Pine Mountain, a small height in Cobb County near Kennesaw, rises about 1,292 feet on a ridge dividing local drainage between waters flowing toward Lake Allatoona and the Chattahoochee River. Though known more for deciduous trees than pines, its name may preserve an earlier landscape. The mountain became especially important during the Atlanta campaign because it was the highest point between Kennesaw Mountain and Lost Mountain. Confederate troops fortified it as an outpost from June 5 to June 15, 1864, with artillery near the summit. On June 14, while Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnston, William J. Hardee, and Leonidas Polk observed Union lines there, Union artillery fire killed Polk instantly.