Civil War 150th Anniversary | Georgia State Parks

did you know . . . | featured sites . . . | events . . . | gacivilwar.org

Welcome to the Georgia State Parks, Recreation & Historic Sites web page commemorating
the sesquicentennial of the War Between the States.

"All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers."
François Fénelon,French Theologian


DID YOU KNOW . . .
		Barbette: A raised platform or mound allowing an artillery piece to be fired over a fortification's walls without exposing the gun crew to enemy fire.
		Cash Crop: A crop such as tobacco or cotton which was grown to be sold for cash --not grown for food like corn or wheat.
		Defilade (pronounced DEH-fih-lade): To arrange walls, embankments and other features of a fortification or field work so that the enemy cannot make an accurate shot inside.
		Dysentery (pronounced DISS-ehn-terr-ee): Intestinal disease causing severe diarrhea. Dysentery was a leading cause of deaths by disease.
		Fortification: Something that makes a defensive position stronger, like high mounds of earth to protect cannon or spiky breastworks to slow an enemy charge. Fortifications may be man-made structures or a part of the natural terrain. Man-made fortifications could be permanent (mortar or stone) or temporary (wood and soil). Natural fortifications could include waterways, forests, hills and mountains, swamps and marshes.
		Mason-Dixon Line: A boundary surveyed in the 1760s that ran between Pennsylvania to the North and Delaware, Maryland and (West) Virginia to the South. It became a symbolic division between free states and slave states.
		Napoleonic Tactics: The tactics used by Napoleon Bonaparte that were studied by military men and cadets at West Point before the Civil War. His tactics were brilliant for the technology of warfare at the time he was fighting. However, by the Civil War, weapons had longer ranges and were more accurate than they had been in Napoleon’s day.
		Picket: Soldiers posted on guard ahead of a main force. Pickets included about 40 or 50 men each. Several pickets would form a rough line in front of the main army's camp. In case of enemy attack, the pickets usually would have time to warn the rest of the force.
		Regiment: The basic unit of the Civil War soldiers, usually made up of 1,000 to 1,500 men. Regiments were usually designated by state and number (as in 20th Maine). 1 company = 50 to 100 men / 10 companies = 1 regiment / about 4 regiments = 1 brigade / 2 to 5 brigades = 1 division / 2 or more divisions = 1 corps / 1 or more corps = 1 army.
		Torpedo Boats: Small submersible vessels with long wooden spars mounted on the bow for ramming enemy ships. Torpedoes were lashed to the tip of the spar to explode on impact.
		more "DID YOU KNOW" . . .
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Featured Civil War Sites Map for Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites

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FEATURED SITES . . .

A.H. Stephens State Historic Park, Crawfordville:

A.H. Stephens was the Vice President of the Confederacy and a governor of Georgia Upcoming commemorations will include a 200th Anniversary of Stephens birth in Feb. 2012 and his arrest in May 2015.

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Battle of Resaca

A 500+ acre state historic site protecting a large portion of the Resaca Battlefield is being planned and will soon be under development. The Friends of Resaca Battlefield and Gordon County are preserving and interpreting a hill on the Battlefield used by both Federal and Confederate forces. A 150th anniversary of Battle is planned for 2014.

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Fort McAllister State Historic Park, Richmond Hill:

This is the site where Sherman ended his “March to the Sea” in 1864. Planned commemorations will mark the battle of C.S.S. Nashville vs. U.S.S. Montauk in 2013 and the Capture of Fort McAllister in 2014.

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Fort Morris State Historic Site, Midway:

Fort Morris is best known for its role in the Revolutionary War against the British under the command of Col John McIntosh and years later in the War of 1812. However, fortifications here were also utilized during the Civil War.

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High Falls State Park

This park is located on a site that was once a busy industrial area. During the Civil War the original grist mill was burned down by Confederates to prevent the capture of stored supplies. The grist mill was later rebuilt and operated until 1960.

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Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation State Historic Site, Brunswick:

This beautiful former rice plantation is a wonderful example of life during the war. Demonstrations of Civil War Home Life are on-going through 2015 and the anniversary of the Battle of Darien will be commemorated in 2013.

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Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site, Juliette:

This was a thriving 600-acre cotton plantation in 1860, farmed by slaves, that somehow survived Sherman’s “March to the Sea.” The anniversary of the Battle of Griswoldville will be commemorated in Nov. 2014.

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Jefferson Davis Memorial State Historic Site, Fitzgerald:

This site is operated by Irwin County and commemorates the flight and capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in May 1865.

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Magnolia Spring State Park, Millen:

During the last days of the Civil War, the Confederates built a prison camp near Millen, Georgia, at a site called Camp Lawton. The location is now Magnolia Springs State Park. In the spring of 2010, archaeologists from Georgia Southern University discovered artifacts from Camp Lawton on the property of Bo Ginn National Fish Hatchery. The find may be one of the most pristine Civil War archaeological sites found in decades.

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Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Historic Site, Dallas:

This battlefield is one of the best preserved in the nation. Visitors can walk along the same roads and ravines where Confederate and Federal troops walked and died. Earthworks are still in pristine condition. A Confederate victory here in 1864 delayed the advance on Atlanta for about a week. A battle anniversary is planned for June 2014.

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Red Top Mountain State Park / Allatoona Pass, Cartersville:

The Battle of Allatoona Pass, fought on October 5, 1864, is one of the most dramatic and tragic episodes of the Civil War. A large portion of this battlefield remains in a condition little changed since the time of the battle including a spectacular railroad cut through solid rock, two well-preserved earth forts with extensive undisturbed trenches and outworks, a classic antebellum plantation house and the grave of the unknown hero of the battle. Reenactments of the “General” chase at Allatoona in 2012 and the battle anniversary in 2014 are planned.

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Robert Toombs House State Historic Site

Robert Toombs served as a state legislator U.S. Congressman, Senator and briefly as Confederate Secretary of State before resigning to become a brigadier general in the Army of Northern Virginia. His Georgia home and grounds are now operated by Wilkes County. The attempted arrest and flight of Robert Toombs will be commemorated in May 2015.

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Skidaway Island State Park

The park protects a portion of one of Georgia's barrier islands. Many of the coastal islands, including Skidaway, were used to defend Savannah during the Civil War with earthwork fortifications and mortar batteries.

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Sweetwater Creek State Park

This site houses the 5-story ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company, a textile mill that was burned down during the Civil War. Regular history hikes are held at the park that bring visitors inside the ruins.

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Traveler's Rest State Historic Site

Built around 1815, this stagecoach inn and plantation house is a good representation of life on the home front during the war. It is open to the public the first Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

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Wormsloe State Historic Site

Wormsloe Plantation was established in 1737 by Noble Jones one of the first British colonists in the area. The site includes a plantation house built by Noble Jones' grandson in 1828, a detached library, the ruins of a fortified house, a mile-long drive bordered by large oaks, and Confederate earthworks. Wormsloe fell into Union hands after troops were removed from nearby Fort Wimberly on December 19, 1864. Two days later the city of Savannah fell.

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MORE DID YOU KNOW . . .
		Virginia saw the most "action" with more than 5500 recorded battles within her borders. However, California had six engagements. Oregon had four recorded engagements. New Mexico saw as many as 19 battles. Utah, Idaho, and Washington Territory saw skirmishes as well.
		Senator George B. Crittenden of Kentucky had two sons. One became and Union major general. The other a Confederate major general.
		Confederate cavalry general JEB Stuart's chief of staff was Major H.B. McClellan who not only had four brothers that fought for the north, but had a first cousin, General George B. McClellan who commanded the North's Army of the Potomac.
		The entire war cost the United States government about $2,500,000 per day.
		Alcatraz, the famous prison in San Francisco Bay was a Civil War fortress.
		The practice of “drafting” men into the army began during the Civil War.
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