Treachery, hijacked train engines, Civil War triumphs and tragedies.
These are all part of the framework of one of the most interesting little towns in the South: Kennesaw, Ga.
Kennesaw, located just north of Marietta, Ga., and a whoop and a holler (well, 20 miles) from megatropolis Atlanta, is the only area in the country which can claim a former Major League Baseball commissioner as a namesake.
Thousands of Confederate and Union soldiers died in fighting for the high ground at Kennesaw Mountain in June of 1864. One of the Union soldiers, Abraham Landis, was so scared, angry, enamored and/or flabbergasted after being wounded in the leg by a cannonball during the fighting on the 1,809-foot mountain that he told his comrades: "If I ever get off this mountain I'm going to name my son after it."
As fate would have it, he managed to get back home safely to Milford, Ohio, and kept his promise: He named his sixth child, a son, Kenesaw Mountain Landis (misspelling the name of the place). The lad went on to become the highest ranking Major League Baseball official in America, despite the monicker.
Kennesaw is perhaps even more famous for its incredible Great Locomotive Chase story.
During the Civil War the Union managed to sneak 20 spies behind Confederate lines at Marietta, Ga., pretending they were Kentuckians trying to join up with Rebel troops.
But the men instead were under orders from Gen. Sherman's aide, Gen. Ornsby Mitchell, to steal a Confederate train at Marietta and make their way north to Chattanooga, tearing up rail lines and rail bridges on their way north. The men managed to steal the train, called The General, and made their escape with the Rebel train crew right on their heels. The Yanks managed to slow down the Rebels during the chase by tearing up tracks and temporarily blocking the rail line, but the Rebs managed to overcome the handicaps. The Rebs were able to send a telegraph message ahead and Confederate calvary troops and the pursuing Rebs finally caught the train-nappers a few miles short of Chattanooga when the Yanks ran out of wood to feed the steam engine. Several of the men were hanged, but some escaped the noose and became the country's first recipients of the Medal of Honor.
A Walt Disney movie, "The Great Locomotive Chase," starring Fess Parker, was filmed in 1956 and copies are available at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, a building chock-full of Civil War and railroading information (including, no less, the actual The General locomotive).
The museum also tells the story of the Glover Machine Works, a company which built steam locomotives and was instrumental in helping rebuild the South after the war.
The Civil War battles at Kennesaw were among the largest of the war and the 2,888-acre Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park tells the story of the epic conflicts there. The museum and grounds includes photos, weapons, uniforms, Smithsonian Institution Civil War artifacts (on loan), cannon and much more. A free film about the conflict runs regularly during business hours.
Visitors may take walking tours, following in the footsteps of both Rebel and Yankee soldiers, or take a self-guided automobile tour.
The town of Kennesaw itself includes a restored railroad depot, several interesting gift shops, boutiques, antique shops and restaurants.
The Southern Museum of the Civil War and Locomotive History and the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park are only a few miles apart and can be easily reached off Interstate Highway 75 at exits 273 and 269 (about two miles off the interstate).
For more information call 770--427-2117 or visit these Internet web sites: http://www.southernmuseum.org/, www.nps.gov/kemo

This story was published on 07 Jun 2004.