Sherman’s HQ at Tunnel Hill

On Saturday, May 7th 1864, General Sherman’s Armies began their advance on Dalton in the opening moves of the Atlanta Campaign.

On Saturday, May 7th 1864, General Sherman’s Armies began their advance on Dalton in the opening moves of the Atlanta Campaign.  Very little in the way of resistance was offered by the Confederates as the Federal Armies advanced toward Rocky Face Ridge.  The only notable resistance was from a detachment of Wheeler’s Cavalry at Tunnel Hill.  Here, Howard’s IV Corps and Palmer’s XIV Corps were able to easily drive the Confederate Cavalry from the field and back to Mill Creek Gap at Rocky Face Ridge.  General Sherman soon established his Headquarters at the Clisby-Austin house along the railroad and only a short distance from the tunnel at Tunnel Hill.

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The Clisby-Austin House, Sherman’s HQ May 7 – May 12, 1864
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Living Room of the Clisby-Austin House.  Sherman used this space an office while his HQ was here.
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The house also use as a field hospital on more than one occasion.  The bench to the left is from the Old Stone Church near Ringold, Ga. and still has blood stains from its use as a makeshift bed.
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After the Battle of Chickamauga in September of 1863, General Hood was brought here from a field hospital to recover for a short time before taking a train to Richmond in order to dispel rumors of his death on the battlefield.  This is the room where he stayed to recover.
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The tunnel that Tunnel Hill is named for.  This railroad tunnel was the main supply route for General Sherman’s armies as they advanced on Atlanta.  Had the Confederates blown up the tunnel, the Atlanta Campaign would have faced significant delays and quite possibly could have failed.

Moving Forward

I am planning to move forward on the production of this project and will be hopefully be posting images soon as I edit them.  I have decided to edit in the images following the same time line as General Sherman’s advance through Georgia.  The goal being that I will have some images to display on the anniversary of each event, occupation, etc.  I apologize for the delays, but this is a totally self funded project and I only work on it when I do not have paying shoot and projects.  More Battle of Atlanta Images

Project update

Sorry for the great delay in posting updates.  Things have been pretty busy here at home.  I am still in the process of culling and editing the nearly 40,000 images I have from the project.   I am now at the point where I need to start looking for a publisher, deciding on the final format and size and shape of the book.  I am at the point where I need that information so I can begin to make the creative choices that will determine the final outcome.  I have started to lean away from artistic representations of the the locations and will primarily stick with a traditional documentary style showing the locations for what they currently are, as that is the primary purpose of the book.  The only section I will take some creative license with will be the section of reenactments and special events of the 150th anniversary of the Atlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea.  I hope to be providing some sample images as I continue to move forward.  Thanks for your patients.

Clint

Nice article

Here is a link to an article about another photographer I met along the way while working on the War Was Here project.  His name is Michael Falco and he is a freelance commercial photographer that started the Civil War 150th Pinhole project.  He is a fantastic photographer and I really love the look of the pinhole images from the battlefields. 

Falco’s Article

Resaca Reenactment 2015 Artillery Video

Here is a link to a short video of some of the cannons firing at the 151st Battle of Resaca Reenactment.  This is the Federal Battery during Saturdays Battle. 

Resaca cannons firing

 

Here is another link to the images from the event.

Resaca 2015 images

Battle of Resaca 2015 images

Reenactor friends, sorry for the delay in posting these images, but with the kids getting out of school for the summer and all their activities, I have been swamped.  Here is a link to the images: Battle of Resaca, 2015 and below you will find a few of my favorite images.

On the two images above, if you look close you can see the fire from the vent hole and the above it is a dark blur that is the match.

A couple more of my favorite shots from the 150th Bentonville Reenactment

Waiting for their turn in the trenches.
Digging in with what ever they had.  Cups, plates, shovels axes.

Great posture and balance!

The drum

Col. Ivan Ingrahm
Confederates lined up for

150th Battle of Bentonville Reenactment

This past weekend I was invited by the 10th Iowa (Adjunct) to the 150th Battle of Bentonville reenactment, to come along and photograph their unit.  I have to say that it was an incredible experience with a truly impressive group of reenactors.  Their attention to the detail in their period impressions was incredible.  It was an honor and a pleasure to have the opportunity to photograph such a fine group of reenactors.

Photographs from the reenactment can be seen here:
150th Battle of Bentonville Reenactment

I also have a short video of the 10th Iowa marching into the reenactment of Saturday morning.  They camped off site on Friday night and on Saturday morning they marched over 8 miles.  They even did a little foraging for food along the way.  If you look close you can see a few chickens.  Be patient with the video, it takes about 12 seconds before it starts.
150th Bentonville March

For some reason, this image below is one of my favorite.  A soldiers feet take them everywhere they need to go. 

These boots have traveled many a mile to sway the tide of battle.

Back to work!

Folks, I am sorry for not posting in such a long while, but honestly with the holidays and my participation in a few other projects, one with the Atlanta History Center, I have been a bit taxed for time.  I am now back on task and moving forward with the completing the documentary.  I will be working to find a publisher and if it proves to be too difficult a task I will be self publishing through Amazon or will publish a PDF e book.  I will also be producing a selection of folios that will contain prints from various locations along the Atlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea.  I may also attempt another Kickstarter Campaign if I decide to self publish.

Last year I made a series of post under the title of “150 Years Ago Today”.  This year I will be making post with a similar timeline, but they will be images of the current conditions of the location that is significant for that day. 

Fort McAllister Reenactment

Here is a link to the images from the Fort McAllister Reenactment from mid December.

The images are free to download and if you see one that you would like for me to alter, by making it black and white, sepia, wet plate, etc, just let me know and I will do that for you.  I can also try to DEFARB images as well if you would like that.  Please share the images with any other reenactors that you know that were there.

Fort McAllister Reenactment Images