The Atlanta Campaign, Part 2 New Hope to Kennesaw Mountain-2026

A BGES Civil War Field University Program

With David (Dave) A. Powell

April 15-19, 2026; from Kennesaw, GA

William T. Sherman called Georgia’s Etowah River his “Rubicon”—a decisive line whose crossing marked his intent to take the war to Gen. Joseph Johnston’s Army of Tennessee and press on to Atlanta.

Since the Federal army’s main supply line, the Western & Atlantic Railroad, ran through the formidable Allatoona Pass, Sherman chose not to assault that fortress directly. Instead, he temporarily cut loose from the railroad and marched overland through the rough country south of the Etowah toward Dallas and, ultimately, Marietta.

This phase of the campaign, beginning on May 23 and ending on July 2, encompassed major actions at New Hope Church, Pickett’s Mill, and Dallas, as well as along the Kennesaw Mountain Line. It featured some of the hardest fighting and worst weather of the war.

This tour will spend four days studying the movement and combat involved in those five weeks, Focusing primarily on the New Hope and Kennesaw Lines.

Join Dave in his second installment of this outstanding tour series as he takes you to scenes of the action and describes it in detail and with new analyses and depths that have never been covered before!

Itinerary

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 – Orientation (6–7 p.m.)

Meet Dave at the headquarters hotel for a one-hour orientation program and an overview of the sights and events that your tour will cover. Here, your program materials will be handed out (or the next morning if you are a late arrival).

Dinner is on your own.

Thursday, April 16, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

• Allatoona – terrain and subsequent Union supply base
• Kingston, Georgia – Sherman’s railhead in May
• Gillem’s Bridge
• Milam’s Bridge
• Burnt Hickory
• New Hope Church – fight of 20 Corps
• Dallas:
  • Sara Babb Park
  • Post Office
• Williamson’s Hill (behind Post Office)
• Brookside Court – Orphan Brigade assault site
• Degress Battery
• Confederate line church site

Lunch is included, but dinner is on your own.

Friday, April 17, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

• Return to New Hope
• Pickett’s Mill Battlefield
• Several hours, lots of walking, including:
  • Museum (fee)
  • Hazen’s first-line attack and the large wheatfield
  • Hazen’s second-line attack and the cornfield
  • Confederate counterattacks; Scribner’s Brigade; Small Wheatfield; and Pickett’s Mill
• Pine Mountain – site of Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk’s death
• Gilgal Church site
• Latimer Farm – Confederate line site

Lunch is included, but dinner is on your own.

Saturday, April 18, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

• Kennesaw Mountain
  • Visitor Center
  • Kolb’s Farm – assault walk
  • Sherman’s observation site
  • Pigeon Hill – 15th Corps assault walk
  • Union 24-gun battery site
  • Thomas’s headquarters site
  • Cheatham Hill – Newton and Davis assault walk

We will return to the hotel by 5 p.m.

Lunch is included.

Sunday, April 19, 2026 (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)

• Marietta Country Club – G.M.I. site
• Marietta National Cemetery
• Noyes Creek/Ruff’s Mill
• Smyrna Line
• Vining’s Station
• River Line Park – Shoupades

Return to the hotel by 5 p.m.

Lunch is included.

About the Faculty

David A. Powell, a 1983 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, is the award-winning author of numerous works, including The Chickamauga Campaign trilogy. His new five-volume study of the Atlanta Campaign began with The Atlanta Campaign: Volume 1: Dalton to Cassville, May 1–19, 1864 (Savas Beatie, 2024). Volume 2, From the Etowah River to Kennesaw Mountain, May 20–June 27, 1864, follows in October 2025. Dave has designed and provided technical and historical guidance for historic war games across numerous platforms. His terrain-driven approach and rigorous research yield a distinctive, nuanced perspective. Dave lives in Chicago with his wife, Anne.

Hotel Information

This program will be headquartered at Holiday Inn Express Kennesaw, 2485 George Busbee Parkway, Kennesaw, GA 30144 (770-427-5210). The BGES special rate is $124 plus tax, with a rate cut-off date of March 25, 2026. When booking, request the “Blue and Gray Education” group rate. The hotel does not have an airport shuttle.

Transportation

The servicing airport is Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL).

Recommended Reading

You will receive maps and materials that will meet your onsite requirements. The following books are suggested to enhance your readiness for the program.

• Powell, David A., The Atlanta Campaign, Volume 1: Dalton to Cassville, May 1-19, 1864, Savas Beatie, El Dorado Hills, CA: 2024. ISBN: 978-1611216950.
• Powell, David A., The Atlanta Campaign, Volume 2: From the Etowah River to Kennesaw Mountain, May 20-June 27, 1864, Savas Beatie, El Dorado Hills, CA: 2025. ISBN: 978-1611217575.
• Castel, Albert, Decision in the West, Kansas University Press, Lawrence, KS: 1992. ISBN; 978-0700607488.
• Cox, Jacob D. Atlanta. Campaigns of the Civil War, IX. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1882.
• Jenkins, Robert D., Sr., The Cassville Affairs: Johnston, Hood, and the Failed Confederate Strategy in the Atlanta Campaign, 19 May 1864, Mercer University Press, Macon, GA: 2024. ISBN: 978-0881469318.

Tour Pricing

Current BGES member: $975 (one-time payment, no deposit)
Non-BGES member: $1025 (one-time payment, no deposit)
Deposit to reserve spot: $150
Annual membership fee: $75

Registration

The Atlanta Campaign, Part 2 New Hope to Kennesaw Mountain (2026)

Registration includes 4 lunches, all paid admissions, maps, the academic program, support of a historian and a tour director, and transportation by passenger bus or van. We will also provide snacks and bottled water.

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