{"nrhp_refnum":"75000585","name":"Gilgal Church Battle Site","other_names":["Federal Entrenchments"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"9 mi. W of Marietta on Sandtown Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marietta","county":"Cobb County","state":"GA","lat":33.97170343200003,"lon":-84.66495019799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-01-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An 8.15-acre undisturbed hardwood forest site containing Federal Civil War entrenchments, about nine miles west of Marietta on the Sandtown Road near the Due West crossroads in Cobb County, Georgia. The trenches date from the June 15-16, 1864 battle.","why_significant":"The site is significant as the location of Federal entrenchments from the fierce fighting at Gilgal Church, part of the 'action about Marietta' during Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. The trenches remain almost intact. The tight placement of troops here was more concentrated than at any other documented Civil War battle site in Georgia, according to the form.","narrative":"Nine miles west of Marietta, a small tract of hardwood forest along the Sandtown Road preserves the Federal trench lines dug for the Battle of Gilgal Church on June 15-16, 1864. The 8.15-acre site holds a front line, several rear lines, seven rifle pits, command posts, officers' pits and the depressions of graves, all softened by leaves and time but still distinct. The fighting was part of the series of clashes around Marietta between Sherman's Federal troops and Johnston's Confederates during the Atlanta Campaign. Federal troops were squeezed tightly between a creek branch and the road, producing the most concentrated placement of troops of any documented Civil War battle site in Georgia. Officers described the engagement as unusually severe, and the Confederate works as exceptionally strong. When Federal troops turned the Confederate line on June 16, Johnston abandoned his Pine Mountain and Lost Mountain line. Surrounding land was plowed or developed, but this parcel escaped, leaving the best-preserved of the battle sites.","period_of_significance":"June 15-16, 1864","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, unaltered, on its original site, and virtually unchanged since 1864; the form lists it as unimproved acreage.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.230901-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/75000585.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207581","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/cobb-county/gilgal-church-battle-site-75000585/"}