This sounds pretty darn cool…

Beginning Oct. 7, 2014 the DeKalb History Center, located in the historic DeKalb County courthouse in Decatur, will offer Civil War walking tours in downtown Decatur. The cost is $10 for adults, $6 for children ages 6-18, and free for children 5 and under. The tours are scheduled at various times and they begin and end in the lobby of the Historic DeKalb Courthouse. Please call 404-373-1088 extension 20 for information or visit www.dekalbhistory.org.

The tour familiarizes participants with the early history of the county, the effects of the war on the civilian population in DeKalb, the Atlanta campaign, and the Battle of Decatur. The hour-long tour complements the History Center’s new exhibit, Tears and Curses: A Human Perspective on the Civil War. “Our research for the exhibit yielded so much fascinating material that we wanted to share some of this additional information with the public,” said Jenny Goldemund, Programs and Preservation Coordinator for the History Center. Accordingly, the tour uses photographs, letters, diaries, newspapers, meeting minutes and other documents to show how people thought and felt about the war and the events around them. “The tour has a personal feel because of the local sources used” said Goldemund, “I think people will enjoy the tour and learn a lot.”

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Here’s a summary of the fighting during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864 from Franklin Garrett’s famous and definitive tome, “Atlanta and Environs”…

Upon arrival in Decatur [Confederate General Joseph] Wheeler found Federal troops of Schofield’s 23rd corps in the entrenchments along the south and east of the town, in greater than expected strength.  Wheeler immediately ordered his men to dismount, and attacking all along the line, his soldiers drove the Federals from the entrenchments in hand to hand fighting.  Checked momentarily in and around the Court House Square by troops of Colonel John W. Sprague of Fuller’s division of the 16th corps, guarding the wagon trains, they finally swept the enemy before them through the town and beyond the then city limits to the north.  The Confederates took 225 prisoners, 1 12-pound gun and a number of loaded supply wagons parked in the cemetery.

As on so many previous occasions, however, the relative size of the opposing side came into play.  Late in the afternoon, Hardee found himself in need of help.  Calling upon Wheeler for aid, the latter was unable to retain the advantage gained in Decatur and retired from the town.  The normally quiet old DeKalb county seat had played its brief part in the drama of war.

And a bit more specific, after the jump you will find the synopsis of the battle from Carole McKinney Clarke’s “The Story of Decatur 1823-1899″ and the reason I deemed Decatur’s role as “important” in the post title…

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Dave got to this one before me, but at Monday’s Decatur City Commission meeting, Chris Billingsley spoke out in favor of the city doing something in 4 years on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Decatur to honor the Union Soldier, John W. Sprague, who won the Medal of Honor for his actions on July 22, 1864.

During his comments to the commission, Billingsley stated that roughly 500 men died in battle along what is now North McDonough Street that day.

Here’s Sprague’s write up from the Army’s Medal of Honor website…

Rank and organization: Colonel, 63d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Decatur, Ga., 22 July 1862. Entered service at: Sandusky, Ohio Born: 4 April 1817, White Creek, N.Y. Date of issue: 18 January 1894. Citation: With a small command defeated an overwhelming force of the enemy and saved the trains of the corps.

Obviously, the Battle of Atlanta took place in 1864, not 1862, so I dare say the Army’s website has its dates wrong.  For clarity, Sprague’s Wikipedia entry reads thusly…

During the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Sprague was in command of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Division of the Sixteenth Army Corps. During the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, at a subaction near Decatur, Georgia, he masterfully conducted a delaying action under heavy enemy fire and received praise from his superiors. With only a small command, he defeated an overwhelming Confederate force and saved the entire ordnance and supply trains of the XV, XVI, XVII, and XX corps.[2][5]

According to Wikipedia, not 8 days later Sprague was promoted to to the rank of brigadier general.

Is anyone else a fan of the photoblog Shorpy.com?  Its an incredible resource of photographs taken between 1850 and 1950.

A search of “Atlanta” turns up a collection of truly amazing pics during Sherman’s occupation in 1864, along with a few others from the turn of the century.