Georgia Natural Wonder #265 - Battle Atlanta in Fulton County, July 22, 1864 ***

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #265 - Battle of Atlanta - Fulton County

We continue our more Historical than Natural series of post concerning Civil War battles in Fulton County. Now the battlefields all have park like features that justify mention in a Natural Wonder Forum, but the post is about the Civil War battles. Our last post featured beautiful Tanyard Branch Creek in the Battle of Peachtree Creek. (GNW #264). The military action in Atlanta shifted to the east after 7/20/1864, as we outlined in Georgia Natural Wonder #259 - The Battle of Atlanta in DeKalb County. We got a message too large while working on that post, so we broke it off at the Battle for Leggett's Hill. That was mostly on the east side of Moreland Avenue, which we have established divides Fulton County from DeKalb County.


The focal point of the Cyclorama, the counter attack at the Troup Hurt House.


Leggett's Hill is at 19 in the map. See how the action North of there is all on the left side of Moreland Avenue.

Leaving Leggett's Hill in DeKalb County, you proceed north on Moreland Avenue across I-20 then take a left on Memorial Drive within .01 mile. Almost immediately take a right on Stovall Street. 


Attack from the West Marker is at the intersection of Memorial Drive (Georgia Route 154) and Stovall Street, on the right when traveling east on Memorial Drive. July 22, 1864.


Attack from the West Marker, view east Marker in front of bush across Memorial Drive where Union lines where formed. Second image is view to the west down Memorial Drive towards Oakland Cemetery and downtown Atlanta where the Confederate attack came from.

                
Mortimer Dormer Leggett                                                  Giles Alexander Smith

                
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne                                                 George Earl Maney
 
                
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham                                            Carter Littlepage Stevenson Jr.
 
Keep going Stovall Street North, right at dead end on Kirkwood. Left Walthall.

 
Benton's & Coltart's Brigades Marker is at the intersection of Boulevard Street and Walthall Street on Boulevard Street.  Brown went on to be 19th Governor of Tennessee. Benton County, Mississippi, established in 1870, was named for Samuel Benton.

Rebel leaders mentioned.
 
John Calvin Brown  - Samuel Benton  - John Gordon Coltart

During the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, the brigade advanced south of the Georgia Railroad around 3:30 p.m. Driving off the Union pickets, the brigade lost its alignment with Manigault's brigade and ended up attacking farther south against the relatively weak positions of Williams' brigade at 4:15 p.m. Despite this advantage, Coltart's troops were repulsed twice and only prevailed when Sharp's brigade broke through to the north and fired into the rear of the Union troops. The Confederate gains proved temporary, as twenty minutes later Coltart's brigade was driven back by the counterattack of Oliver's brigade.

Yankee Leaders referenced.
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[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Harrow]William Harrow  - Alpheus Starkey Williams  -  John Morrison Oliver

Right on Boulevard. 


Harrow's Div., 15th A.C. Marker is on Boulevard Drive 0 miles west of Moreland Avenue (U.S. 23), on the right when traveling west.


Harrow’s Div., 15th A.C. Marker. Looking west on Boulevard Drive toward Walthall Street, location of the Georgia Historical Marker for "Benton's & Coltart's Brigades."

Left or north on Moreland, then I think it's a good time for lunch in Little Five Points. My tour usually starts at Peachtree Creek and ends up in afternoon at Ezra Church and Utoy Creek. Get in all four battlefields. After Lunch go north Moreland and left Freedom Parkway to Jimmy Carter Library. Left into Library through circle out to south side then several markers on southside parking lot. 


Augustus Hurt House marker can be reached from the intersection of East Freedom Parkway and Carter Center Entrance. 


This marker is located in the parking lot of the Carter Presidential Center near the rose garden.


Augustus Hurt Plantation marker is in same parking lot.

The land where the Carter Center sits today was the site of the Augustus Hurt house, which served as General Sherman's temporary headquarters during the Battle of Atlanta. 


That pivotal encounter (July 22, 1864) is captured in the Cyclorama painting, which is located at the Atlanta History Center.

The Augustus Hurt house can be seen in Cyclorama photo above and below. 


If you look closely you can also see General Sherman (on his horse) watching the battle unfold in front of him. If you look very closely (behind the house) you can also see the "ambulance" that delivered General James B. McPherson's body to Sherman, after he was shot and killed in what is now East Atlanta Village.


Other images of Augustus Hurt House and General Sherman.

The fierce battle scenes depicted in the Cyclorama painting occurred less than one mile south of the Carter Center where the Inman Park MARTA station is today.

 
The Battles for Atlanta marker can be reached from Carter Center South Parking Lot, 0 miles north of Freedom Parkway Eastbound (Connector Georgia Route 42 Connector Road). The marker is located at the edge of the Carter Center parking lot, off eastbound Freedom Parkway, near the walkway to the Carter Center.


The marker after its dedication. The marker after its dedication on October 22, 2010; left to right are Barry Brown, author of Crossroads of Conflict, A Guide to Civil War Sites in Georgia, Dr. W Todd Groce, President/CEO, Georgia Historical Society, Charlie Crawford, Georgia Battlefields Association, and Heidi Green, Director, Georgia Dept. of Economic Development.

Back left or east Freedom Parkway. Right North Highland Avenue. Left Colquitt. Left Euclid, cross over Moreland, turns into McLendan. Right Oakdale. off DeKalb Avenue on left. 

Then turn right back west on DeKalb Avenue. The next three marker's on the right. 


Logan's 15th A.C. Line Marker is on DeKalb Avenue 0.1 miles east of Candler Street, on the right. This marker is located in front of the Atlanta Fire Department Station.


Restoring the Line Marker is at the intersection of DeKalb Avenue and Elmira Place, on the right when traveling west on DeKalb Avenue. This view is towards the Federal Signal Tower and DeGress Battery Markers, as well as the sites of the Troup Hurt and Pope Houses.

Cross over Moreland. Now you are back in Fulton County, but I continue the Battle of Atlanta narrative.


Federal Signal Station Marker is on DeKalb Avenue where it crosses Moreland Avenue and cannot be seen from Moreland Avenue. Marker is at the intersection of Dekalb Avenue and Moreland Avenue, on the right when traveling west on Dekalb Avenue. Located behind the chain link fence of the automobile repair yard.


View from Marker towards Candler Street. View from Marker towards DeGress Avenue and also, the site of the Pope house and the Troup Hurt House

Now take a right Degress Ave.  


Troup House Marker is in Inman Park, on Degress Avenue NE 0.1 miles north of Dekalb Avenue NE, on the right when traveling north. 


This view is facing North East and shows both the marker in the foreground and the stone former church, now a private residence, in the distance. The stone former Church.The stone former Church is the site of the unfinished Troup House mentioned in the Pope House Marker. The house was not finished and no longer stands.

Go to end of road turn around. 


The DeGress Battery Marker is in the yard of the last house on DeGress Avenue on the left when traveling north on DeGress Avenue.

DeGress Battery and Troup Hurt House. 

Back to Dekalb Avenue right then right at MARTA Station 4 Markers on right. 

 All four of these next 4 markers are now right here next to the Pope House Marker. 


Manigault's Brigade is in Inman Park. It is at the intersection of DeKalb Avenue and DeGress  Avenue, on the right when traveling west on DeKalb Avenue.


The 15th Corps Sector marker is on DeKalb Avenue NE, 0.1 miles east of Battery Place NE, on the right when traveling west. This marker is located on DeKalb Ave between Battery Place and Degress Ave.


Although the marker is on the side of the road in public green-space, the marker tends to become over grown and is easy to miss unless you are on foot. View of the overgrown public domain.

The marker is located at the approximate placement of Lightburn's brigade, west of the Hurt house between Battery Place and Degress Avenue. Martin's brigade would have been located south, across the present day MARTA and railroad tracks. The marker was relocated 100 yds southwest of its original location.


The Railroad Cut It was at the intersection of DeKalb Avenue NE and Battery Place NE, on the right when traveling west on DeKalb Avenue NE.


The marker has been moved to be with other markers by the Inman Park MARTA Station.

This view is west along DeKalb Avenue towards the Inman Park MARTA station as well as the 15th Corps Sector and Site - the Pope House markers.


Site: The Pope House It is in Reynoldstown. It is at the intersection of Dekalb Avenue NE and Battery Place NE, on the right when traveling west on Dekalb Avenue NE. This marker is located in front of and to the east of the Inman Park MARTA station. Featured marker is on the left.

Site of the unfinished Hurt House mentioned in the Pope House Marker. The stone church behind the marker is where the Hurt House stood during the Battle of Atlanta.

View toward Atlanta. The Railroad Cut and the Pope House. 

Right Hurt Left Euclid right Elizabeth left Waverly. 


Baker's Brigade Marker is on Waverly Way 0.1 miles north of Edgewood Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Baker's Brigade Marker in Springvale Park.


A photograph of Springvale Park in the early 1890s. Hurt’s Cottage is visible on the horizon at upper left.

Cross Euclid  


Springvale Park Marker is at the intersection of Waverly Way and Edgewood Avenue, on the right when traveling north on Waverly Way. The marker is below street level in the park, and can be difficult to see from the street. Steps lead from the Edgewoood Avenue/Waverly Way intersection to the marker. 

In Springvale Park. Waverly Way (street level) can just be seen up to the left. The trail on the right leads down to the ravine.


Brig. Gen. A. M. Manigault's Brigade (Rock) -  Erected by the Old Guard of Atlanta -- 1934 Dedicated by Camp Gordon S.C.V. 

The path leads down into the ravine.

Right Edgewood left Delta.


Brown's & Clayton's Divs. Marker is at the intersection of Delta Place and Edgewood Avenue, on the left when traveling north on Delta Place.



From here you proceed back down Edgewood west toward downtown to Krog, take a left go under the 100 year old underpass, and take a right Wyllie, Right Tennelle, left Carroll, merge left onto Boulevard. Take right on Memorial and Oakland Cemetery is on your right. I have done a separate document on Oakland. 

For this tour just take a left off Memorial onto Cherokee right at the Six Feet Under Bar. Cross over I-20 and Grant Park comes up on left . Grant Park was established in 1882 when Colonel Lemuel P. Grant (The "Father of Atlanta"), a successful engineer and businessman, gave the city of Atlanta 100 acres in the newly developed "suburb" where he lived. 

Grant Park is the oldest surviving park in the city. Its landscape was part of the defensive line against Union forces in the Civil War, and the breastworks of Fort Walker remain as evidence of the Confederacy's defeat at the southern most point of those trenches. There was no action here. In 1890, the city acquired another 44 acres for the park. In 1903, the Olmsted Brothers (sons of Frederick Law Olmsted) were hired to create a plan for the park. Grant Park has preserved the southern end of that battlefield and also houses Zoo Atlanta. 

Battlefield of Atlanta 7/22/1864.

Confederate Works Southeast 

Palisades and chevaux de frise in front of the Potter (or Pondor) House, Atlanta, Georgia, 1864

The Potter (or Ponder) House in Atlanta housed Confederate sharpshooters until Union artillery made a special target of it