Rocky Face Ridge is the site of the start of the Union Army’s Atlanta Campaign. U.S. Major General Sherman, with his 110,100-man army group, opened the Atlanta Campaign on May 8 with an attack on General Johnston’s 54,500 Confederates on the precipitous Rocky Face Ridge, which offered protection by artillery and earthworks. Unable to take the ridge, Sherman sent a force west and south toward Resaca; Johnston moved south, and the U. S. IV Corps occupied Dalton. The campaign ended in September with the fall of Atlanta.
The Conservation Fund led a multi-year effort that protected 625 acres on the long, wooded ridge that lies east of the interstate. The owners of adjacent land carried the preservation of the ridge forward by donating 35 acres.
This outstanding partnership included the city of Dalton, the
Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia , the
Dalton/Whitfield Chamber of Commerce , the
Georgia Community Greenspace Program , the Looper Family, the Gilder Foundation, the
National Park Service , Rex Investments, the
Turner Foundation , and Whitfield County.
Time Magazine’s “Living The Civil War”
This video from
Time and photographer Gregg Segal shows how development has affected Civil War battlefields today.
View the video on Time's website .
Learn More
Our Civil War Battlefield Conservation Efforts
Conservation Acquisition
