Both the county and town were named in the honor of General Lewis Cass, Michigan statesman and Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson.

These hospitals operated from late 1861 until May 18, 1864, when ambulances moved patients south out of the path of the invading Federal forces.

In May 1899, the Cassville Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to honor these unknown soldiers, placed headstones at each of their graves in the local cemetery.

On May 19, 1864, Johnston, entrenched on the ridge east of the marker, planned to give battle but Sherman threatened his flank and his corps commanders objected to the position.

Johnston’s forces, reaching Cassville May 18, 1864 from Resaca, 30 miles (48 km) north, took positions on ridge west of the town and prepared to withstand the advancing Federals.

But Hood's corps, diverted by an attack on its right by McCook's cavalry [US], changed front and was ordered with the rest of the Army [CS] to withdraw to ridge east and south of the town.

[13][14] May 19, 1864: Butterfield's (3rd) Division, XXth Corps [US], moving southeast from McDow's, left the road here and marched to the Hawkins Price house, en route to Kingston The 1st and 2nd Divisions [US], on roads west, had the same objective - an erratic move by Sherman who assumed that Johnston's Army [CS] had retreated on Kingston.

Today the restored building is a cultural heritage museum with emphasis on black life in Bartow from the early 1900s to the present.

This, and the Methodist Female College 3/4 miles northeast, were the first chartered institutions of higher education in Cherokee Georgia.

Their destruction, together with the burning of Cassville, marked the passing of a notable educational center in this section of the state.