instance, they would mix meal, flour, soap, molasses, lard, sugar, preserves, etc. together so as to render it unfit for use." 


Malborne House

Kennesaw Gazette March 1st 1889 Vol IV No.5
Old Cassville Ga 
Editor Kennesaw Gazette

Cassville was once a beautiful and attractive village situated within a little less than three miles of the W. & A. Railroad, north of Cass Station, near the center of Bartow County; but happening to be directly in Sherman's war-path, it was shorn of its glory and laid in ashes by the federal Torch. Various reasons are assigned for the cruel deed. Some said it was on account of the name of the place being changed by our legislators from Cassville to Manassas, soon after the battle of Bull Run; others said it was done in revenge for the waving of a black flag at Cass Station by two young ladies whose patriotism was greater than their prudence. Again it was said that being so near the railroad it was a harbor for the rebel scouts.  

The Federals entered Cassville on the night of May 19th 1864, and seemed eager to apply the torch at once. Early the next morning they burned one of the hotels. Next day Col. Akins residence was burned. On the 24th Wheelers cavalry made a raid on a wagon train near Cassville and captured a number of prisoners, wagons, mules, etc. Orders were repeatedly issued for the citizens to leave, and the utter destruction of the place was threatened; but the threats were not executed till October 12th, when the male college and several private residences were burned. The male college was burned by a detachment of Wilders brigade composed of parts of the 98th Illinois, 1st, 3rd & 4th Ohio regiments and on the 5th of November Col. Heath of the 5th Ohio came with about three hundred cavalrymen and completed the destruction which left many poor women and children without shelter from the storms of winter which were fast approaching. The morning was bright and clear, but in the evening the smoke arose and formed a dark and threatening clouds, which for a while suspended over the doomed spot and then seemed to melt away in the tears of grief. It seemed as if nature was weeping over the sad fate of old Cassville.



May 20.--6 a.m., Captain Kellogg, aide-de-camp, brought instructions from Major-General Thomas to have this corps rest in its present position to-day, and to supply ourselves with ten days' rations (three in haversacks and seven in wagons) from tomorrow. Orders were at once given to division commanders to readjust their lines, if necessary, and to place their artillery in position, then to rest their troops; also to send back their empty wagons to Kingston to reload, and to park the rest of their trains, and to see that the troops have three days' rations in their haversacks, commencing tomorrow. Orders were also given to Lieutenant-Colonel Remick, commissary of subsistence, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hayes, quartermaster, to have the trains loaded with seven days' forage and rations from tomorrow morning. 


Yankees still loading up with food here.

3 p.m., received Special Field Orders, No. 9, headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, May 20, 1864, stating that General Thomas will group his army (of which this corps is a part) around Cassville; Major-General Schofield, his army at or near Pettit's Creek, or along Nancy's Creek, and Major-General McPherson, his at Kingston and the fords and bridges across the Etowah in that vicinity.


Oh look, now we know where Mother Mary came. If you visit, no vandalism please.

The orders also stating that the sick and wounded and the worthless men and idlers be sent to the rear; that army commanders will make provision to subsist their troops independent of the railroad for twenty days; that the whole army must be ready to march by May 23.



They must be stripped for battle, but equipped and provided for twenty days; at the same time the wagon trains must be diminished rather than increased, as we can safely rely on much meat, forage, and vegetables in the country to which we propose to go; further stating that the rations for troops will be one pound of bread, flour, or meal, beef on the hoof, two days' allowance of bacon per week, and sugar, coffee, and salt; four pounds of grain will be allowed each animal per day, and no more; all else must be gathered in the country.



In accordance with this order instructions were at once given to division commanders and to the chief quartermaster and commissary of subsistence of this corps. The troops remained in camp to-day resting; all quiet; the day very warm.


Grave of Hawkins F. Price. We mentioned him above in Kingston, how his house was used for Yankee Headquarters.

May 21.--Remained in camp all day; the soldiers resting and being equipped for a long reach. A telegram sent to General Sherman from the Secretary of War, congratulating his army for its success thus far, was read to the troops. Orders were issued to division commanders to send all of their surplus baggage as soon as practicable to the Cassville Depot, for the purpose of having the same sent to the rear.


Cass Station. Can see why Cartersville grew, this is still 3 miles from Cassville.

They were also ordered to organize foraging parties for each brigade for the purpose of collecting supplies from the country, the parties to be under the control of brigade commissaries of subsistence and quartermasters, and that they must take stringent measures to prevent theft and pillaging. As opposed to what happened on March to Sea.


300 candle bags.

Today's GNW Gals holding candles for the 550 Rebels interred in today's post.



Recount of Memorials Kingston and Cassville.

It is better to fought and lost, than not to have fought at all.

You loved Liberty more than Life.

Is it Death to fall for Freedom's Cause.




.