Jonesborough (Jonesboro)
On Privately Owned Land
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. The mailing address is 900 Kennesaw Mountain Drive, Kennesaw, GA 30152. Telephone: 770-427-4686.
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, documenting the battle for Kennesaw Mountain, is one component of the Atlanta Campaign in the Civil War. The Park is located circa 20 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia (three miles north of Marietta, GA): from Atlanta, take U.S. Highway I-75 north 20 miles to exit 116. Drive approximately one mile northwest on U. S. Highway 41 to intersection with Old U. S. Highway 41. Drive approximately two miles northwest on Old U. S. Highway 41 to intersection with Stilesboro Road. Turn left on Stilesboro Road and drive 1/4 mile west to Park entrance .
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, although located on the site of the Kennesaw Mountain battlefield, provides visitors with information about the entire Atlanta Campaign during the Civil War.
The Park grounds are open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., extended to 6 p.m. on weekdays during the summer. The Park is closed on Christmas and New Year's Day. The National Park Service maintains a Visitor's Center on the Park grounds, containing exhibits and audiovisual programs.
On the Park grounds is a self-guided driving tour. Interpretive markers and wayside exhibits are situated along the driving trail, each with parking provided. Short interpretive trails are located on the mountaintop, with exhibits and gun emplacements, and stops providing panoramic views of the battlefield terrain. Longer hiking trails also crisscross the Park.
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on Jonesborough: GA022
(The CWSAC Battle Summary Will Open In Its Own Window)
Jonesborough In The Atlanta Campaign: August 31-September 1, 1864
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JONESBOROUGH
Some Southerners suspected in 1864 what we now know Sherman had not retreated. Rather, he had concluded that only his infantry could effectively break Hood's lines of supply and had resolved to move almost all of his force to the southwest of the city. The movement began on August 25. One corps was sent back to the Chattahoochee bridgehead to guard the railroad that connected Sherman with the North. The remaining Federal troops pulled out of their trenches and marched away to the west and south. By noon on the 28th, Howard's Army of the Tennessee had reached Fairburn, a small station on the Atlanta and West Point Railroad, 13 miles southwest of East Point. Later that afternoon, Thomas' troops occupied Red Oak, on the railroad 5 miles to the northeast. The Northerners spent the rest of the 28th and the 29th destroying the tracks. The rails were torn up, heated, and twisted so that they were useless. Only one railroad, the Macon and Western, running southeast from East Point to Macon, now remained in Confederate hands. Sherman soon moved to cut it.By August 29, Hood had learned of the activities of the Federals at Fairburn. It was clear that the railroad to Macon would be Sherman's next objective and the Southern commander acted to defend that line. However, he badly misjudged the situation and thought that only two corps of Sherman's army were to the southwest. Late on August 30, Hood ordered Hardee to take two corps of the Southern army, move against the raiding column, and drive it away. Both armies were soon closing in on Jonesborough, 14 miles below East Point on the Macon railroad. By that evening, advance elements of the Union forces had crossed the Flint River and entrenched a position 1 mile west of Jonesborough. During the night, Hardee's Southerners moved into the town by rail; by morning they were deploying in front of the Federal line.
Hardee had his own corps (temporarily led by Maj. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne) and Lee's. It took until mid-afternoon to complete preparations for an attack. The Confederates advanced about 3 p.m., their assault falling mostly on an entrenched salient on the east bank of the Flint held by the Army of the Tennessee. The attack was fierce but uncoordinated and failed to drive back the Northerners. When the fighting ceased that night, the relative positions of the armies were unchanged.
Meanwhile, Schofield's Army of the Ohio had managed to break the Macon railroad near Rough-and-Ready, a small station between Jonesborough and East Point. This movement led Hood to conclude that Sherman's main force was attacking Atlanta from the south. The Confederate commander, therefore, ordered Lee's Corps to leave Hardee at Jonesborough and move toward Atlanta to help defend the city. Lee began this movement at 2 a.m. the next morning.
At dawn on September 1, Sherman with almost all of his troops was south of Atlanta. The Federals were concentrating at Jonesborough where they had encountered the bulk of the Southern army on the preceding day and where it seemed a decisive battle would be fought. The Confederates were widely separated. Hood, with one corps, was in Atlanta; Hardee, with his corps, was at Jonesborough; and Lee, with the remaining corps, was near East Point.
At Jonesborough, Hardee had taken up a defensive position north and west of the town. During the afternoon he was attacked by the overwhelming force of Northerners concentrated there. Although suffering many casualties, especially in prisoners, Hardee's Corps fought well and held its position until night offered a chance to fall back to Lovejoy's Station, 7 miles to the south.
By this time Hood had realized what was happening and knew that Atlanta could not be held any longer. During the night of September 1-2, he evacuated the city. Supplies that could not be carried away were burned. Hood's forces moved far to the east of the city to pass around Jonesborough and join Hardee at Lovejoy 's Station. On September 2, Mayor James M. Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to a party of Federal soldiers.
(Text Adapted From: Atlanta Campaign Historical Handbook Series - publication of the National Park Service. 1961.)