College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Term of Award

Spring 2026

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Social Sciences (M.A.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Committee Chair

Ryan K. McNutt

Committee Member 1

M. Jared Wood

Committee Member 2

Daniel Elliott

Abstract

In December 1864, General William T. Sherman’s Union army approached Savannah, Georgia, towards the end of his “March to the Sea.” The Fifteenth Army Corps, part of Sherman’s Right Wing and commanded by General P. J. Osterhaus, crossed the Ogeechee River at Jencks and Wright’s Bridges, and advanced towards Station No.2 on the Central of Georgia Railway and the crossroads at Eden Station, located in Effingham County, Georgia. Three companies of the Tenth Battalion, North Carolina Heavy Artillery contested the crossing, falling back to multiple defensive positions before escaping by train in an effort to delay Sherman’s inevitable advance on Savannah. The Battle of Eden Station, like many other battles along the path of Sherman’s Savannah Campaign, would become obscured by time. Due to this obscurity, there have been no known efforts to protect or preserve the battlefield, which is threatened by changes to land use and development. Using primary sources, key terrain features of the battlefield were identified and mapped into GIS software. KOCOA, a tool to ascertain the tactical importance of terrain from a military perspective, was then used to identify high-probability locations for further analysis. Guided by KOCOA, a site was chosen for systematic metal detection. Fieldwork uncovered clear evidence of Civil War conflict, identifying an archaeologically unknown portion of this previously forgotten battlefield.

OCLC Number

1588655395

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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