County leaders hope a piece of property donated by the Civil War Trust will help boost both tourism and educational endeavors in the area.

The land, a 50-acre tract located on U.S. 41 near the historic Chitwood Property, marks the final stand of the Cherokee Battery —an artillery regiment — that fought during the Battle of Resaca.

It was donated to the county, in part, because the intent is to give the public better access to the site, according to Ken Padgett with the Civil War Trust.

“It started out as the Civil War trust … wanted that property for public access year around,” he said. Prior, the public would have to go through private property to get there.”

Padgett said the county does not wish to develop the property—which was acquired through no cost to the taxpayer—but a “rustic” walking trail could be made.

He hopes the property will be ready for year-around public use by 2014 — the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Resaca.

The property is significant, Padgett said, because the Cherokee Battery was sacked following a charge led by Benjamin Harrison, who would go on to be the 23rd President of the United States.

“He fought there for the Federal Army,” Padgett said. “He used the battery as a backdrop for his campaign posters, which showed him charging up the hill with his sabre. The battle here had a great impact on the nation later.”

There are artifacts and structural “evidence” remaining on the site, Padgett said, and earthworks that shows how the federals attacked the battery.

The battery, which was mustered in Rome, made up Company A of Stovall’s Battalion of Artillery.

They participated in the Kentucky Campaign and later fought in the Battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga.

During the Battle of Resaca, the battery was overrun as they prepared their cannons.

Following the loss of their cannons, the surviving members were reassigned. They were later captured by Union forces and sent to prison camps in the north where they were later paroled.