Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park | |
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| IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) | |
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| Location: | Georgia, USA |
| Nearest city: | Atlanta, GA |
| Coordinates: | |
| Area: | 2,888.14 acres (2,879.60 federal) 11.69 km² |
| Established: | February 8, 1917 |
| Total Visitation: | 1,005,510 (in 2005) |
| Governing body: | National Park Service |
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, at 905 Kennesaw Mountain Drive between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia, preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign, and also contains Kennesaw Mountain. The name Kennesaw is derived from the Cherokee Indian "Gah-nee-sah" meaning cemetery, or burial ground.
[edit] History
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, fought here between General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union army and Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederate army, took place between June 18, 1864 and July 2, 1864. Sherman's army consisted of 100,000 men, 254 cannon and 35,000 horses, while Johnston's army had only 50,000 men and 187 cannons. Much of the battle took place not on Kennesaw Mountain itself, but on Little Kennesaw and the area to its south. Over 4,000 soldiers were killed during the battle.
[edit] Park
Established as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Site on February 8, 1917, it was transferred from the War Department on August 10, 1933, and redesignated a national battlefield park on June 26, 1935. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
The park is the site of some of the heaviest fighting of the Atlanta Campaign during the Civil War. There are three accessible battlefield areas at the park, characterized by earthworks, cannon emplacements and monuments to the groups that fought.
With the expansion of urban sprawl from nearby Atlanta, Georgia, concerns have been raised that the preserved areas of the park may be in danger from overuse and misuse.
