Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
- Jason A. Sumner
- Aug 23
- 8 min read
Living History Program - Saturday 16th - Sunday, 17th August, 2025
We were honored to return to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Kennesaw, Georgia, for another weekend of living history. The weekend consisted of portraying both our Federal and Confederate designations while presenting many incredible artifacts in addition to multiple brief infantry demonstrations and programs. It remains a great privilege for us to conduct these educational programs, and we are very grateful to have the opportunity to work with the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park staff.
Highpoints in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain occurred on the 27th day of June in 1864 as General William T. Sherman's push upon Atlanta continued. Here, he would move his army group consisting of the 1) Army of the Cumberland commanded by Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, 2) Army of the Tennessee commanded by Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, and 3) Army of the Ohio commanded by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield against the Confederate Army of Tennessee's Position at Kennesaw Mountain. General Joseph E. Johnston had committed to fighting a defensive campaign in defense of Atlanta. The advantage of this particular ground and terrain afforded Johnston a superior view of Federal movements to his front and provided an easily defensible location from which to hold Federal forces, ensuring heavy losses in any direct assault upon his position. As Johnston correctly contends, any action must be undertaken in a manner to cause as much damage and injury unto the Federal invaders as was possible, the careful selection of this ground was decided upon for that very reason.
The Fighting upon Cheatham Hill
The Army of the Cumberland was the largest of the three present Federal Forces and would provide the main effort at Cheatham Hill and the assault at the "Dead Angle." This particular fight would include the IV Corps (Newton's Division), XIV Corps, and the XX Corps. Further, the Army of the Cumberland would suffer the heaviest casualties while undertaking the frontal assault on Cheatham Hill.
The Fighting at Pigeon Hill
The Army of the Tennessee would be engaged at Pigeon Hill and Little Kennesaw, with assaults stalled due to difficulties in navigating the rugged terrain, obstructions constructed by the Confederate defenders and the strong network of Confederate earthworks. This army would later be withdrawn and committed to a flanking maneuver southward.
A reason the hill provided an effective location for the placement of defenses, was that the ground, located just north of Burnt Hickory Rd, commanded a steep slope, about 1300 feet above sea level in elevation. Here, the Confederates were entrenched amid rocky outcroppings, dense vegetation and a well-constructed series of entrenchments, which offered protection from Federal Rifle Fire.
The Fighting at Kolb Farm
The Army of Ohio would be deployed to hold the Federal right flank and faced Hood's Corps (Including Stevenson's Division with the 31st Alabama Infantry Regiment) near Kolb's Farm. This army mainly engaged in skirmishing and artillery exchanges during the assault on the 27th of June, but had seen much heavier combat in the fighting on the 22nd as part of Hood's failed attack upon the Federal Position at Kolb Farm. Hood, at the time of his assault, had argued its necessity as a counterattack, as he believed the Federal forces to his front were moving on his flank. The Confederate losses at Kolb Farm are estimated to be around 1,500, with Federal losses numbering around 250.
Living History Program
We were absolutely delighted to return to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park for a weekend of living history and interactions with the public. Our encampment featured new artifacts and modifications to our former displays from our previous program in 2024. Despite the heat and some minor "rain," the weekend was quite pleasant.
For this year's program, we portrayed the 79th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on Saturday and the 31st Alabama Infantry Regiment on Sunday. Each day, we conducted demonstrations in front of the visitor's center for the public. The video at the top of the article is one of the demonstrations from Saturday, August 16th.
We are incredibly lucky to work with both Amanda and Jake at Kennesaw Mountain. Not only are they wonderful hosts, it is evident from all they do in their respective roles at Kennesaw Mountain that they very much love the park and this era within our nation's history. They have made our experiences with the park absolutely memorable and enjoyable.
Sleeping under the stars
Ah, there's nothing quite like a sore back from sleeping on the ground under the open sky! With all jokes aside, our boys do appreciate the accuracy and simplicity of this form of camping, as one remains mostly unencumbered from their efforts in the field, given the lack of materials to maintain and deploy, and then re-pack the following day. Though we set up a fair amount of canvas for our encampment, most of our members slept on the ground with their gum blanket and a coverlets or emergency blanket. Here, knapsacks served as pillows, and hope served as a principal element in one's wishes concerning the elements and the possibility of unpleasant and unwanted attention from the mid-afternoon thunderstorms. Despite a few thunder clouds in the distance as well as a brief rain on Saturday evening, those who resided in these beds remained dry and comfortable.
As for myself, I enjoyed the creature comforts of canvas over my head and a canvas bedroll on which to lay upon. This is a typical bedding situation in the field for me and is quite representative of what many junior or company-level officers had in the era. The box, not so much, but the ground cloth and bedroll, yes. Some officers may have been afforded the luxury of a cot or rope-bed; however, this was more so for a winter quarters and not one in which an army found itself on the constant move.
Any officer would have an administrative function or role in which to attend, and this often required the collection and care of documents essential for field operational records and reporting/communication of specific information to superiors. For our particular company, all items of paperwork (Period and Modern) are housed here. Typically, many of these field desks were constructed from used hard tack crates and the like. My particular field desk is the product and fine craftsmanship of Todd from Top Hat's Sutlery. In addition to the physical piece, I always take care to display period publications, letters, and other materials that would have been common on an officer's desk and table in the field. These items have been sourced from several different period sutlers and have been very well made.
In addition to a field desk, a table was also utilized for this year's program, which featured a number of unique items for the public's review. From a period ledger of the company's morning reports to a recruitment flyer and period currency (original, not reproduction). Regarding the currency, many of the notes have been acquired through collecting and purchase at a few great spots in the area in which I reside in North East Alabama; however, one of the notes has a rather special meaning to me as it was acquired through my family, having been passed along over many generations and being the only item belonging to the family from this period. It is pictured here and is the note on the bottom left, to the right of the recruitment flyer. The other assorted value notes are mostly Confederate Capitol notes, with one Greenback in the mix, it being a Twenty-five Cent note. There are additionally several coins displayed, with one from 1847, and the others being from 1863 and 1864.
For this particular display, there are two uniform featured, one being a Confederate Officer's Frock Coat (Left), based upon that of Otis T. Baker of the 10th Mississippi, and made by Andrew Kasmer of Beauregard's Tailor. The other being a Union or Federal Junior Officer's Frock Coat (Right), with black velvet cuffs and collar, also made by Andrew Kasmar, of Beauregard's Tailor. Also present on the table display are artifacts dug from the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (not on Federal Park Property) as well as tinytpes or wetplates that have been made at various events of the company over the past few years. Further, A Model 1850 Foot Officer's Sword (Original), which was produced by the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts.
For the Uniform Display, we featured a number of garments from young Taylor's collection. These uniforms represent a variety of those worn within the rank and file of the Army of Tennessee. Pictured above, one will find a "single-bag knapsack," a drum and wooden canteen, a shell jacket with black "militia trim" sergeant strips, a frock coat of a tan or natural dye, the jacket of the 14th Alabama, as worn by Taylor's ancestor at Sharpsburg, and a non-descript jean wool garment, most likely a civilian cut jacket utilized for service.
Taylor also had a number of period personal items on display, or luxuries if you will. From "essence of coffee," to one's tobacco, soldiers carried a wide assortment of personal items. Some of which brought from home, while others may have been acquired on credit with the sutler attached to the army. These items served to inject some small humility and comfort into a rather terrible conflict and often connected a solider with thoughts of home and family.
The Reager brothers, Dan and Carl, had quite the set up for this weekend's program and display. Soldiers of the period would often take multiple shelter-halves and affix them to one-another to create larger shelters. This example shows what four shelter halves secured together can produce. I cannot speak to the waterproofing of the shelter, but it looked to be quite spacious, as each of these men are much taller than me.
The company weapons display is often a hit with the public given our collection of original and reproduction rifled muskets and swords. Both of which have grown in number this year. Some might argue that we have a problem given our willingness to seek out and acquire more. We'd argue that we have good taste and an excellent reason to continue growing the collection as there are plenty of programs and events ahead of us. This particular display had a number of original and reproduction period long arms featured, from 1861 and 1863 Springfield Rifles to an 1864 Bridesberg Contract, a few 1853 Pattern Enfield Rifles, to name a few among others also present. I won't address the swords, as I do not know which ones the company had on display in the picture above and would not want to misidentify any of them. Our 1st Corporal, John Heintzelman had the weapons station, and we were quite glad to have John back with us after his injury this past April.
Kennesaw Mountain is a very special place for me personally, and the battlefield I grew up visiting. To return as an adult and to put on these programs at this place is an honor and high privilege for me and the members of the c0mpany! We cannot express enough our fondness and appreciation for the staff at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, especially for Amanda and Jake. This event has been a wonderful beginning for our Fall 2025 season which will see the company at Vonore, Tennessee next on the weekend of September 6th and 7th. Thank you for visiting our sight and tagging along as we continue our mission of bringing our history and heritage to life, one event at a time.
Kind Regards,