Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Posted: 10.21.2024 | Updated: 10.22.2024

It’s a pristine summer day. The air is warm. There’s not a cloud in the sky. Rolling hills and lush green trees are all around. Fields are perfectly manicured.  Birds are chirping. It’s the stuff of the American dream.

But looks can be deceiving. Over one hundred and fifty years ago, in this very same spot,  the air was filled with dust, smoke, and the screams of the dying. Trees were blown apart. The roar of artillery fire drowned out the sounds of wildlife. As for those open fields - they were beaten down, dusty, and awash in blood.

This was the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. 

Close your eyes, and you can almost see, hear, and feel it. The only problem is that when you open your eyes, you can actually see and hear it. These are the ghosts of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. They are lost soldiers whose spirits have been left behind, who never seem able to find the peace they once fought so hard for. 

Why Is The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park So Haunted?

What makes The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park so eerie? That’s an easy question to answer. It’s all about war. Any battlefield that’s seen an enormous amount of suffering, death, and carnage can never shake off the shackles of despair facing the spirits who met their fate there.

Sometimes awful, often gruesome, all of the death and mayhem has created a mass of after-life energy that often sparks intense paranormal activity. At Kennesaw Mountain, many of the combatants don’t seem to know the war’s over and, worse, that they’re dead. Sadly, in many cases, they’re just boys who are lost, scared, and far from home.

Book a ghost tour with Atlanta Ghosts to follow the regiment of ghost lovers to uncover the darkest details of Georgia’s past. 

The Civil War Comes Home

It was June 27, 1864. Generals Sherman and Johnston lock horns in the Confederacy’s last-ditch effort to prevent the Union from taking Atlanta. The conflict took place less than 20 miles from the city. Over 5,000 men lost their lives, making it the bloodiest day of the Atlanta campaign.

The smoke of rifles and artillery blocked out the sun. Soldiers crumbled to the ground in mangled death poses. Still, the battle raged on.

The rough terrain and intense Confederate fire were factors in the Union's defeat. At the center of the Union line, the opposing armies were only 400 yards apart. The 7th Illinois Infantry held their ground against the Confederates from inside a star-shaped fortification at the top of the pass until they were completely overrun. A hill south of Dallas Road saw brutal hand-to-hand fighting between the Union and Confederate troops. Both sides nicknamed this area the "Dead Angle." 

When the dust had cleared, and the bodies were counted, the Confederacy had stalled the Union advance. But it wouldn’t last.

The Haunting of Kennesaw Mountain

The sensation that things just aren’t right blankets the fields like the specter of death. 

Shimmering apparitions of soldiers dressed in Confederate uniforms walk through the park, staring blankly into nothingness. Often, they march back and forth into a long finished battle, dying over and over again in agony. 

The mysterious echoes of disembodied screams. The roar of long-since silenced cannon fire. The otherworldly stench of blood and gunpowder suddenly fills the air. That’s what makes Kennesaw Mountain so unique.

From ghostly figures wandering through neighboring houses to mounted soldiers chasing after cars, to long-dead combatants stumbling around and taking refuge where they can, to the sounds of musket balls whizzing by, the battlefield houses a powerful supernatural force that permeates all 3,000 acres of the park and beyond.

Most visitors who believe in the hauntings explain that there seems to be a pattern of places where paranormal activity occurs. It follows the same pattern that closely parallels the activity in 1864. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park has something for everyone who calls themselves a ghost enthusiast.

A Continued Tale of Woe

Even with residential and commercial development encroaching on the battlefield, the spirits of the dead remain. Sightings of these tragic victims are frequent and have left a ghostly footprint on every inch of these hallowed grounds. 

Saddle Up

Calvary was an essential element in the conflict. Today, there are constant reminders of those saddled combatants.

Take the frightening encounter a father and son had with a phantom Union cavalry officer. Driving along one of the roads paralleling the battlefields, they suddenly spotted a horse with a rider emerging from the darkness. Dressed in the blues of the Union army, the rider held a saber aloft. After briefly giving chase, the ghostly apparition passed through a fence on the opposite side of the road and vanished. Dear old dad quickly stomped on the accelerator.

Another man, who lived on the outskirts of the battlefield, awoke to find a figure in Civil War attire, actually sitting atop a horse in his bedroom. He recalled the spirit being hazy and of a yellow color. The ghostly figure disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Home Sweet Home

Many of the nearby residents and visitors to the battlefield frequently find themselves face-to-face with otherworldly presences. Some appear out of thin air. Others walk through closed doors. The spirits randomly appear in homes and then retreat through the walls. They seem to come and go as they please.

In one instance, a woman took her trash out one night only to encounter a figure in the dark. Startled, she quickly realized the figure was dressed in an old-fashioned uniform. Not knowing how to react, she dropped the trash bag at his feet, saying, “Here you go!” and ran back into the house.

Out Here In The Fields

In the fields at dusk, visitors have claimed to see a whole regiment marching in the woods, their feet well off the ground.

Hikers report Confederate soldiers in bloody war-torn clothing walking through the park.  Thinking they are part of a Civil War reenactment, many who try to get a closer look say the soldiers vanished before they could get to them.  

Others report hearing voices coming from multiple directions and footsteps all around them. They also say the loud nighttime sounds of insects stopped immediately before these incidents. 

To top it all off, there are the tales of the “ghost deer.” They appear out of nowhere and charge directly towards anyone unlucky enough to catch their glowing eye. They disappear abruptly when they’re ready to run over whoever’s in their sights.

Haunted Atlanta

If you’d like to learn more about Atlanta’s haunted history, book a ghost tour with Atlanta Ghosts. We’ll ensure you find out everything you need to know about the local haunts.

Keep reading our blog for more information about Atlanta’s most haunted places. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram for more spooky content. 

SOURCES:

www.southernspiritguide.org/kennesaw-mountain-battlefield-experiences-georgia/ https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/kennesaw-mountai

https://usghostadventures.com/atlanta-ghost-tour/top-10-most-haunted-places-in-atlanta.com

https://www.nps.gov/kemo/learn/historyculture/index.html https://boft.org/the-fall-of-atlanta                                                                                                  https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/william-t-sherman https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/joseph-e-johnston