CW N Civil War News
Lincoln’s 208th Birthday Vol. 43, No. 4
$3.50
America’s Monthly Newspaper For Civil War Enthusiasts
Preservation News From The CWT 48 Pages, April 2017
Historic Battle Mural Moved To Permanent Home
In this segment of Atlanta’s famous Cyclorama, Col. August Mersy’s Federal brigade attacks the South Carolinians of Brig. Gen. Arthur Manigault, who have broken the Federal line east of Atlanta on the afternoon of July 22, 1864. (Jack Melton) By Stephen Davis ATLANTA, GA.—One of the world’s greatest battle paintings has finally found its home. Let’s hope this one is its last, and the permanent one. Imagine a football field wrapped around you, and that’s how small you feel when standing inside the Cyclorama—359 feet in circumference and 42 feet tall. Formally titled The Battle of Atlanta, the huge painting portraying the battle fought on July 22, 1864 has been housed for more than a century in an Atlanta amusement park. Now, after a massive effort, the Cyclorama is moving to its best-ever home, the Atlanta History Center, in the middle of our city. I’m an Atlantan, and we’re all excited.
The story behind the painting, the actual battle, will be familiar to many readers of Civil War News. It was one of the major engagements of the Atlanta Campaign. Following two and a half months of hard fighting through north Georgia, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman had brought his forces to within a few miles of the city. Confederate Gen. John B. Hood was determined to drive them away. On July 22, Hood attacked Sherman. After eight hours’ fighting, the Southerners were repulsed and withdrew back into Atlanta’s fortified lines after they had given the Yankees one of the bloodiest fights of the campaign, inflicting some 3,700 casualties (against 5,700 of their own). For a while that afternoon, Rebels had overrun some enemy
works and by the end of the day had captured twelve pieces of artillery. They also managed to kill Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, second-highest Federal officer to die in battle. Hood reported the battle as a victory, which caused the politicos in Richmond to whoop it up as such. The Battle of Atlanta is not the oldest battle-rendering extant.
Cyclorama murals—buildingsized paintings hung circularly for viewing from the inside— were a European innovation of the late nineteenth century. Subjects chosen for depiction ranged from Jesus’ Crucifixion to combats of the Franco-Prussian War. The American Civil War gave rise to other battle paintings for Shiloh, Second Manassas, Vicksburg,
July 23, 2014: (Right to left) Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Atlanta History Center President and Chief Executive Officer Sheffield Hale, and Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood announce the move of the Atlanta Cyclorama.
Inside this issue:
46 – Advertiser Index 35 – Ask The Appraiser 4 – Black Powder, White Smoke 26 – Book Reviews 44 – Classifieds 30 – Critic’s Corner 36 – Events Section 12 – Inspection, ARMS! 14 – Preservation News 3 – Roundtable News 5 – The Source 6 – Through The Lens 11 – The Unfinished Fight 7 – Small Talk-Trivia Chattanooga and even the Monitor vs. Virginia. Frenchman Paul Philippoteaux supervised the cyclorama painting of the battle of Gettysburg, which came to this country in 1884. It remains one of the most popular attractions for today’s visitors to Gettysburg National Military Park. Today, of all these huge Civil War canvases, only The Battle of Gettysburg
H Cyclorama
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