Fort McPherson’s namesake was an engineer who left his mark on such differing places as Alcatraz and Atlanta.

James Birdseye McPherson was born in Sandusky, Ohio, Nov. 14, 1828. At the age of 21, he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and went on to graduate at the top of his class July 1, 1853.

The newly commissioned engineer was also the first graduate in the history of the Academy to be retained as an assistant instructor (in practical engineering) without first having acquired additional experience.

A year later, 2nd Lt. McPherson was transferred to engineer duty in New York City. In 1857, after constructing Fort Delaware, he was sent as superintending engineer to San Francisco. He was put in charge of the construction of the defenses of Alcatraz Island.

In spring 1862, McPherson, who was by then a lieutenant colonel, went to work as chief engineer to Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant. In May 1862, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers.

In the summer of 1862, McPherson participated in the siege operations against Corinth, and in early October, distinguished himself in command of an infantry brigade in the battle of Corinth. On Oct. 8, 1862, he was promoted to major general of volunteers and given command of a division.

During the second advance on Vicksburg in 1863, McPherson commanded the XVII Corps and fought at Port Gibson, Raymond and Jackson. McPherson was promoted to brigadier general in the regular Army in August 1863 and was placed in command of the captured city of Vicksburg.

McPherson was preparing for his marriage in Baltimore when he received his nomination to command of the Army of the Tennessee, an organization that had at one time been commanded by both Grant and Sherman. The marriage plan was put aside as McPherson took command of the Army of the Tennessee during actions at Resaca, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain and around Atlanta.

After the July 20, 1864, Battle of Peachtree Creek, Confederate forces were pulled back within the defenses of the city clearing the way for McPherson’s continued movement toward the southeast and for Sherman to send the Union cavalry on a raid to the east to destroy bridges.

Having learned that the Union cavalry no longer protected the southern or left flank of the Army of the Tennessee, Gen. John Hood, in command of Confederate forces, ordered Lt. Gen. William Hardee to launch a surprise assault on the Union left and rear. Hardee, with four divisions, moved south out of the defenses of the city July 21, 1864, and marched his undetected forces around the exposed left flank, establishing his battle lines in preparation for the planned attack the following morning. The stage was set for the second major battle around the city, the Battle of Atlanta.

Following are excerpts from Sherman’s record of events July 22, 1864: “...Gen. McPherson and his staff rode up. We went back to the Howard House...and sat on the steps, discussing the chances of battle, and of Hood’s general character... “McPherson was in excellent spirits, well pleased at the progress of events... “... We walked down the road a short distance, sat down by the foot of a tree where I had my map, and on it pointed out to him Thomas’s position and his own...

“While we sat there we could hear lively skirmishing going on near us... and occasionally round-shot from 12- or 24- pound guns came through the trees in reply to those of Schofield. ...presently the firing appeared a little more brisk... and then we heard an occasional gun back toward Decatur. I asked him what it meant ... and he hastily called for his horse, his staff and his orderlies...

“He hastily gathered his papers into a pocket-book, put it in his breast-pocket and jumped on his horse, saying he would hurry down his line and send me back word what these sounds meant. His adjutant-general, Clark, Inspector-General Strong and his aides, Captains Steele and Gile, were with him.

“Although the sound of musketry on our left grew in volume, I was not so much disturbed by it as by the sound of artillery back toward Decatur...and was walking up and down the porch of the Howard House, listening, when one of McPherson’s staff...dashed up to the porch and reported that General McPherson was either ‘killed or a prisoner.’

“He explained that when they had left me a few minutes before, they had ridden rapidly across to the railroad, the sounds of battle increasing as they neared the position occupied by General Giles Smith’s division, and that McPherson had sent first one, then another of his staff to bring some of the reserve brigades of the Fifteenth Corps over the left flank...”

McPherson “... had followed this road leading across the wooded valley behind the Seventeenth Corps, and had disappeared in these woods, doubtless with a sense of absolute security... [ In fact, McPherson had run headlong into a Confederate skirmish line, and refusing orders to hault, was shot down.]

“The sound of musketry was there heard, and McPherson’s horse came back, bleeding, wounded and riderless.

“...Within an hour an ambulance came in bearing McPherson’s body.

“Dr. Hewitt, of the Army, was there, and ... reported that McPherson must have died in a few seconds after being hit, that the ball had ranged upward across his body and passed near the heart...

“... I ordered his personal staff to escort the body to his home, in Clyde, Ohio, where it was received with great honor, and it is now buried in a small cemetery, close by his mother’s house, which cemetery is composed in part of the family orchard in which he used to play when he was a boy.”

In 1867 to 1868, a 10-company post was constructed on the 53 acres of leased ground at the southwest corner of Atlanta, and on Dec. 30, 1867, was named McPherson Barracks in honor of the general. A monument honoring McPherson is erected in Atlanta at the corner of McPherson and Monument avenues to mark where he fell, and the adjoining avenue was designated in his honor.