Fifth-grade students spent the morning at the Southern Museum of the Civil War in Kennesaw on Tuesday, January 26. The group then explored Cheatham Hill at Kennesaw Mountain, an actual battle site of the Civil War. The field trip was the culmination of a classroom study on the Civil War which began before the Christmas break and covered such topics as battle strategies and Sherman’s March to the Sea.
The students also studied the Great Locomotive Chase, which took place in Kennesaw in 1862. The Southern Museum holds The General, the locomotive stolen by Union soldiers as part of their plan to weaken Atlanta by destroying the link between Chattanooga and Atlanta. Volunteers from the Union Army commandeered The General and took it northward toward Chattanooga, doing as much damage as possible to the vital railroad line as they went. They were pursued by Confederate forces on foot and later by train. While at the museum, students particularly enjoyed a demonstration on how to load a musket in the heat of battle. They also saw many Civil War artifacts.
At Kennesaw National Battlefield, students enjoyed a hike on Cheatham Hill, one of the major battle sites at Kennesaw. They read information along the trail as they viewed entrenchments and mounds made by the soldiers.
Here are a few things that students learned on the trip:
“I found out an 11-year-old was the youngest person to die in the war.”
“It takes nine steps to load and fire a musket.”
“Hard tack was sometimes stored for ten years before being eaten. It would be rock hard and stale bread.”
“I liked the movie about the Great Locomotive Chase!”