Earthen Georgia fort is threatened July 2002 Letter to the Editor TO THE EDITOR

Earthen Georgia fort is threatened July 2002

Letter to the Editor

TO THE EDITOR:

My name is David M. Fowler Jr. I am a 39-year old cowboy who lived on DeSoto Hill all of my life, and in the last six years I have realized that on my family’s property is the third of Rome, Georgia’s three Civil War forts, Fort Attaway.

I believe that Fort Attaway is an integral part of Rome’s history as it was the only fort engaged in battle, it was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops, and black history was prevalent in its construction. Fort Norton, Stovall and Attaway were built by the city between 1863 and 1864.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Project: STP0-017-3(45): PI 620590, the widening of a bottleneck in US Highway 27, involves moving the strip of Norfolk Southern railroad that borders the fort further onto what is left of the fort. (The railroad was first built onto the fort in 1889-90.)

My goal is to preserve this fort, in its true Civil War form, to further Rome’s and the national Civil War community’sawareness and knowledge of Rome, Georgia’s, Civil War involvement. Rome’s involvement in the Civil War was just as important as other sites surrounding Rome, such as Resaca and Dallas, but it has received as much coverage in history books due to Rome’s lack of acknowledgement of its Civil War history.

With this fort we intend to bring Rome’s Civil War history its strategic significance of cannon factories and rail lines into its rightful place between the battles of Chickamauga and Atlanta during Sherman’s march to the Sea.

We have had state and national representatives visit the fort and view its features. Serena Bellew, the Environmental Review Coordinator for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources – Historic Preservation Division, viewed the fort with Scott Butler, an archaeologist from the private firm Brockington and Associates, both out of Atlanta.

They both agreed that the 410 x 410-foot fort boundary set by the GDOT does not encompass the entire fort, and that the project would have adverse physical and visual effects on the fort in accordance to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act.

Scott provided a more accurate boundary depiction. Tanya Gossett, the Preservation Planner from the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program, Heritage Preservation Services out of Washington, D.C., also visited the fort and was very impressed with the fortification features that have survived the last 138 years.

Fort Attaway is a pristine example of a Civil War earthen works fortification, and its overall features have been, thankfully, undisturbed. There are very apparent earthen work fortification features such as the body of the fort, rifle ditches, and cannonball dents left from the battle with Union troops which were stationed at a hill not more than a mile away from Fort Attaway.

The two-hour battle at Fort Attaway began at 3 p.m. on May 16, 1864, when about 10,000 Federal troops who were part of Sherman’s Atlanta campaign closed in on Rome. Some 5,000 Confederate defenders took position near Fort Attaway and were driven behind the fort. There around 100 Confederate and 150 Union casualties in the action.

Union troops built earthworks on a hill across the Little Dry Creek floodplain rather than storming the fort that night. The Confederates abandoned the fort which Union used the next day to fire on the other two forts. Within a few hours they took Rome and raised the U.S. flag at the courthouse.

Although people involved with the City of Rome have had Fort Norton and Fort Stovall put onto the National Register of Historic Places, they have not preserved the true fortification features of the forts. One was made into a cemetery and the other has had a water plant put on top of it.

Another one of my goals is to preserve what is left of Fort Attaway’s fortification features and keep them as true to what they were in their day. We are also in the process of getting Fort Attaway put onto the National Register of Historic Places.

In the process of saving Fort Attaway, we have incorporated the Fort Attaway Preservation Society (a non-profit organization), and have invested a lot of our personal time and funds into preserving this piece of America’s history. We have set up security and surveillance to prevent looting and any futher damage to the fort.

We have circulated petitions and have so far collected well over 1000 signatures; we have had Save Fort Attaway t-shirts made and have put together a promotional Save Fort Attaway booth to take around to Civil War reenactments and events.

Words or pictures cannot describe what an outstanding example of Civil War fortifications Fort Attaway is. We invite your interest and support. For information call (706)234-0537 or e-mail us at f_marlin@bellsouth.net

David M. Fowler Jr.