MARIETTA, ma-ri-et'a, Ga., city, county seat of Cobb County, on the Nashville, Chat tanooga and Saint Louis Railroad, about 20 miles north by west of Atlanta. Kenesaw Mountain (q.v.) is west of the city. It was settled about 1840-41 and incorporated in 1852. A city char ter was granted in 1885. It is in a fertile agri cultural region in which stock-raising is one of the prominent occupations. Large marble quar ries are in the vicinity. The chief manufac tures are chairs, dressed marble and machine shop products. The chief buildings are the churches and schools. The Clarke Library, which contains about 5,500 volumes, is in Marietta. A national cemetery located here contains the graves of 10,279 soldiers; the un known dead number 2,967. The mayor and council are chosen at a popular election. Pop. 5,949.
Marietta was an intermediate objective point in General Sherman's campaign for Atlanta, and when he crossed the Etowah 23 May 1864, his columns were headed for that place by way of Dallas and New Hope Church, but Gen. J. E. Johnston threw his army in his front and checked him at New Hope Church and Dallas. After many battles and constant severe skimishing, Johnston abandoned his Dallas lines (see DALLAS, GA., BArn.e LINES AT) on 4 June, and took position covering Marietta, his left on Lost Mountain, his right beyond the railroad and behind Noonday Creek, with a strong advanced position on Pine Moun tain. Sherman repaired the railroad, established a secondary, fortified base at Allatoona Pass, and joined by Blair's Seventeenth corps ad vanced 10 June and confronted Johnson in his new and strong position, and by the 14th was strongly intrenched before it in a continuous line of 10 miles. Johnston abandoned Pine
Mountain on the night of the 14th, and Sher man advanced his lines, bringing on the en gagement at Pine Mountain (q.v.) 15 June. The general movement was continued on the 16th and the right thrown forward to threaten the railroad below Marietta. On the 18th Johnston fell back to a new line, including Kenesaw Mountain, which was strongly forti fied, and Sherman pressed in closely on the centre and left, north of Marietta, still con tinuing the extension of his line to the right, south of it. Johnston, making a correspond ing movement by his left, encountered Sher man's right at Kolb's Farm (q.v.) on the 22d. Sherman assaulted Kenesaw Mountain (q.v.) on the 27th, and was repulsed. Flanking opera tions were then renewed to the right to reach the railroad, and Johnston, finding it in danger and his communications with Atlanta threatened, after being 26 days under an uninterrupted can nonade and infantry fire, abandoned Marietta on the night of 2 July and fell back to a new line, previously selected and intrenched', 10 miles south of Marietta, and covering the railroad and his pontoon-bridges across the Chattahoochee, with an advanced position at Smyrna Camp ground. Sherman occupied Marietta on the morning of 3 July. The Union loss in the operations around Marietta was 1,790 killed and missing, and 5,740 wounded, an aggregate of 7,530. Johnston reported a Confederate loss of 468 killed and 3,480 wounded. Consult 'Official Records' (Vol. XXXVIII) ; Sherman, 'Memoirs' (Vol. II) • Van Horne, 'History of the Army of the Cumberland' (Vol. II); Johnston, 'Narrative.'