Landmark Events historian Bill Potter combines a lifelong study of American history with an uncommon ability to captivate audiences of all ages as he traces the providential acts of God throughout the ages.

Dr. Gordon Jones is the Senior Military Historian and Curator at the Atlanta Center and he will be addressing our group with a special message about the historical cyclorama painting: The Battle of Atlanta.

Our tour begins at the beautiful and historic Oakland Cemetery in the heart of Atlanta where we will visit the gravesites of generals, privates, and civilians as well as the Lion of Atlanta — a memorial to the Confederate soldiers who died in defense of the city.

We will do a quick survey of the monuments which grace the Capitol grounds, pausing especially at those of Governor Joe Brown and Major General John B. Gordon. Inside we will see the portraits of the great constitutionalist and Vice-President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens as well as those of General Robert Toombs and Howell Cobb, the men who helped create the Confederacy.

We will have the privilege of hearing a lecture from Dr. Gordon Jones, the Senior Military Historian and Curator at the Atlanta Center. His topic will be “The Creation and Restoration of the World’s Greatest Historical Cyclorama Painting, The Battle of Atlanta.”

Having maneuvered his way south from Chattanooga in a series of inconclusive fights, General Sherman determined to attack on a broad front against a numerically inferior and exhausted enemy at the fortified mountain called Kennesaw. With their backs to the Chattahoochee River, the Confederate forces were all that stood between Sherman and Atlanta. We will tour the bloodiest sector of the battlefield known as “the angle” and hear some of the most poignant and inspiring stories of the entire war.

The town of Marietta witnessed a full measure of the War for Southern Independence. Confederate troops were trained there, the armies fought, and one of the most exciting events of the war began at the train station... The Great Train Chase. We will pause briefly at the famous gazebo in the town square to recount some of these notable events before touring the Marietta Museum.

In 1862, a band of adventurous Union volunteers made their way to Marietta disguised as civilians. They stole a train and their aim was to use it to cut communications, burn bridges and isolate the Queen City on the Tennessee River. We will tell the story of the dramatic chase that ensued, the near misses and ultimate failure of the enterprise, as well as the fate of the raiders themselves. We will gaze down from the same vantage point as the raiders, now in the Marietta Museum, along the railroad tracks.