Civil War News
16
The Atlanta Papers
The Atlanta Papers cover and spine. Working to offset a deficit in published material on the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, former U.S. Army officer Sydney C. Kerksis compiled The Atlanta Papers, which Morningside Bookshop published in 1980. Drawing from various Federal sources, Kerksis collected 29 first-person accounts, and closed with one of his own – ‘Action at Gilgal Church, Georgia, June 15th–16th, 1864.’ Researchers of this military action in Georgia will receive help from the information found in the Papers. In the introduction to the compilation, Kerksis lamented the lack of published material on this campaign (thankfully, since
Kennesaw Line map.
February 2019 solid foundation for a renewal of more than the old regard and affection.” Next month, we will resume our look at The Atlanta Papers, and examine the various sources Kerksis consulted to compile this volume. Remember to check WorldCat www.worldcat.org for help in finding this book in a local library; search The Atlanta Papers + Kerksis. Continued good luck in researching the Civil War!
1980, several historians have published accounts, and more have narratives in the works), and praised the opening recollections of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Stone as “…the best and most accurate coverage of the campaign written.” Stone’s account does not disappoint. In four parts, covering 150 pages, Major General George Thomas’s former staff officer began with ‘Opening of the Campaign,’ where he recounted action from the opening salvos through the Battle of Resaca. The title of Stone’s second paper, ‘From the Oostanaula to the Chattahoochee,’ follows the armies after Resaca, to General Joseph E. Johnston’s occupation of the Chattahoochee River Line with his Army of Tennessee. This writer often researches the Chattahoochee River Line and found Stone’s description of the Confederate defensive position quite interesting. “The high ridge…was most elaborately fortified…a formidable obstruction…the most difficult position yet encountered….” The next paper in Stone’s series, ‘The Siege and Capture of Atlanta, July 9 to September 8, 1864;’ he closed
with a look at ‘The Strategy of the Campaign.’ Few photographs populate this book; images of various contributors (most as older gentlemen) along with a Lee A. Wallace Jr. penned biography of each, supplement a small number of maps; the best of the maps, the Kennesaw Mountain Line (shown). Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Palfrey authored Paper No. 5, ‘General Sherman’s Plans After the Fall of Atlanta.’ Colonel Robert N. Adams of the 81st Ohio Infantry penned ‘Campaign for Atlanta,’ followed by Captain James Compton of the 52nd Illinois Infantry, and his recollections of ‘The Second Division of the 16th Army Corps, in the Atlanta Campaign.’ Major Stephen Pierson supplied an insightful account in Paper No. 9: ‘From Chattanooga to Atlanta in 1864…A Personal Reminiscence.’ Of note, one citation in Pierson’s story beckons remembrance today. In quoting another officer, Pierson suggested the blue and the gray fought, doing “…all that is possible for soldiers to do, fighting their way to a mutual respect which is the
Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Georgia Writers Association. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@ gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements, via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow
Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.
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