THE BATTLE OF ATLANTA—150 YEARS LATER

Atlanta’s Civil War sites: Then and now

Several years ago, photographer Gregg Segal started a series that juxtaposes “an idealized Civil War embodied by period re-enactors” with “the commercialism of contemporary life.” We commissioned Segal to add to his series with photographs at sites from the Atlanta Campaign.

Shipped Away

On any given workday, the stretch of Georgia 9 that cuts north-south through Roswell is a four-lane wall of cars. Almost as old as the city itself, the thoroughfare was once little more than a dirt wagon path called the Atlanta Road, connecting this mill town to the burgeoning railroad hub some twenty miles south.

Battle of Atlanta sesquicentennial events calendar

Featuring events at the Atlanta History Center, Cyclorama, Nash Farm, the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, and more.

A Civil War-era survival guide

Like civilians across the country, Atlantans had felt the hardships of war, with access to food and goods severely restricted. By the summer of 1864, the privations grew.

The overlooked legacy of the Civil War’s black soldiers

The horrifying stories of survival, the glimpses of hope, and the unwavering faith that freedom would come pervade my trove of family memories, and they shape my present ideas about the war and its relevance to me 150 years later.

Why should I be ashamed of my Union lineage?

Two photographs set Maribeth Brannen on a genealogical journey: One was of her great-great-grandfather, a major with the Union Army’s cavalry; the other was of her husband’s great-great-grandfather, a Confederate private who lost two fingers in the Battle of Atlanta. Brannen was proud of her heritage but soon found that no group in Georgia recognized direct female descendants of Union veterans.

A mission to honor Confederate ancestors, not spark political debates

Monty Johnson says her mission is clear: She leads an organization that honors Civil War ancestors, educates people on the war’s importance, and supports modern-day veterans. She does not spark political debates about slavery or the Confederate flag.

THE CIVIL WAR ISSUE

For eight hours on the blazing day of July 22, 1864, 74,000 young men fought on the rolling terrain of southeast Atlanta. As the cannon smoke cleared and each side retreated, the four-mile-long field of combat held the bodies of more than 12,000 dead or wounded soldiers.
Read more from deputy editor Rebecca Burns about how the events of war shaped Atlanta

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