Camouflaged Cannons - Kennesaw Battlefield - Cobb Co., GA
Posted by: 
Lat34North
N 33° 56.168 W 084° 35.827
16S E 722091 N 3757675
Located at the Kennesaw National Battlefield Park at the parking area at the end of Cheatham Hill Dr, Kennesaw, GA.
Waymark Code: WMA30Q
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 11/08/2010
Views: 4
Camouflaged Cannons
Tennessee cannoneers positioned two 12 pounder howitzers within this redoubt. Major Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham ordered these artillery crews to camouflage the earthen mounds with cut underbrush and to hold their fire unless attacked. For the next week, they under cover as Union bombardments tried to weaken the Confederate lines.
On the morning of June 27, a Union barrage preceded close packed Federal attackers. The gunners here waited silently as blue-clad columns pushed through dense forests despite Confederate small arms fire. Finally, at point blank range, the cannon crews opened fire. Flying canisters stunned the federal lines, and according to one Confederate officer, “did great execution.”
Confederate artillery crews normally consisted of a gunner in charge of seven and cannoneers.
Well-trained crews could reload and shoot four times a minute.
View from the entrance to the redoubt.