John Banks, the author of a popular Civil War blog, paid a visit to Missionary Ridge to seek out more tales of the war.
He visited with Missionary Ridge resident Neal Thompson, who has a collection of Civil War artifacts and memorabilia.
Mr. Thompson is a descendant of Capt. John G. Hanna of Dade County, who was a brave Confederate soldier. The father of Mr. Thompson researched the family and was able to obtain a picture of Capt. Hanna.
On June 27, 1862, Capt. Hanna was wounded at the battle of Gaines Mill near Richmond. He recuperated in a hospital.
The captain wrote his father in Rising Fawn, requesting a horse that was "fast as hell" to replace the one that had been shot from under him and killed. This was Sept. 17, 1862.
Capt. Hanna, of Company B of the 6th Georgia, was killed not long afterward at Antietam. He was in a cornfield when he approached Lt. Col. James Newton and reported they were being flanked. He and Newton were then killed by the first volley from the 66th Ohio.
Capt. Hanna, who was 27, and his wife, Virginia, had a two-year-old son, William. William Hanna died less than two months after his father's death.
There is a marker to Capt. Hanna in a family cemetery at Rising Fawn, but it is believed that his body was not actually returned to Dade County.
Mr. Thompson has a signed copy of a request by Capt. Hanna for clothing for his men as well as copies of regimental returns.
Mr. Thompson, a semi-retired attorney, also shown Mr. Banks Civil War items that have been collected on the Ridge.