To hold the line against advancing Union soldiers, Confederates created hundreds of trenches and earthen walls that protected a wide arc around and on top of Kennesaw Mountain. Confederate earthworks are still visible here on both sides of the trail, and more than 11 miles of Civil War earthworks are protected within the boundaries on Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. Some are relatively simple, but others reflect complex engineering techniques; angled approaches enabled long lines of sight and a wide view for defensive firing, while sharp wooden spikes and piles of tree limbs slowed attacks on the earthworks. As Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65th Ohio Infantry recalled, upon taking a new position, nothing else was thought of until the front was covered with a line of works built of logs, rails, stones, and anything that came to hand.