Altlanta's Defenses

Atlanta was vital to the Confederacy. Long before Sherman moved against it, the city was enclosed by strong defensive works prepared at great expense. Sherman's engineer found the fortifications ^'too strong to assault and too extensive to invest,'

IN THE UNCERTAIN SPRING of 1863, Atlanta was not an old

city. Less than 30 years before, its site had been a lonely crossroads in a sparsely inhabited wilderness through which stage coaches and freight wagons plied between the thriving towns of Decatur, Xewnan, and Campbellton. But the joining of four rail lines had given it birth, and the bitterly fought war for Southern independ­ence, then beginning its third indecisive year, had raised it to first importance as a manufacturing center. Both from it and through it, long trains of supplies-arms, ammunition, subsistence, forage- flowed to Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and to Bragg's Army of Tennessee.

By 1863, Atlanta had become both the industrial and the trans­portation center of Georgia-and Georgia was the heartland of the Confederacy. Without Georgia, the Confederacy would be split in two. Without Atlanta, the two great Confederate armies east of the Mississippi River could not long endure.

DESPITE its increasing productivity, and its sole direct rail link between the Eastern and the Western Confederacy, nothing had been done to protect Atlanta from a daring enemy raid. One swift blow would suffice to destroy its factories and foundries, its railway shops and depots of supplies. With them would go Atlanta's vital rolling mill, one of only two in the Confederacy, which produced rails for the overtaxed railroads and armor plate for the gunboats and rams on the Confederacy's western waters. Although Atlanta was usually crowded with casuals and convalescents, and a few localdefense companies had been raised, these would be of little use without adequate fortifications.

The Streight Raid, in April of that year, had stirred an active realization of the danger. Although the vigilance and daring of the great Confederate cavalry leader Forrest had destroyed that force at the Georgia-Alabama line, near Rome, others would be sent. One of them might elude interception and gain its objective.

On May 22 Congressman L. J. Gartrell, in a letter to the Secretary of War, initiated corrective action. He enclosed a letter to himself in which Maj. G. W. Lee, who commanded the Post of Atlanta, had stated that the enemy was well aware that "the State road [now the L&N] is a vital artery, and Atlanta the largest depot of supplies of the Confederate States; and they know that to burn and destroy these would be almost to 'break the backbone of the rebellion.' " The fall of Vicksburg, on July 4, gave these letters added weight.

FROM THE NORTH, as well as from the older cities of the South, men of talent and means had been drawn by the rich promise of the railroads to the raw settlement which became Atlanta. Among them was Lemuel P. Grant, a native of Maine. In 1840, he had entered the employ of the Georgia Railroad, then building toward Atlanta, as a construction engineer. In 1849, he became chief engi­neer of the Atlanta 8c La Grange road (now the A&WP), the new settlement's unfinished link with Montgomery, Alabama.

Like many other Northerners who had settled in the South, Lemuel Grant had cast his lot with the Confederacy. A captain of Engineers, he was busily engaged in maintaining the war-worn rail­roads in North Georgia when he received a new assignment.

In a letter dated July 16, 1863, Col. J. F. Gilmer, Chief of the Confederate Bureau of Engineers, directed Grant "to examine care­fully, with a view to a proper system of defense, the approaches to, and the vicinity of, Atlanta." Grant was further directed to consult with Col. M. H. Wright, a West Point graduate, who in addition to Ordnance duties in Atlanta, was charged with local defense. All necessary funds, Grant was assured, would be furnished upon his request.

The topography of the area lent itself to the purpose. Although no major stream blocked immediate approach from any direction, the city nestled among protecting hills and ridges. These features provided ideal sites for the key points of a defensive system. After consulting with Wright, Grant had accurate surveys made and the country between Atlanta and the Chattahoochee River mapped, in­cluding the various crossings.

GRANT faced no easy task. Once the surveys were completed, tools, teams, and wagons must be procured in considerable quan­tities. Plantation owners must be persuaded to furnish labor. Al­though Grant was authorized to pay $25 per month for each Negro furnished, plus rations, "plank shelter," and medical care, many owners were loath to trust valuable hands to the care of strange overseers. In addition, a great deal of private property must be destroyed to clear the way for construction. Suburban houses oc­cupied commanding hills. Barns, orchards, gardens, and improve­ments of every nature adjoined them. All these must go. And in order 10 clear fields of fire, the timber must be cut down for a distance of 900 to 1,000 yards in front of the works. But Grant set about placating the owners. He let nothing delay his surveys. Al­ready accustomed to making sacrifices for their cherished cause, few persons protested.

Grant moved swiftly. On August 4, he reported to Gilmer that he had "commenced defensive works at the Ferries on the Chatta­hoochee River" which at Wright's advice "will be small, such as will be effective against Cavalry Raids."

"The question of defensive works around Atlanta," he continued, "is somewhat embarrassing. To make them effective will require a cordon of enclosed works within supporting distance of each other. The line will be between 10 and 12 miles in extent, and the points which must be occupied will be, perhaps, 12 to 15 in number, in­volving an expenditure second only to the defense of Richmond.As soon as the small works on the River are completed, we propose to commence around the City."

On the llth, Gilmer approved both projects. In his letter he gave his views as to how the defenses should be constructed.

On the 17th, Grant reported that "progress on the defenses of Atlanta is satisfactory. The small works at (the river) are nearly completed and we have three batteries in progress for the immediate defense of the city. The plan decided upon by Col. Wright and myself will meet your instructions fully."

ROUTINE reports kept Gilmer informed but, November 1, Grant was requested by the Chief Engineer, Army of Tennessee, then besieging Rosecrans' army in Chattanooga, to furnish him with a detailed report of his progress.

"The Defenses of Atlanta," he replied, "consist of Redoubts and Rifle Pits. The former (are) generally intended for five guns each. The contour of the eminences around the City is such that the re­doubts seemed to me to be the most economical plan. Of these, we have 17, of which 4 are unfinished. The length of the line is about 7 1/2 miles, averaging about l 1/4 miles from the center of the city."

Early in December, Gilmer visited Atlanta to inspect the works. He approved both the plan and the progress, and authorized addi­tional funds.

Although handicapped by the lack of an experienced draughts­man, Grant was able on April 12, 1864 to submit a comprehensive plan of the defenses and scale drawings of the batteries. The fortified line, most of which had been completed, was over 10 miles long. Of 19 batteries sited on the main line, 15 had been completed, three lacked platforms, and one had not been built. An interior battery lacked platforms. Of five exterior batteries, not connected by rifle pits, one was ready for use but four lacked platforms. Later these batteries were included in an extended plan and an interior battery was added. The amount of damage done to private property was assessed at $250,000.

THE CAMPAIGN FOR ATLANTA opened in May. As the larger and better equipped Union forces pressed the Army of Tennessee back upon Atlanta, Grant cooperated with Lt. Col. S. W. Presstman, that army's Chief Engineer, in completing the extended works. These extensions increased the length of the line to nearly 12 miles.

When at last the Army of Tennessee fell back into the defenses of Atlanta, they found a secure refuge. "Too strong to assault and too extensive to invest," the vast perimeter of forts and obstacles caused Capt. O. M. Poe, Sherman's Chief Engineer, to recommend that no attempt at assault be made. The cost would be too great and success unlikely.

"They completely encircled the city," Poe reported, "at a distance of about one and a half miles from the center and consisted of a system of batteries, open to the rear and connected by infantry parapets, with complete abatis, in some places in three or four rows, with rows of pointed stakes, and long lines of chevaux-de-frise. In many places rows of palisading were planted along the foot of the exterior slope of the infantry parapet with sufficient openings be­tween the timbers to permit the infantry fire, if carefully delivered, to pass freely through it, but not sufficient to permit a person to pass through, and having a height of twelve to fourteen feet. The ground in front of these palisades was always completely swept by fire from the adjacent batteries, which enabled a very small force to hold them."

So long as the Army of Tennessee remained in Atlanta to man these defenses, no Union soldier set foot within them except as a prisoner of war. When, six weeks later, the city was lost, it was not by force of arms. Intrigue in Richmond led to Hood's replace­ment of Johnston and opened the way for Sherman to pass his army safely around the city and destroy the railroad which supplied it. Without supplies, the defenders could not remain.

TODAY Atlanta's proud defenses have almost disappeared. The city which, a century ago, nestled safely inside them, has since grown far beyond their former sites. But in 1882 a man noted for his philanthropies gave to his adopted city 100 acres of rolling woodland for a public park. On its most dominant hill, old Fort Walker, a small bastion on the extended line, remains intact. Fit­tingly, this park, in which the lone surviving example of his engi­neering skill has been so carefully preserved, bears the name of its donor: L. P. Grant.

-Col. Alien P. Julian.