The historical research that was compiled from February through August 2007 by the LAMAR Institute's research team at Nash Farm sheds new light on the importance of the August 20th action. The July and August cavalry battles, were significant in the implementation and outcome of Major General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea Campaign. This campaign was launched in mid-November of 1864. During the summer of 1864, Sherman had three major U.S. Cavalry divisions at his command. These were McCook's, Kilpatrick's, and Stoneman's Cavalry.
McCook's cavalry was adversely affected by the July battle at Lovejoy and his cavalry was defeated at Brown's Mill, near Newnan, a few days later. Stoneman's cavalry was defeated at Sunshine Church in Jones County, also in July. That left only Kilpatrick's Cavalry Division intact. With no other option, General Sherman sent Kilpatrick on a mission around the south side of Atlanta, known as Kilpatrick's Raid. The events of August 20, 1864 east of Lovejoy, Georgia at Nash Farm nearly resulted in the defeat of Kilpatrick's cavalry. Had they not escaped from the Texas Cavalry by a daring charge, Major General Sherman would have been left without an effective cavalry force during his March to the Sea. Such a deficit in his army may have led to his choosing a completely different strategy of attack or withdrawal.
The most abundant battlefield evidence on the Nash Farm Battlefield Park property that was discovered and documented by the LAMAR Institute's archaeological survey in February 2007 was associated with the August, 1864 Cavalry action. Other battlefield debris was also discovered and documented on the grounds, resulted from the September infantry battle. The July 1864 battle was confined to Clayton County and is not evidenced on the Nash Farm property, unlike the August Cavalry action.
More than 1,300 metal artifacts were located by the LAMAR Institute's survey team and were carefully plotted on the landscape. Of these, at least 800 are definitely Civil War related. The survey also documented several Confederate Army campsites, which dot the landscape in this part of metropolitan Atlanta. These were the "Rest and Relaxation" camps of Confederate General S.D. Lee's Confederate troops after the fighting in September officially ended the Atlanta Campaign. While these campsites are important cultural resources, they can be distinguished between the battlefield debris to a certain extent.
The findings of the LAMAR Institute's archaeological work certainly indicated Henry Counties portion of the Battle of Lovejoy. The facts are that the Nash Farm site does indeed include a Civil War cavalry battle and was totally supported by factual evidence, including both archaeological and primary historical documentation. In addition to the many fired and unfired minie balls from weapons possessed by the Cavalry and Infantry regiments of both armies in the Civil War, the survey team located artillery shell fragments, explosive cannon ball bomb fragments, cannon friction primers, grapeshot (or anti-personnel ordnance), Cavalry and Infantry uniform buttons, saber fragments, horseshoes, other Cavalry horse regalia, and many personal effects (wedding rings, jewelry, keepsakes, etc.) that were lost by the soldiers in the heat of battle. These were all located and recorded at the Nash Farm site.
When carefully plotted on the landscape the story of the August 20th battle begins to emerge with U.S. Cavalry movements from a west to east direction evident and areas of intense clash and artillery bombardment just west of the Nash Farm house (on the Nash Farm site) clearly evident. The spatial patterning of these artifacts is such that the LAMAR Institute research team was able to plot the approximate location of one Texas Cavalry defensive line and an area to the south of that line where the U.S. Cavalry outflanked the Confederates and made their escape. The dozens of horseshoes, many with nails still intact on them, illustrate where more than 4,000 U.S. Cavalry charged the Texans on the Nash Farm property.
Only a very small percentage of the Civil War sites in Georgia and the entire United States are protected. In Georgia, only a small handful of these sites are actually protected as state or federal parks. Most of the other sites are subject to destruction through development, looting, or other forces, at the discretion of the landowners. Congress recently has mandated an update of this 15 year old study, the 1993 Civil War battlefield study. This is fortunate, since the subject of the Battle of Lovejoy needs to be revisited and its significance reassessed in light of the substantial new evidence uncovered through archaeology and extensive historical research.
In the years since 1993 thousands of acres of Georgia's battlefields and Civil War-era cultural landscape
s have been destroyed by modern land use. The creation of the Nash Farm Battlefield Park protects only 204 acres of a battlefield landscape. It does not include any property in Clayton County because it was acquired by Henry County.
Clayton County should help protect its own resources and Henry County should not be faulted for attempting to protect non-renewable cultural resources within its boundary. The acquisition and protection of the entire battle of Lovejoy military theatre is impractical today. Such foresight would have been practical in 1993 and even more practical in 1964, but we are faced with the present situation. Real estate prices in the Lovejoy area are not cheap and former farmland, timberland, and pasture is fast being transformed into houses, streets, schools, and strip malls.
Henry County took a brave step to actually protect a piece of American history. Subsequent historical and archaeological research on the property has borne out the wisdom of this purchase of battlefield property.
Daniel T. Elliott, Register of Professional Archaeologists
President, The LAMAR Institute, Inc.
February 22, 2008.
