Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign

Civil War America

by Earl J. Hess

While fighting his way toward Atlanta, William T. Sherman encountered his biggest roadblock at Kennesaw Mountain, where Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee held a heavily fortified position. The opposing armies confronted each other from June 19 to July 3, 1864, and Sherman initially tried to outflank the Confederates. His men endured heavy rains, artillery duels, sniping, and a fierce battle at Kolb's Farm before Sherman decided to directly attack Johnston's position on June 27. Kennesaw Mountain tells the story of an important phase of the Atlanta campaign. Historian Earl J. Hess explains how this battle, with its combination of maneuver and combat, severely tried the patience and endurance of the common soldier and why Johnston's strategy might have been the Confederates' best chance to halt the Federal drive toward Atlanta. He gives special attention to the engagement at Kolb's Farm on June 22 and Sherman's assault on June 27. A final section explores the Confederate earthworks preserved within the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, Nonfiction, American History, Historical, Military History

344 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2013

About the author

Earl J. Hess is Stewart W. McClelland Chair in History at Lincoln Memorial University and the author of numerous books on the Civil War.

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good account of the battle. Maps are not always the best but as with Hess' best work it contains a good analysis of tactics and leadership.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It occurred to me in reading this book that when we talk about the concept of leadership, we are often given to talking about commanding generals like Lee or Grant or Sherman. But the majority of leadership takes place on the battle lines. Well loved, brave, creative, commanding, brilliant, and inspiring leadership was demonstrated by innumerable battlefield leaders.
Big take away: real leaders tend to die.

[Steve Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read of the battle of Kennesaw Mountain and especially the tactics Sherman and his generals used in the battle. Also a nice discussion of Sherman's reasons for the battle and comparison of other of his headlong attacks. Very detailed on the units in the battle on both sides. If you know a relative's unit then you can kind of trace his activities at the battle. Lots of maps which makes it easier to follow what is happening as the battle is usually described in terms of brigades and regiments. Recommended.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earl Hess has written a number of books on the Atlanta campaign - this book offers a nice overview of the Kennesaw Mountain portion of the campaign. It covers the battle, turning motion, and how the battle fits into the overall campaign. Hess offers analysis of the tactical approach taken by both Sherman and Johnston.
The book contains an appendix where Hess catalogues the remains of Union and Confederate entrenchments that can be viewed today on the battlefield.

[Robert Boney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this after my last visit to Kennesaw Mountain. It is a great guide to go hand-in-hand with a physical exploration of the fortifications. It was great to place names and units with the places on the battlefield. It was also great to follow the course of the battle and having a hands-on experience at the sight. I highly recommend a read of this book if you ever visit Kennesaw Mountain.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story overwhelmed by needless minutiae.

[Bob R Bogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the preface to this book Earl J Hess explains that it began as a study of the preserved earthworks at Kennesaw Mountain which morphed into an account of the battle which occurred here. If you have a particular military interest in the science of earthworks, then the appendix, Kennesaw after the War, is made for you: the rest of us can safely omit reading most of it. The question that arises is whether transferring one kind of project into another kind of book is likely to succeed. In this case, the answer is yes.

I'd had a little trepidation about this book when another reader cautioned me that this one doesn't necessarily measure up for a Hess book. All I can say is that I've read (and reviewed) a number of American Civil War books, and while a certain fraction of them fall into the trap of charting out geospatial movements on a regiment-by-regiment basis so that eventually your eyes begin to glaze over, this is far from one of those kinds of books. In fact I found myself supremely impressed by how concise Hess' narrative is, even while being heartily and liberally strewn with extremely interesting small anecdotes recorded by an endless parade of witnesses, be they letters from privates or the correspondence of the vast panoply of generals whose stars gleam so fervently in the overall Civil War story by the time of the episode of Kennesaw Mountain. Naturally this abundant stew of tiny personal details embraces both proponent points of view from either side of the parallel trenches. The effect of the wealth of particulars stirred into the concise narrative is extremely effective and I found the book to be endlessly compelling. The actual title of the book ― Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston and the Atlanta Campaign ― is misleading. There's a good deal written here about Johnston and Sherman, but they do not predominate in this most democratic medley of voices.

Of course the story of Kennesaw Mountain is inextricably bound up in judgments about one man: William T Sherman. I'll only make a few observations here in that regard. The first is the well-known phenomenon of aficionados of the American Civil War being surprisingly ― or maybe not so surprisingly ― susceptible to allowing their knowledge of how the story turns out to color their impressions or interpretations of events which unfolded in real time. That is to say, it's worth bearing in mind that even if Sherman's various Corps leaders weren't wildly enthusiastic about the assault on Kennesaw Mountain before the effort was made, at the time there was not yet a possible flanking route known to Sherman who, at any event, was trying to protect his supply line, the railroad linking his army back to Chattanooga, and to prevent Johnston from detaching troops to assist Lee at Petersburg. In real life decisions must be made in real time. Another consideration is this: it is conceivable that a breakthrough could have succeeded: personally I'd think it more like to have succeeded around Pigeon Hill than at Cheatham's Hill, but that's just my opinion. I found it ironic to learn from this book that while soldiers from George Thomas' Corps were the most embittered by their experience, they were also the ones who insisted that with a little more effort and support they could have achieved a breakthrough. To my reading, they are also the most unintentionally supportive of Sherman's approach.

Which brings up a final matter, which is how the book affects my own thinking and understanding of the battle. I've already said that it's an impressively concise narrative. I also come away having a clearer understanding of the battlefield acumen of both Sherman and Johnston; Johnston in particular emerges a bit more impressive in my estimation. This is not because Sherman "lost" and Johnston "won" at Kennesaw ― which is somewhat true but also a deceptive oversimplification ― but because of the daunting skill Johnston demonstrated as a strategist at Kennesaw, and most particularly at how effectively he withdrew from his lines. We can argue endlessly about Johnston's lack of an aggressive capacity, and I've been having that argument with myself for several years now, but this book sold me that he was masterful at what he was doing and wasn't simply running away. I understand Sherman's being impressed with Johnston a little better, even if I don't fully agree with Sherman's positive impression of Johnston's overall generalship.

As usual, comments can be made about the maps appearing in a Civil War book. These could be a little better, but they're not bad.

[Richard Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad history of the battles surrounding Kennesaw Mountain, but it considerable detail. Sometimes I felt I was slogging along with the soldiers. As someone who lives one mile from the battlefield park and drives all the roads frequently, I had only two problems with the book. One was that the it wasn't equally balanced between the federals under Sherman and the confederates under Johnston. As I was reading I was aware of a bias towards the stories and sketches toward the federal movements and that might have been as a result of written history since it is well known that the GAR controlled much of what was published about the Civil War for many years--to the victor goes the right to write the history. A quick check of the index bears this out as Johnston was mentioned on only 34 pages, while Sherman got a mention of 68. My impression in reading was a two to one advantage. My second complaint was with the sketch maps. They were well drawn and easy to read, but contained no orientation arrows. Having lived on this land for twenty years I sometimes felt the terrain features were pointed in the wrong direction and had trouble orienting the movements to the terrain. Also had trouble distinguishing between forces of the north and south. Otherwise the maps were easy to read as unrelated features were deleted. This was a slow read for me and I could only digest a few pages at a time.

[Aaron Shipman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Mr. Hess set out to write a history of the battle trying to objectively show both sides of the story. For the most part, I find that Mr. Hess was able to accomplish his goal. Before reading the book, I had little knowledge of the battle. I knew that Sherman threw his army at Johnston's lines and was repulsed and that is all. After reading the book, I now know that the battle was basically a reconnaissance in force; and a bloody one at that.
My complaints about the book are the maps. Even though Mr. Hess kept saying that Sherman was wanting to turn Johnston's left and he kept extending his lines with the hope of turning the flank, I thought that the battle was fought on the right, or east, side of the mountain. At times, I felt as though the book slowed way down and I was dogging up the mountain and through the forest with the troops and not in a good way. There are some authors who use primary sources to good affect, and in this book Mr. Hess does this, but he also, at times, over uses the sources.
Even with the few negatives, this book is still a worthwhile read. It has made me want to further study the Atlanta campaign and fill in the gaps about the campaign that I do not know. To me, this is what a good book does; it gives the reader a new perspective on its topic and makes the reader want to further study the topic and this book does that for me.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're only going to read 1 book about the battles around Johnston's Kennesaw Mountain line, this is the one to choose. He objectively discusses the placement of the Confederate fortifications in great detail, faulty tactics on both sides (Hood failed to do any reconnaisance before he attacked at Kolb's Farm and was soundly defeated; the main Union assault on 6/27 used columns of troops instead of lines of battle), successful Union flanking tactics and the post-battle & post-war blame game on both sides. One of the best parts of the book is at the end where the author discusses how the battlefield was preserved after the war. It has some of the finest remaining trenches. The author has extensively walked along the battle lines and put sketches of remaining fortifications from his field notes in the back of the book.

[Damon Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but not great book. I generally enjoy Earl J. Hess' writing, but this was weakest book of his that I have read (I have read/own three of his other books, one he co-authored) It felt either rushed or that he cobbled the book together from other notes that he had from other projects. Still it was enjoyable and needed. Not enough has been written about the Atlanta Campaign, or the Battles to take Atlanta. Maps were good, better then average but no complete Order of Battle for the two armies.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid history of this Civil War battle that breaks little new ground but (unsurprisingly, considering the author's previous works) emphasizes the role of fieldworks. I usually don't read standard battle histories for my personal or professional development, but I grew up just down the road from Kennesaw Mountain, and I wrote my MA thesis on this engagement. Still, for what it is, it's pretty good, particularly it's maps which many battle studies don't include enough of.

[Paul Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a Civil war guy and living in the Atlanta area, I was obligated to pick this guy up. If I regularly use 'abatis' in your conversation about the Civil War, you'll 'get' this book. If you don't (me), but you're willing to spend a little time on what battle tactics REALLY were like, give this guy a go. The gist of the battle is simple enough, the scale narrow enough, you get a decent feel for things. The text would be better served by a "Civil War Tactics for Dummies" appendix.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kennesaw Mountain is a very readable account of Sherman's campaign towards Atlanta and the battle at Kennesaw Mountain One improvement would be to show the battle lines on the maps instead of just terrain features. Otherwise it is a good addition to the American Civil War library. There are exxtensive notations from many references.

[Linda]

Reviewed for PW

[Matthew Ericson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hess as usual provides excellent insight and analysis. Maps are always good.

[William P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather detailed battle book about a really somewhat unknow battle.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting narrative for a battle I knew very little about. Hess is a very good writer, and presents the information in an engaging and interesting manner.

[James Boling]

Topic that interests me but the book didn't hold my interest. Maybe will retry later.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A blow-by-blow battle book that may be interesting to those who are really into tactics, but it is hard to find anything worth reading in this book if you are looking for strategic implications of the battle.

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