Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia: Atlanta Campaign Driving Tour, Tunnel Hill to Resaca (link)

Link to the Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia's Atlanta Campaign Driving Tour: Tunnel Hill to Resaca in PDF format.

Atlanta Campaign Driving Tour: Tunnel Hill to Resaca
http://bit.ly/BandyHeritageCenter-NW-GA-AtlantaCampaign-Tunnel-Hill-to-Resaca

Original Long URL:

http://www.bandyheritagecenter.org/Content/Uploads/Bandy%20Heritage%20Center/files/Driving%20Tour%20Part%201_Tunnel%20Hill%20to%20Cassville.pdf

James G. Brown and the First Georgia State Troops (First Georgia Volunteer Infantry)

Articles about James G. Brown, of Murray County, Georgia, and his First Georgia Volunteer Infantry Battalion (U.S.), also called The First Georgia State Troops (first organized by James G. Brown in the Spring of 1864, under James S. Steedman, with the approval and recommendation of General Thomas). When the unit did not make, many of the men of the First Georgia Vols later joined the 5th Tennessee Infantry Volunteers.

The unit has a difficult, rather obscure history, and the various articles have conflicting information as to when it mustered, when it disbanded, etcetera. Part of the problem is that, under James Brown, the unit did not enlist enough men to become a regiment or a real battalion. Thomas recommended the unit to the War Department, who nixed the idea, on several counts. Not only did the War Department distrust Home Guard units, but the small battalion had run from battle in Dalton in October 1864. Steedman's criticism of the unit was very harsh.

Articles: 

"Forgotten Union Guerrillas of the North Georgia Mountains,"
Robert S. Davis, Jr., w/Bill Kinsland, asst.
Lumpkin County Genealogy
http://www.lcgen.com/UnionGuerrillas.html

Article in encyclopedia:
New Georgia Encyclopedia (link to article)
"Unionists," in "History & Archaeology: Civil War & Reconstruction, 1861-1877,"
New Georgia Encyclopedia
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/unionists

Mentioned in book:
A Separate Civil War: Communities in Conflict in the Mountain South
Jonathan Dean Sarris
Google Books (short URL): http://bit.ly/James-G-Brown-brief-ref

Mentioned on: "Georgians in the Union Army" (Historic Marker)
http://georgiahistory.com/education-outreach/historical-markers/georgia-civil-war-150/

JAMES G. BROWN IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE U.S. SECRET SERVICE DURING THE CIVIL WAR. HE WAS THE CHIEF OF SCOUTS IN NORTH GEORGIA.

Movements toward Hiwassee River, advancing via Spring Place, Georgia

Sherman orders Schofield to move toward Hiwassee River and break railroad; advance via Spring Place. Send citizens to rear if necessary.

East Tennessee and North Georgia  ̶

Sherman to Schofield, Orders

Ser. 1, Vol. 32, Pt. 3 (Corresp., etc.--Union), 87.

[QUOTE pg. 87-88]:
 [p.87]
Headquarters Division of the Mississippi,
Nashville, March 18, 1864.
Major-General Schofield,
     Commanding Department of the Ohio, Knoxville:

  General: I am just arrived and assumed command. General Grant leaves for the East to-morrow. I have had a full conversation with him, and to enable him to fulfill his plans I can merely foreshadow coming events. You will push Longstreet from up the
 [p.88]
valley as far as you can, and prepare to break up the railroad back toward Knoxville. Hold Knoxville and the gap. Also arrange to have a force of cavalry, infantry, and light artillery on the waters of the Big Sandy in the direction of Prestonburg, which must subsist on the country, and not locate, but act so as to threaten or attack any force coming from the northeast. Your main army should at once be organized for offense, ready at the proper time to drop down to the Hiwassee, to move in concert with the main army. I am aware of the difficulties you have in maintaining your army. Appoint good officers to take charge of this branch of your business, and accumulate stores rather at the Hiwassee than at Knoxville. Your route of advance will be most probably by Spring Place. Keep your own counsel; discourage the presence of all stranger; make the citizens feed themselves, and if they are likely to consume the reserves of the country facilitate their removal to the rear. The necessities of war must have precedence of civilians. Write me fully and frankly always. I will see you in person as soon as I can.
W. T. Sherman,
Major-General, Commanding.
[END QUOTE]

Brief Citation: 
Official Records, Series 1, Volume 32, Part 3 (Corresp., etc.--Union), 87-88.

Link to s1, v32, pt3, page 87
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152650/m1/96/


REFERENCES: By the time of these events, Union troops were stationed in Calhoun, Charleston, and Cleveland, Tennessee. Johnston's Confederate Army of Tennessee was at Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia. Spring Place is in Murray County, Georgia. It was, and is, the location of the historic Chief Vann House.

The source of the Hiwassee River is in Towns County, Georgia. The river flows north into North Carolina, then runs in a northwesterly direction into Tennessee to Delano, then down to Benton, and west to Charleston, Tennessee. The bridge across the Hiwassee River at Charleston, Tennessee goes north to Calhoun, Tennessee. That bridge was one of the bridges burned in the East Tennessee raid, November 8, 1861. From the Calhoun-Charleston area, the Hiwassee River runs northwest almost to Dayton, Tennessee, where the Hiwassee empties into the Tennessee River.

This area was important for the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad.

Col. Eli Long enters west Cohutta Springs, Murray County, Georgia (North Georgia) - Feb. 1864

This bit of correspondence is significant to my very specific research project, but might be of interest to anyone who is studying the First Battle of Dalton, Georgia, or wanting to know more about North Georgia.

When Colonel Eli Long first entered Murray County, Georgia, en route to the Battle of Dalton, he seemed a bit confused about the location, or at least realized that the orders concerning his mission were ambiguous on a certain point: the location of the roads.

Colonel Eli Long camps at Waterhouse's Place Near a Burnt Mill
Long camps at Waterhouse's house about two miles from a burnt mill in old Cohutta Springs (west), Murray County, Georgia, February 1864. This old "Cohutta Springs" (site near 1860s P.O. of that name; not the mineral springs on Cohutta Springs Road; but the P.O. was named for the springs) was just west of modern-day GA Hwy. 225, north of GA Hwy. 2 intersection that goes west toward Vsrnell, and south of the GA 2 intersection that goes east to Cisco. Private land, now--commercial farms, etc.
http://bit.ly/OfficialRecords-I-32-1-Eli-Long-Rept-26

Citation: Reports of Col. Eli Long, Fourth Ohio Cavalry, commanding Second Brigade, Second Cavalry Division, Correspondence: Long to Whipple, 22 Feb. 1864, Near Burnt Mill, On Cleveland and Spring Place Road," Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 32, Pt. 1, Report 26.

Report of Brig. Gen. Charles Cruft, U. S. Army, commanding First
Division, Fourth Army Corps, Rept. No. 3., O.R. Series 1, Vol. 32, Pt. 1 (Reports), Ch. 44 ("Demonstration on Dalton, GA"), [Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891], 423.
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/442/

Link to a text file of the same communication. Caution! Has errors.
http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/m/moawar/text/waro0057.txt

THE FOLLOWING SECTION WAS UPDATED SEPT. 7, 2016, TO SHOW THAT F.R.R. SMITH WAS CAPTURED IN OR NEAR MURRAY COUNTY, NOT ATLANTA. HE HAD MAPS OF ATLANTA, BUT WAS, AT THE TIME OF CAPTURE, MAPPING AN AREA THAT DESCRIBES PART OF MURRAY COUNTY, GEORGIA.

Captain F.R.R. Smith, Confederate Engineer, Captured (probably near Conasauga River); and Captain Herman, almost captured while mapping near Conasauga River.
Two months after Eli Long entered North Georgia, two Confederate engineers were found mapping areas in northern Murray County, Georgia. One of them, F.R.R. Smith, was captured. "Captain Smith says he was ordered to make a survey of the country south of Sumac Creek, west of the Federal road, east of Connesauga Creek, and north of Spring Place" (341-342). He had also made maps of Atlanta. The other one, Captain Herman, who was almost captured, "was evidently making a survey of the country south of the Connesauga River, west of the Federal road, north of Sumac Creek" (341).

It makes me think that there may not have been any detailed maps of the area at the time Eli Long was there. There was a map in draft stages (Map: Mountain Region of North Carolina and Tennessee, which I've cropped to show details of Murray County, Georgia. It wasn't published until 1865, but had two earlier drafts, also on file at Library of Congress). Ref.:  O.R., s1, v32, pt3, 341-342 (McCook to Whipple, 13 April 1864, Cleveland, Tenn.).

Note: The area that the Rebels are mapping, from the description given in this correspondence, only makes sense if it is understood that the portion of the Federal Road mentioned therein refers to the north fork of the Federal Road. The road forked at Ramhurst and went north into Murray County. The other fork went on toward Dalton. Find a description of the route on Georgia USA website.

Eli Long's correspondence is from a Burnt Mill near the Conasauga River. He camped at a nearby house, which he later identified as Mr. Waterhouse's house. Other soldiers identify the camp site as Waterhouse's Mill, which seems more likely. None of the correspondence mentions Cohutta Springs, but a post office existed near that area as early as 1836. It was suspended during the war and re-opened later. Interestingly, it does not appear on the 1865 map that I've found, but does appear on earlier and some later maps of the area. On the 1865 map, Cohutta Springs (the mineral springs) near Summerour, east of Waterhouse's, is designated, but the Cohutta Springs P.O. is not designated. Very importantly, for anyone studying the area: these are really two separate communities, but they are both called Cohutta Springs (or Cohutta Springs P.O.) at various times, and sometimes actually appear in two spots on the same map. The old Waterhouse plantation is west of Sumac Ridge, in the Tenth District, 3rd Section, of Murray County (five miles west of the mineral springs), on modern-day Georgia Highway 225. The mineral springs were east of Sumac Ridge, north of Hickory Ridge, off of modern-day U.S. Highway 411. See my detailed description and maps.

Report: F.R.R. Smith captured. Captain Herman, almost captured mapping near Conasauga River.
Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 32, Pt. 3 (Correspondence, Etc.), [Washington: U.S. Govt. Printing Offc., 1891], 341-342 (McCook to Whipple, 13 April 1864, Cleveland, Tenn.).
http://bit.ly/I-32-3-FRR-Smith-captured

Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 32, Pt. 3
Title: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Compiled by: Calvin Duvall Cowles
Contribrs: United States. War Records Office, United States. Record and Pension Office, United States. Congress. House.
Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891
Original from the University of Virginia; digitized Feb 1, 2008

Also see:

1865 MAP - Detail of Northern Murray County, Georgia (Mountain Region Map of North Carolina and Tennessee (detail of N. Ga.), Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division).
The page above has my research and comments about Cohutta Springs, Waterhouse's Plantation, etc.


Full biblio: The War of the Rebellion: v.1-53 [serial no. 1-111] Formal reports, both Union and Confederate, of the first seizures of United States property in the southern states, and of all military operations in the field, with the correspondence, orders and returns relating specially thereto. 1880-1898. 111v.

1865 Map: Detail of Cohutta Springs, Murray County, Georgia (North Georgia)

1865 MAP - Northern Murray County, Georgia (detail from LC Map, Mountain Region of North Carolina and Tennessee).

Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
Mountain Region of NC and Tenn (dtl, North Georgia area)

This map shows Cohutta Springs as being east of Sumac Ridge. That is the location of the mineral springs and resort area. West of the ridge, but not designated on this 1865 map, is Cohutta Springs P.O. (est. 1836), suspended briefly during the Civil War. Some old maps show both locations as "Cohutta Springs."

For anyone researching this area, here are points to help identify the locations: 

(1) Cohutta Springs (P.O., west of Sumac Ridge) is associated with Col. Eli Long, Callaway Campbell, Euclid Waterhouse (Waterhouse's Mill, Waterhouse's house, later McCroskey's); the locale can be identified by land deeds in the Tenth District, 3rd Section, Murray County; by Callaway Campbell's description of the post office as being five miles west of the mineral springs of the same name (from letters in a collection at William and Mary College); and by the proximity of the Conasauga River (see the area south of Benton Pike, where the Conasauga River goes down and crosses the Tenn/Georgia line before curving to the west). The modern location would be on Georgia Highway 225 N, Crandall, Georgia, just before crossing the state line into Tennessee.

(2) Cohutta Springs (historic mineral springs, resort, east of Sumac Ridge, north of Hickory Ridge, in the mountainous area at the foot of Grassy Mountain) is associated with Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, who once stayed there; and with Myra Inman of Cleveland, Tennessee, who summered there in the early days of the Civil War. (Myra identified the location as two miles from Summerhour's). It is in or near the 27th District, Second Section, Murray County. It can also be identified by an old advertisement by Dr. W. A. Hooten, placing the mineral springs at the foot of the Cohutta Mountains, 18 miles east of Dalton; by descriptions in other diaries (Wadley or Watkins, as I recall), which describe the boarding houses near the springs. The ruins of cabins and hotels are in the woods near the end of Cohutta Springs Road, Crandall, Georgia, as is the chimney of the old Cohutta Springs Mill (later known as the Coffey Mill). The modern-day location is accessed from U.S. Highway 411, and is located on Cohutta Springs Road, Crandall, Georgia, near the dead end of it.

(Above map is a cropped area of a larger Mountain Region map of North Carolina and Tennessee).

Citation for full map view:
Nicholson, W. L, A Lindenkohl, H Lindenkohl, Charles G Krebs, and United States Coast Survey. Mountain region of North Carolina and Tennessee. [S.l., U.S. Coast Survey, A. D. Bache, Supt, 1865] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress [Geography and Map Division], https://www.loc.gov/item/99447196. (Accessed July 04, 2016.)

Map Drafts, 1863-1864, are available from same source. Published 1865.

ALTERED FROM ABOVE MAP, TO SHOW APPROX. LOCATION OF COHUTTA SPRINGS POST OFFICE AND WATERHOUSE'S PLANTATION ("W"), WEST OF SUMAC RIDGE. IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AREA IS COHUTTA SPRINGS, THE MINERAL SPRING AND RESORT AREA:

LATER MAP, SMALLER AREA, SHOWING COHUTTA SPRINGS P.O. WEST OF SUMAC RIDGE. THIS MAP IS PROBABLY 1906-1910; THE RAILROAD (BUILT 1906) SHOWS ON THE FULL MAP:

Topographic Maps

Below (links): These topographic maps of the Fairy Valley and Sumac Ridge area of Murray County are interactive; it is possible to zoom in and out to view the features. The above segment of Murray County is slightly northwest of the Fairy community and west of Sumac Ridge (Below are two clips of a topographic map of Georgia, zoomed in to specific features in Murray County):

Topographic Map of Fairy Valley in Murray County
Link to Topographic Map of Fairy Valley
https://www.topozone.com/georgia/murray-ga/valley/fairy-valley/

Topographic Map of Sumac Ridge in Murray County
Link to Topographic Map of Sumac Ridge
https://www.topozone.com/georgia/murray-ga/ridge/sumac-ridge/