Over at Bloglanta, Jonathan has a moving story today about his visit to a battlefield, one many of us live on.

The Battle of Atlanta was not the turning point of the (pick one):

1. Civil War
2. War Between the States
3. Recent Unpleasantness

But it was decisive. Before the battle Abraham Lincoln looked like an electoral loser. After the battle it was only a matter of time before the Confederacy was crushed.

Jonathan found an historical marker for the battle in the western reaches of Inman Park (another, at Memorial Drive and Clay Street, is pictured here from the University of Georgia), but there are many others scattered about. The center of the Cyclorama at Grant Park, in fact, is just east of the Inman Park Station, along what's now Decatur Street but was, back then, the main railroad track out of town.

About two weeks ago, I was riding my bike on a path that parallels Freedom Parkway, heading toward downtown from Little Five Points when I came upon a historical marker. Being the history geek that I am, I immediately pulled over to investigate. It read “Battle of Atlanta” on top and details what happened on July 22, 1864. From that very spot, Major General William Sherman directed Union troops against the Confederates, led by General John Hood a mile and a half southeast from where the sign stands today (As you read the sign, you are facing north. Freedom Parkway is up on the hill to your left and the battle took place over your right shoulder, down another hill).

The modern cityscape has erased much of the original battlefield and changed the shape of the land. “About North Georgia,” which I found through a Google search, uses modern landmarks to help readers understand where the battle took place: “the battle stretched from just south of the Carter Center to the intersection of Moreland Avenue and I-20. From here it formed an arc to Glenwood Avenue finally ending up in the vicinity of Memorial Drive and Clay Street, almost to the site of Jesse Clay's house. Bald Hill is part of a ridge along which Moreland Avenue runs. The ‘hill’ portion of the ridge runs north of I-20 and a few feet east of the present-day road. As soon as the hill was taken Union soldiers renamed it Leggett's Hill, after their commander.” Got it?

When the dust had settled, 3,641 Union and 8,499 Confederate troops lay dead. A year later, the war was over and the time for reconciliation and healing, not an easy task, had begun. A century and a half later, this same location is a peaceful place, a silent refuge from the maelstrom of everyday city life- an island in Atlanta.