History book unearths Atlanta’s forgotten forts

Confederate and Union Army reenactors will take their places in Resaca, Ga., this weekend to relive the largest battle of the Atlanta campaign. The Battle of Resaca Reenactment is scheduled Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22, rain or shine. Battles will take place at 2 p.m. both days, and living-history activities, cavalry competitions, camp tours, soldier talks, period medical demonstrations and a sutlers row will take place throughout the weekend. Camps open to the public at 9 a.m. The event also includes a period dance on Saturday night and church service Sunday morning. Cost is $5 for adults, $2 for children 6-12. Handicap parking will be available. For more information, visit www.georgiadivision.org/bor_reenactment.html. Confederate and Union Army reenactors will take their places in Resaca, Ga., this weekend to relive the largest battle of the Atlanta campaign. The Battle of Resaca Reenactment is scheduled Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22, rain or shine. Battles will take place at 2 p.m. both days, and living-history activities, cavalry competitions, camp tours, soldier talks, period medical demonstrations and a sutlers row will take place throughout the weekend. Camps open to the public at 9 a.m. The event also includes a period dance on Saturday night and church service Sunday morning. Cost is $5 for adults, $2 for children 6-12. Handicap parking will be available. For more information, visit www.georgiadivision.org/bor_reenactment.html.

By Staff Report August 11, 2016 2 min read

If you go

› What: Book signing for “Walking the Line: Rediscovering and Touring the Civil War Defenses on Modern Atlanta’s Landscape” by Dr. Larry Krumenaker.› When: 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13.› Where: Barnes & Noble, 2100 Hamilton Place Blvd.› Admission: Free (book lists for $19.95).› Phone: 423-893-0186.› Website: www.barnes andnoble.com.

Long before Interstate 285 surrounded the metro area, Atlanta had a perimeter 10 miles around. Instead of speeding cars going around the line, there were cannonballs screaming overhead.

That first perimeter was the defensive line built by the Confederate Army to protect Atlanta from the attacking Federal forces during the Civil War. That ring of 36 forts was never broken nor defeated. The defenses held back the Federal forces for six weeks before the Confederates were forced to abandon them.

Dr. Lawrence Krumenaker, primarily an astronomy and science educator and journalist, knows what happened to those forts, and he divulges that information in his first Civil War history book, “Walking the Line: Rediscovering and Touring the Civil War Defenses on Modern Atlanta’s Landscape.”

Local Civil War history buffs can meet the author and learn more about the book when Krumenaker visits Barnes & Noble for a signing event on Saturday, Aug. 13.