HM Burning and Destruction of Atlanta.mov

"The Burning and Destruction of Atlanta" Historical Marker Dedication

Monday, April 11, 2011, 11 a.m.
The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot
65 Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

SPEAKERS:

Michael Thurmond, attorney and former Georgia Labor Commissioner

Dr. W. Todd Groce, Georgia Historical Society

Hermina Glass-Avery, MHP
Associate Director, Center for the Study of the Civil War Era
Kennesaw State University

Marker Text:

The Burning and Destruction of Atlanta

After capturing Atlanta in September 1864 during the Civil War, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, before leaving Atlanta on the March to the Sea, ordered the destruction of all railroads, factories, and commercial buildings of possible use to the Confederacy. On Nov. 11, 1864, Chief Engineer Orlando M. Poe directed the demolition of stone and brick buildings using specially made battering rams. On Nov. 15, Poe's troops burned the wooden buildings in the downtown business district around the site of this marker. Though houses and churches were not targeted, some were burned nonetheless. Many houses had already been dismantled by both armies to make way for fortifications. Contrary to popular myth only 40 percent of Atlanta was left in ruins.

Erected for the Civil War 150 commemoration by the Georgia Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Economic Development

Videographer Eddy Anderson of Anderson Images

Category:

Education

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