The Death of General Harker

A grim but peaceful reminder of past violence

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

Near Cheatham Hill Parking Lot in Southern Section of the park.

Significance:

Death site of Union General Charles Harker

Designation:

National Battlefield Park

Amenities

2 listed

Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Brigadier General Charles B. Harker was 28 years old at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. He was perceived as smart, capable, and brave by his men and his superiors. Gen. O.O. Howard said of Harker “The only complaint I ever heard was that if Harker got started against the enemy, he could not be kept back… Whenever anything difficult was to be done, anything that required pluck and energy, we called on Gen. Harker.” Harker’s 3^rd brigade of seven regiments was ordered to charge this section of the Confederate works. In the early morning hours of the 27^th, Harker was seen sealing and finishing up several letters home. In what was noted as potentially an eerie premonition, Harker gave a member of his staff his personal papers and said “I shall not come out of the charge today alive”. A few hours later, while at the front of the charge and urging his men forward, a bullet tears through his arm and enters his chest. He would fall near this spot. A private from Illinois would later write “Several of the men nearest him spang up to carry him off the field; of these some were struck down at once, but others filled their places.” A surgeon would declare his wound fatal and Gen. Harker would die by 1:00 pm later that day.