Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center / Georgia Military Institute Site (former) (Marietta, Georgia)

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500 Powder Springs Street
Marietta, GA 30064
(770) 427-2500
www.mariettaresort.com/

The Georgia Military Institute (G.M.I.) was established in Marietta, Georgia in 1851 and was the state's first military school. The campus, located on 110 acres of rolling hills about a mile from the square of Marietta on the road to Powder Springs, included a main school building, four dormitories and the house quarters for the Superintendent. In 1852, G.M.I. received 120 cadet muskets, 18 small swords and a battery of four six-pounder guns with the seal of the state of Georgia and the inscription "Georgia Military Institute" on the barrels. In 1858, the Armory building was added, along with two cannons and an appropriation of gun powder. Cadets guarded the Armory 24 hours a day.
In the spring of 1864, as Sherman's advancing army reached Dalton, Georgia, G.M.I. Cadets were reassigned and started their service as soldiers in the Confederate army. They were organized into two companies and designated "The Battalion of the Georgia Military Institute Cadets" or "G. M. I. Cadets" and were assigned to Walker's Division, Army of Tennessee.
On May 27th, they boarded a train and headed to West Point, Georgia to guard the bridge over the Chattahoochee River at the Alabama-Georgia state line. The G. M. I. Cadet Battalion saw action during the Atlanta Campaign and subsequently was part of the force contesting Sherman's March to the Sea. The G. M. I. Cadets Battalion disbanded at Augusta, Georgia on May 20, 1865.
On November 15, 1864, several months after the institute was evacuated, Sherman's troops burned the school buildings before evacuating Marietta and starting their infamous, "March to the Sea." After the war, several attempts were made to resurrect the school but none succeeded.