The Crow's Nest

The Crow's Nest. . , At this approximate location stood the Crow's Nest, a sixty-foot tall Georgia Pine surmounted by a signal platform. Before and after the battle, information to General Sherman was sent by signal flag communication from this platform to signal station on Kennesaw Mountain, some 18 miles south. With the battle underway, signalmen James W. McKenzie and Frank A. West attempted to send a message while standing on top of the eastern redoubt. Using a six-foot flag on a sixteen-foot staff, the two men drew intense fire from Confederate sharpshooters. The message was finally seen from Kennesaw Mountain at 10:35 a.m., "We hold out. General Corse here.", The Crow's Nest tree became diseased after the war and was ordered cut down by Governor Joseph M. Brown. Souvenir cigar boxes and gavels were made from the tree trunk and sent to Generals Joseph E. Johnston, Samuel G. French and John M. Corse. These mementos were also sent to Allatoona Station Master Sam W. Wilkes, the Y.M.C.A. of Boston, Massachusetts, and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., First Lieutenant Henry Otis Dwight sketched this picture of the signal post on Kennesaw Mountain during the Battle of Allatoona Pass. It was at this post that Sherman received the message that General Corse had arrived and anxiously awaited news from the battle raging at Allatoona Pass.