Field Fortifications

Confederate engineers and work crews began digging earthworks around Kennesaw Mountain a few days before their army fell back to this position on June 19. For the next week, Southern soldiers strengthened their defenses despite constant rain, digging deep trenches and throwing the dirt toward the Union side to form an earthen wall called a parapet. The parapet was topped with a braced log that left an open space beneath it for soldiers to fire through. Fighting from behind these defenses during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864, the Confederates held a great advantage over the attacking Federals. Today, within Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 11 miles of shallow ditches remain from those formidable earthworks.

Marietta, Georgia · United States