Cassville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Bartow County Bartow County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville. Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, B ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. It was originally the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

before the name was changed from Cass County. The seat was moved to

Cartersville Cartersville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, Bartow County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city ha ...

after

General Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

destroyed Cassville in his Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Cassville, although no longer incorporated, is said to encompass an area beginning at the Cassville Road-Firetower Road intersection and extending a mile in all directions. Cassville lies in between

Adairsville Adairsville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, Bartow County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 4,878. Adairsville is approximately halfway between Atlant ...

and

, off

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

. It is considered part of metro Atlanta but maintains its small town atmosphere. Other points of interest include the Cassville History Museum, Cassville Visitors Information, and Cassville Confederate Cemetery, located on Cass-White Road.

History

The town of Cassville was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

ted in 1833, as the seat of justice for Cass County. It was soon the center of trade and travel in the region recently comprising the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

. Both the county and town were named in the honor of General

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...

, Michigan statesman and

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

in the Cabinet of President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

. It was the county seat of Cass County from 1832–1861. The name was changed to Manassas in 1861 after the success of the Confederacy in the First Battle of Bull Run. But as a direct result, the town was burned by Sherman 1864 and never fully recovered. About 300 unknown Confederate soldiers died of wounds or disease in Cassville's several Confederate hospitals. These hospitals operated from late 1861 until May 18, 1864, when ambulances moved patients south out of the path of the invading Federal forces. In May 1899, the Cassville Chapter of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

, to honor these unknown soldiers, placed headstones at each of their graves in the local cemetery. On May 19, 1864, Confederate General

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia secede ...

tricked Union General

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

into dividing his forces at

and sending the XXIII Corps under General John M. Schofield across the Gravelly Plateau to Cassville. Johnston placed Lt. General

Leonidas Polk Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, which separated from the Episcopal Chur ...

's corps behind Two Run Creek northwest of Cassville to oppose Schofield in front as he began crossing the creek. Johnston then sent Lt. General

John B. Hood John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Although brave, Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the dec ...

's corps northward along the Spring Place Road, to ambush Schofield on the left. Atlanta Campaign. On May 19, 1864, Johnston, entrenched on the ridge east of the marker, planned to give battle but Sherman threatened his flank and his corps commanders objected to the position. He therefore withdrew to Allatoona Pass. Rather than attack this strong position Sherman moved past it toward New Hope Church.

Confederate Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating in ...

at Cassville. Johnston’s forces, reaching Cassville May 18, 1864 from Resaca, north, took positions on ridge west of the town and prepared to withstand the advancing Federals. On May 19: Pursuant to this intention, Hood's corps moved north of the town to oppose the Federal XX and XXIII Corps marching south from Adairsville. But Hood's corps, diverted by an attack on its right by McCook's cavalry S changed front and was ordered with the rest of the Army Sto withdraw to ridge east and south of the town. The Confederates held a council of war at the William Neal McKelvey residence May 19. They discussed the advisability of holding the position east and south of Cassville. Present were: Johnston; Polk; Hood; Maj. General S. C. French; and Captain W.J. Morris, Chief Engineer, Polk's aide-de-camp. After hearing the statements of the council, Johnston ordered the withdrawal of the army at midnight. May 19, 1864: Butterfield's (3rd) Division, XXth Corps S moving southeast from McDow's, left the road here and marched to the Hawkins Price house, en route to Kingston The 1st and 2nd Divisions S on roads west, had the same objective - an erratic move by Sherman who assumed that Johnston's Army Shad retreated on Kingston. Butterfield's march disclosed that Johnston's Army was at Cassville, not Kingston. The XXIII Corps (Schofield) Smarched on this road from McDow's, reaching Cassville at dark. Here the night of May 19, 1864, the Confederate Generals Johnston, Polk and Hood, conferred and decided to abandon Cassville and to move south of the Etowah, although Johnston originally had intended to fight here. Cassvile Female College was founded in 1853. On May 19, 1864, skirmishers of Polk's Army Corps Swithdrew from this ridge east to Cassville when pressed back by Butterfield's (3d) Div., XXth Corps S from the Hawkins Price house.

Battery C, 1st Ohio Light Artillery Battery C, 1st Ohio Light Artillery was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The battery was organized Camp Dennison near Cincinnati, Ohio and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on Septem ...

, supported by

73rd Ohio Infantry The 73th Ohio Infantry Regiment, sometimes 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 73rd OVI) was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 73rd Ohio Infantry was organized in Chillicothe, Ohio and mustered in for ...

, 19th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment and 20th Connecticut Infantry regiment Soccupied the ridge and shelled the town as Johnson's Army Swithdrew to a ridge east of it. At night Cassville was seized by the 19th Mich. & 20th Conn. the Female College and town were burned by the union. Noble Hill Rosenwald School, now known as Noble Hill-Wheeler Memorial Center, was built in 1923 as the first standard school for black children in the Bartow County School System. The school closed in 1955 when all the county's schools for black children were consolidated to form Bartow Elementary School at a central location. Today the restored building is a cultural heritage museum with emphasis on black life in Bartow from the early 1900s to the present. On Chapman Hill, a school for boys was established in January 1854. This was a large three-story brick building flanked by two-story wings. It burned in 1856, was rebuilt in 1857, and was destroyed by Federal forces on October 12, 1864. This, and the Methodist Female College 3/4 miles northeast, were the first chartered institutions of higher education in Cherokee Georgia. Their destruction, together with the burning of Cassville, marked the passing of a notable educational center in this section of the state.Georgia (Bartow County), Cassville — 008-22 — Site - Cherokee Baptist College

Notable people

Barry Loudermilk Barry Dean Loudermilk (born December 22, 1963) is an American politician from the state of Georgia who has been the U.S. representative from since 2015. The district covers a large slice of Atlanta's northern suburbs, including Marietta, Acwo ...

, U.S. Congressman from Georgia's 11th congressional district. *Brigadier General William T. Wofford is buried here. He surrendered the last remaining Confederate troops east of the Mississippi in nearby Kingston.

References

External links

Cassville Historical Society
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Bartow County, Georgia Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state) 1833 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Former county seats in Georgia (U.S. state)

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links