The white house in the background is the Ponder House, which housed Confederate sharpshooters until it was destroyed by Union artillery. Its former location is marked on the map at right. The other homes were stripped to provide lumber for defensive fortifications. (Click to enlarge)

Students walking to and from class on Georgia Tech’s campus might not realize that they’re traversing ground that once was a Civil War battlefield.

After the fall of Vicksburg, the Union Army — under the direction of general William Sherman — set its sights on cities farther south, including Atlanta, and eventually destroyed much of the city. But before they did, Union and Confederate soldiers squared off on what now is the heart of the Tech campus.

Confederate defenses were raised across the city, including a series of defensive lines in the summer of 1864 that stretched along the southern border of campus. The approaching Union forces dug in along what is now 10th Street.

One notable site was the Ponder House, which was a perch for Confederate sharpshooters until it was destroyed by Union artillery.

The fighting lasted for four months, until Confederate general John Bell Hood called for an evacuation in September 1864. Sherman then famously ordered the city to be burned to the ground.

This map, created by Tech’s Office of Facilities Design and Construction, overlays Civil War sites on top of the current campus. It shows Union lines to the north, Confederate lines to the south and sites of potential archaeological interest. Click to enlarge.