OPERATIONS IN GEORGIA.
GENERAL SHERMAN’S MARCH TO ATLANTA.
On the 14th of March, 1864, General Sherman, then at Memphis, Tenn., was officially informed that he had been appointed to succeed General Grant, as commander of the Department of the Mississippi. Upon the same day General Sherman set out for Nashville, there to hold a conference with General Grant. That conference took place on the 17th, and having discussed at length the steps to be taken, and the policy for the ensuing campaign, General Sherman accompanied General Grant as far eastward as Cincinnati, where they parted. The former then returned to Nashville, and undertook a tour of inspection, visiting, in Alabama, the cities of Athens, Decatur, and Huntsville, and Larkin’s Ferry; and in Tennessee, Chattanooga, Loudon, and Knoxville. General Sherman had personal interviews with each of the following generals, in command in that section of the country;—Major-General Thomas, commanding the Army of the Cumberland, at Chattanooga; Major-General McPherson, commanding the Army of the Tennessee, at Huntsville; and Major-General Schofield, commanding the Army of the Ohio, at Knoxville. In these several interviews, the 1st of May was agreed upon as the time for a general movement.
General Sherman next turned his attention to the question of supplies for the army, which at first necessitated a temporary stoppage of provisions for many of the people in Tennessee, who had been receiving their food from the supplies intended for the army. Fortunately no positive suffering resulted from this step, which General Sherman was compelled to take in duty to the soldiers under his command; and in a short time all hardships were done away with, as the rich soil sent forth an early vegetation, and meat and grain were brought from Kentucky in large quantities by the ox-wagons constantly plying to and fro between that State and Chattanooga.
On the 27th of April, General Sherman put all the troops under his command in motion for Chattanooga; and on the next day he followed them there in person. It was his aim to make the Army of the Cumberland number fifty thousand men; that of the Tennessee, thirty-five thousand; and that of the Ohio, fifteen thousand; but this he never was enabled to do, as the Army of the Tennessee failed to receive General A. J. Smith’s divisions from the Mississippi, which were unable to join the other forces at the time designated, in consequence of the failure of the Red river expedition. The effective strength of the several armies was, on the 21st of May, as follows: Army of the Cumberland, sixty thousand seven hundred and seventy-three men, and one hundred and thirty guns; Army of the Tennessee, twenty-four thousand four hundred and sixty-five men, and ninety-six guns; and the Army of the Ohio, thirteen thousand five hundred and fifty nine men, and twenty-eight guns. On the morning of May 6th, these armies were grouped thus:—The Cumberland, at and about Ringgold; the Tennessee, at Gordon’s Mills, on the Chickamauga; and Ohio, close by Red Clay, on the Georgia line, north of Dalton.
The enemy, under the rebel general, Joseph Johnston, was in and around Dalton; the force numbering in all about sixty thousand men—the cavalry numbering ten thousand under General Wheeler; and the infantry and artillery—three corps—numbering fifty thousand, under command of Generals Hardee, Hood, and Polk.
The city of Dalton was covered in front with an inaccessible ridge, known as the Rocky Face, which rendered it impracticable to strike at it from that direction; and on the north front the enemy was further protected by a strong line of works along Mill Creek. General Sherman finding these two points guarded, next turned his attention to the south, and found, through Snake Creek Gap, a good way to reach Resaca, an important point on the rebel line of communication, about eighteen miles below Dalton. General McPherson was ordered to move directly on Resaca, through Snake Gap, while, to occupy the enemy’s attention, General Thomas was ordered to make a strong feint in front, and General Schofield on the north of the city. These movements were successfully carried out; General McPherson reached the gap on the 8th, and took by surprise a whole cavalry brigade, while General Thomas pushed his demonstration against Buzzard’s Roost and Rocky Face ridge till it almost amounted to a battle; and General Schofield pressed down close upon Dalton.
General McPherson advanced within a mile of Resaca, without meeting opposition, but on nearing the place he perceived that it was too strongly held by the rebels for him to carry it by assault, whereupon he was obliged to fall back, and take position at the west end of Snake Creek Gap.
On the next day two corps from General Thomas’s army were sent forward to the support of General McPherson, leaving the Fourth corps, under General Howard, to continue to threaten Dalton on the front. General Schofield was also ordered forward to Snake Creek Gap, and on the 11th of May, the entire army, with the exception of General Howard’s corps, and a small force of cavalry left to watch Dalton, was in motion for Resaca, and, on the next day moved against it in full force. Two miles from Resaca the enemy’s cavalry was driven by Kilpatrick’s cavalry from a cross road which they occupied, and in the engagement that brave officer was so severely wounded that he was compelled to give up his command for the time to Colonel Murray, who wheeled out of the road, and allowed General McPherson to pass. The enemy’s infantry pickets were driven in and General McPherson took possession of a ridge of hills which placed the right of his army on the Oostanaula,—two miles below the railroad bridge—and his left directly west of the town. General Thomas came up on his left, and General Schofield followed on the left of Thomas. It was now ascertained that the rebel General Johnston had left Dalton; and General Howard entered the town and pressed close upon the enemy’s rear, but owing to the rugged and hilly nature of the country, the rebel general succeeded in reaching Resaca in safety; and on the 14th of May the Unionists found the rebel army occupying a strong position behind Camp Creek, and in possession of several forts at Resaca, with its right on a ridge of high chestnut hills to the north of the town.
General Sherman immediately made demonstrations against the enemy. A pontoon bridge was placed across the Oostanaula, and a division of the Sixteenth corps, commanded by General Sweeney, crossed and threatened Calhoun. The cavalry division of General Gerrard was sent to break the railroad below Calhoun and above Kingston, while General Sherman pressed the main body of the army against Resaca, at all points.
General McPherson succeeded in making a lodgment close upon the rebel works, while General Thomas pushed along Camp Creek Valley, and threw General Hooker’s corps across the head of the creek to the main Dalton road, close on Resaca; and General Schofield came up on his left. A severe battle commenced about noon of the 15th, which continued during the whole afternoon and evening.
The fighting on both sides was very severe: and when night put an end to the conflict, the rebels took advantage of the darkness to make their escape; and in the morning the town was entered and taken possession of by the National troops.
The whole Union army then started in pursuit of the retreating rebels, but found no token of their whereabouts until, the evening of the 17th, near a place called Adairsville, a brigade of the enemy was overtaken. The advance, consisting of General Newton’s division, engaged the rebel rear-guard, and a sharp encounter ensued. Night again put a stop to the conflict; and upon the following morning the enemy was gone, and was not afterwards overtaken till the National army had advanced four miles below Kingston, where he was again discovered on open ground, well adapted for a heavy battle. The proper dispositions for a fight were promptly made; but as the Union troops were getting in readiness, and preparing to hem in the rebels, they once more took advantage of the mantle of darkness, and escaped in the night-time across the Etowah river, burning the road and bridges which they passed over, but leaving the National troops in undisputed possession of the whole valuable country about the Etowah river. General Sherman now gave his army a brief rest of a few days, as well for the purpose of recruiting their strength as to allow time for bringing forward supplies for the next stage of the campaign.
CAPTURE OF ROME, GA.
May 19, 1864.
In the mean time a detachment of the Fourteenth corps (General Palmer) under command of General Jeff. C. Davis had been ordered on the 17th of May, along the west bank of the Oostanaula, toward Rome, a place fifteen miles west of Kingston. General Davis reached Rome upon the following day, and met with a determined resistance from the enemy. A sharp fight ensued, which resulted in the rebels being completely routed; General Davis took several forts, eight or ten guns of heavy calibre, a great many valuable mills and foundries then doing duty in the service of the Confederate government; and large quantities of stores. On the 19th, General Davis with his troops took possession of the city of Rome.
On the 23d of May, the march was resumed. Feeling assured that the enemy had the power, and would therefore use it, to hold the Union army in check at a place called the Allatoona Pass, General Sherman determined to turn it by a circuit to the right, instead of attempting it in front, and on that day ordered the whole army, with the exception of the garrisons at Rome and Kingston, forward upon Dallas.
Upon the march a letter from the rebel General Johnston was captured, showing that he had discovered General Sherman’s movement, and was concentrating at Dallas to meet him.
General Geary’s division, of Hooker’s corps, encountered the enemy’s line of battle, after crossing Pumpkin Vine creek, and advancing about three miles along the Dallas road; the result was a severe fight of several hours. The remaining troops of General Hooker’s corps were advancing along different roads, but they were quickly brought in to the assistance of Geary, and by order of General Sherman the entire corps made a bold push to obtain a point called New Hope Church, which lay at the intersection of three roads leading from Ackworth, Marietta, and Dallas. A very heavy battle was fought at this point, which resulted in defeat to the rebels, who were beaten back, but saved themselves from being driven from the road by throwing up hastily constructed fortifications. A severe storm, which set in about the close of the day, also proved of great assistance to them, inasmuch as it prevented General Hooker from making any further demonstration against them. In the morning the enemy was discovered strongly intrenched in front of the road which led from Dallas to Marietta. Consequently, preparations against them were made in large force. General McPherson was stationed at Dallas; General Thomas was deployed against New Hope Church; and General Schofield was directed to hold the left. The cavalry under General Garrard operated with McPherson, that under General Stoneman with Schofield, and General McCook’s division brought up the rear.
During all these movements, constant skirmishing occurred between the opposing armies. The heaviest attack took place on the 28th, and was made by a strong rebel force upon General McPherson’s troops, when they were in the act of closing up to General Thomas in front of New Hope Church. The Federal troops being strongly protected by breastworks, repulsed the enemy bravely, and succeeded in driving him back with heavy loss. A brief pause succeeded this demonstration, which was at times broken by a renewal of skirmishing; after which the movements against the enemy were continued, and on the 1st of June General McPherson moved to the left, and occupied the position of General Thomas in front of New Hope Church, while that general and Schofield were ordered to move five miles farther to the left, thus giving the Union troops the occupation of the roads leading to Allatoona and Ackworth. General Stoneman’s cavalry was next pushed into Allatoona, at the east end, and General Garrard’s at the west end, of the Pass, thus accomplishing the real intention to turn Allatoona.
The bridge across the Etowah which had been destroyed by the rebels was immediately rebuilt; and General Sherman moved his army upon Ackworth on the 4th, thus compelling Johnston to leave his intrenchments at New Hope Church, and to move westward to cover Marietta. The National troops reached Ackworth on the 6th, and rested there for a few days.
Allatoona Pass, being considered by General Sherman as specially suited to the purpose, was chosen by him as a secondary base of operations, and was, according to his orders, made suitable for defence.
On the 9th of June, the army moved forward to Big Shanty, having been on the previous day strengthened by two divisions of the Seventeenth corps, and one brigade of cavalry, which had been absent on furlough. Between Big Shanty and Marietta a mountainous district intervenes, which has three separate and well-defined summits, the most easterly of which is called the Kenesaw Mountain, and lies directly north and northwest of Marietta, and west of the railroad; it has a spur, called the Little Kenesaw, which juts out for a considerable distance in a northeasterly direction. The second of the highest summits, known as Lost Mountain, lies directly west of Marietta, and midway between these two lies Pine Mountain. These three mountains are connected by ranges of smaller eminences, upon all of which the rebels had erected signal stations, from which they could observe all the operations of the National troops.
A great battle was impending; and the rebels, swarming about the summits of the hills, “thick as leaves in Vallambrosa,” made the place alive with moving figures, and the air vocal with the hum of voices, the noise of felling timber, and the many hundred sounds of hurried preparations for the coming struggle.
General Sherman describes the scene as “enchanting—too beautiful to be disturbed by the harsh clamors of war;” but beyond him lay the Chattahoochie, which must be reached; and no way to reach it lay before him except to cut his way through the rebel army, that stood between him and the goal to which all his motions then tended. The moment for attack approached. General McPherson was ordered toward Marietta; General Thomas to Kenesaw and Pine Mountain; and General Schofield toward Lost Mountain. The rebel front extended westward, and was upwards of two miles in length; and was so drawn that Kenesaw Mountain, the controlling point of the whole region, formed a sort of citadel for the enemy.
General Johnston’s force was estimated at sixty-three thousand, besides a force numbering fifteen thousand of Georgia militia, which was placed at his service. The preparations for attack had been going on for five days, and on the 14th, the battle for the possession of the mountains began.
THE BATTLES OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN.
June 14, 1864.
Heavy skirmishing had continued from the opening of this battle till the day on which the great fight occurred which ended in giving the Unionists possession of the enemy’s position on Kenesaw Mountain. Upon the 14th, the rebel general, Bishop Leonidas Polk was killed, while commanding on Pine Mountain, during a heavy cannonading by the Fourth corps. During the same night the enemy, having discovered that General Hooker was moving to cut off their retreat, abandoned their works, which were quickly occupied by Stanley’s division of the Fourth corps. A paper was found affixed to a stake near the rebel works on Pine Mountain, on which was written, “Here General Polk was killed by a Yankee shell.” It was subsequently ascertained that the rebel generals Johnston and Hardee, who were standing near Polk, narrowly escaped being killed at the same time.
General Johnston now drew back his centre to the chain of hills which connected Kenesaw and Lost Mountain, still keeping his right and left flank respectively on these mountains. During the 15th, 16th, and 17th, heavy skirmishing continued from morning till night; which told upon the endurance of the troops almost as much as a pitched battle would have done. Late in the evening of the 17th, severe skirmishing opened in front of Stanley’s division. At the same time the enemy engaged Harkens’ brigade, of Newton’s division, and a regiment—the Ninety-third Ohio—of Hazen’s brigade; and toward nightfall a heavy fire was opened all along the front of General Howard’s line. The batteries of Bridge and Bradery were speedily brought to bear upon the rebels, and with telling effect; while upon the left the batteries of Logan and Blair were making themselves heard in most formidable manner. Night drew on, and a brief silence ensued, but the rebels had not yet abandoned the attack. A correspondent of the day thus describes the renewal of the battle: “It was a beautiful night. The soft moonlight beaming from the clear southern sky, floated through the forest trees, lighting them with a bewitching kind of beauty. The air was calm and balmy, the sky without a cloud. Fireflies, sparkling like diamonds, were flitting around. The cry of the whip-poor-will resounded through the forest, and the plaint cry of the croaking frogs rose from the marshes like the tinkling of sleigh-bells. Smoke and flames shot up from buildings that had been fired by shells. Soon a dropping shot along the line, followed by rapid musketry firing, roused us from our solemn kind of torpor. The rebels had opened on our skirmish line, and a brisk fight ensued. Our batteries soon opened, hurling shell and canister into their ranks. The attack also extended to our left, where they vainly strove to regain their lost position, but were again repulsed by Logan’s command. The rebels were foiled in their attack at all points, and the horrid din of battle soon gave way to the placid stillness of night.”
A sudden rain storm came on in a perfect deluge, during the night, and the enemy abandoned his front line of works. Early in the morning General Howard ordered his whole line to push forward sharply. General Harkens’ brigade led the advance, and, having come up with the enemy, and being reinforced with Wagner’s brigade, charged forward, driving them from their first line of works. On this day the possession of the Dallas and Marietta roads was secured; and the Unionists continued to press the enemy so close and hard that at dusk the Twentieth corps was in a line perpendicular with the rebel line.
During the operations of the 18th, the loss to the National troops was very heavy; the rebel loss in killed and wounded was also severe, besides which the Unionists took prisoner several hundred of the enemy.
General Johnston took advantage of the night, and a heavy rain storm, to withdraw his left flank from its position on Lost Mountain, which he saw could not be maintained, making his strong point of resistance on Kenesaw Mountain. The National forces immediately took possession of the abandoned works on Lost Mountain.
On the next morning, Stanley’s division followed up the enemy to their new position, and threw out two brigades as skirmishers. Newton’s division formed on Stanley’s left, and sent out the Thirty-sixth and Eighty-eighth Illinois as skirmishers. Wood’s division then formed on the right, and fierce skirmishing began all along the line. General Harkens’ brigade signally distinguished itself in this encounter, and aided by Kimball’s brigade developed the enemy’s lines and works.
Generals Sherman, Thomas, Howard, and other officers, were now occupying the house of a Mr. Wallace, on the Marietta road, eagerly watching the effect of the Union batteries upon the rebel works. Together with the batteries named above, those of Goodspeed and Spencer were now got into position, and all opened at once on the rebels, who promptly replied with a couple of batteries from the slope of the hill, and a section of heavy guns from the crest. A regular duel now opened between the opposing artillery, and all along the intervening valley the clouds of dense smoke hung midway in the air.
The whole line was soon engaged, and from early morning till late night the crash and flash, the roar and scream of battle never ceased; and when at length the night interrupted the fierce fight, it but served to recruit the strength with which both sides renewed it in the morning. A slight, forked ridge which jutted out in front of General Wood’s division was selected, and at once made use of, as a position for a battery; and two heavy guns were dragged forward, and placed so as to bear heavily upon the rebel line, and set to work immediately. Shortly after this it was ascertained from rebel prisoners that a portion of Hood’s and Hardee’s corps were massing against Sherman’s centre; the attack was made, and gallantly repulsed, the rebels being driven back with loss. They next assailed Kirby’s division, but met with similar misfortune, being fiercely repulsed, but not beaten. They again attacked, and were stubbornly resisted for one hour; at the end of that time they gained a slight temporary advantage, taking possession of a prominent knoll in Kirby’s front, which they continued to occupy, although severely attacked by the brigades of Gross and Whittaker. Again night temporarily put a stop to the battle. The divisions of Newton and Wood had perceptibly advanced—that of Stanley, having been most severely pressed, had succeeded in keeping its ground, with the exception of the knoll lost to the enemy. Just as night fell intense anxiety was felt by all, for the rebels were seen pressing heavily upon Stanley’s front; but after a few minutes’ suspense a loud ringing cheer from the brave Unionists proclaimed the rebel repulse, and indicated that nothing had been gained by them.
Early on the 21st, the fight opened with heavy skirmishing in all directions, which continued during the whole day.
On the 22d, the enemy made a sudden attack upon portions of Generals Hooker’s and Schofield’s troops on the Federal right, near what is known as the “Kulp House,” and was handsomely repulsed, leaving his dead, wounded, and many prisoners behind him. The Federal centre was now established squarely in front of Kenesaw, but it required so many men to hold the railroad and the line running along the base of the mountain, that but a small force was left with which to attempt a flank movement to the right. So small was it that General Sherman hesitated to push it vigorously toward the railroad, in the rear of Marietta, for fear that it might be altogether detached from the army, and exposed to disaster. He therefore contented himself with extending his right along the enemy’s flank, hoping that General Johnston would thereby be induced to weaken his centre sufficiently to render an assault in that direction practicable. “Although inviting the enemy at all times,” says General Sherman in his official report, “to make such mistakes, I could not hope for him to repeat them after the examples of Dallas and the ‘Kulp House;’ and upon studying the ground, I had no alternative but to assail his lines or turn his position. Either course had its difficulties and dangers. And I perceived that the enemy and our own officers had settled down into a conviction that I would not assault fortified lines. All looked to me to ‘outflank.’ An army to be efficient must not settle down to one single mode of offence, but must be prepared to execute any plan which promises success. I waited, therefore, for the moral effect, to make a successful assault against the enemy behind his breastworks, and resolved to attempt it at that point where success would give the largest fruits of victory.”
BATTLE OF LITTLE KENESAW.
June 24, 1864.
On the twenty-fourth of June General Sherman ordered an attack to be made at two points south of Kenesaw—the one to be made upon Little Kenesaw, by General McPherson, and the other, about a mile south of that point, by General Thomas. At six A. M. of the twenty-seventh—the appointed day—the Seventeenth corps, commanded by General Blair, moved upon the eastern point of the mountain, threatening the enemy’s right; while the Fifteenth (General Logan), and the Sixteenth (General Dodge), attacked the northern slope. The three brigades forming the Fifteenth corps scattered the enemy’s skirmishers, and pushing up the slope with daring impetuosity, carried a large part of the rebel rifle-pits. Rushing forward, the troops found themselves at the foot of a precipitous cliff not less than thirty feet high, which they attempted to scale, but from which they were beaten back by the fire of the enemy formed in line of battle at its summit, and by a shower of heavy stones, which were hurled down upon them. A second attack was ordered, and, for the purpose, a portion of General Newton’s division of the Fourth corps, and General Davis’s, of the Fourteenth, were selected. Buoyant with courage, the troops rushed forward, charged up the mountain in the midst of a murderous fire, and gallantly carrying the line of rifle-pits, reached the works beyond. Many of them scaled the ramparts, but the fire of musketry and artillery was so overpowering that the men were hastily recalled. General Newton’s troops returned to their original line, but the Second brigade of General Davis threw up works between those they had carried, and the enemy’s main line, and there they held their position. Brief as this fight was, it cost General Sherman a loss of three thousand men in killed and wounded, while that of the rebels, intrenched behind strong works, was comparatively trifling.
Referring to this defeat General Sherman says, “Failure as it was, and for which I assume the entire responsibility, I yet claim it produced good fruits, as it demonstrated to General Johnston that I would assault, and that boldly, and we also gained and held ground so close to the enemy’s parapets that he could not show a head above them.”
It would have been wholly out of character in General Sherman to have rested under the imputation of defeat; and, accordingly, immediate preparations were made to turn the rebel left. On July 1st, General McPherson was relieved by Garrard’s cavalry in front of Kenesaw, and was in that way enabled to threaten Nickajack creek and Turner’s Ferry across the Chattahoochie, Stoneman’s cavalry being pushed down below the ferry. The effect of this movement was instantaneous, and on the morning of the 3d, Kenesaw was utterly abandoned by the rebels, and its summit covered by Union soldiers before the sun had risen. General Thomas’s line was then moved toward the Chattahoochie, in pursuit of the rebels, and at half past eight o’clock General Sherman entered Marietta, and took possession of the city. During the rebel retreat upwards of two thousand prisoners were captured by the Union soldiers.
General Thomas overtook the enemy at the Smyrna camp-meeting ground, about five miles from Marietta, protected in front with a strong parapet; and in rear by the Nickajack and Rottenwood creeks. General Sherman assigned a garrison for Marietta, and joined General Thomas at Smyrna. On the 4th, the whole line of rebel pits was captured, and on the next morning the enemy was gone. The army of General Sherman then moved directly on the Chattahoochie, beyond which the enemy was found behind a very strong line. Heavy skirmishing opened at once, which served to show the strength of the rebels, and to prove to General Sherman that the line could be turned only in one way—namely, by crossing the main river. On the 7th, General Schofield having been ordered to cross the Chattahoochie, did so with success, surprised the enemy, and effected a lodgment on high ground, from which the rebels fled to the eastward. General Garrard next secured the fort at Rosswell, which he was ordered to hold till relieved by infantry; which was done, while General Schofield crossed the river two miles below Powens’ Ferry, and took a strong position on the right. Thus three safe points of passage across the river were secured. Each position obtained had good roads leading direct to Atlanta, and at daylight on the tenth of July, the enemy had fled, leaving the Unionists in full possession of all they had won.
One of the most important objects of the campaign was now accomplished; and beyond—only eight miles distant—lay the city of Atlanta, to obtain possession of which was the next object of General Sherman’s march. Without an hour’s delay the first step was taken.
An expedition, commanded by General Rousseau, in command of the district of Tennessee, was sent out at that time to break the railroad between Montgomery and Opelika, by which Johnston received his supplies.
General Rousseau, as his commanding general states, “fulfilled his orders and instructions to the very letter;” and on his route encountered and defeated the rebel General Canton, returning safely to Marietta on the twenty-second; having sustained a loss of not more than thirty men.
During this period the main army had spent some days in rest and collecting supplies, and had advanced on the seventeenth along the road called the Old Peachtree.
All the armies had closed in and were converging towards Atlanta on the twentieth. In the afternoon the enemy emerged from his works along the road and attacked the Union right centre, composed of General Newton’s division of General Hooker’s corps, and of General Johnson’s division. This attack, though entirely unexpected, was handsomely repulsed by all three generals against whom it was aimed, with a loss to the enemy of five hundred killed, one thousand wounded, many stand of colors, and over three thousand prisoners. The National loss did not exceed fifteen hundred in all, killed, wounded and missing.
During the 21st the enemy’s position was examined and found to be strong—his right resting below the Augusta road to the east, and his left on the Chattahoochie, about four miles from Atlanta. On the 22d this whole line was found to have been abandoned during the night, which singular movement was subsequently explained to the astonished Unionists by learning that General Johnston had been superseded in command by General Hood, and an entirely new line of policy determined on by the rebels.
BATTLE BEFORE ATLANTA, GA.
July 22, 1864.
By a show of retreating to the city, the rebel general hoped to draw General Sherman on, and, while he was in motion, to strike at the Union army on all available points. This decoy was not wholly without effect, for General Sherman pushed on beyond the abandoned rebel works, and found the enemy, in strong force, occupying a line of redoubts which entirely covered the approach to Atlanta. This showed an evident intention to fight, on the part of General Hood; and General Sherman at once sent orders to all points of the centre and right of his army to press forward and engage the enemy, while General Schofield held as large a force as possible in reserve.
General McPherson engaged the enemy at about noon, on the left, where they were making a cavalry demonstration. The fighting had now become very severe; the loud crash of musketry was followed in quick succession by the rapid firing of artillery, and while a roar as of continuous thunder pealed all along the line, the flash of fire streamed out in vivid sheets of flame upon the noonday air. Just as General McPherson reached the left, the enemy advanced upon the Sixteenth corps, but were three times determinedly and desperately repulsed by General Dodge.
Perceiving that the attempt to break the line of the Sixteenth had failed, General McPherson took advantage of a momentary lull to ride up to the Seventeenth corps, which was reported severely threatened by the enemy. Every member of his staff, except one, had been sent on various errands; and he now directed that one to obtain a brigade from General Logan to throw across the gap between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps; and then, with a single orderly, struck into the road that led direct to General Smith’s position. Almost immediately he found himself hemmed within the enemy’s skirmish line; the rebel officer commanding called out to him to surrender, which order he replied to by dashing his horse to the front of the road, but before he could effect his escape a volley fired by the skirmishers unhorsed him, mortally wounded. For a time his body remained within the enemy’s line, but was subsequently recovered and brought within the line of the Union army. His death was a severe loss, and he was deeply regretted, both as an officer and as a man. General Sherman in chronicling this event says of General McPherson:
“He was a noble youth, of striking personal appearance, of the highest professional capacity, and with a heart abounding in kindness, that drew to him the affections of all men.”
By his death the command of the Army of the Tennessee devolved temporarily upon the brave and gallant General John A. Logan, who sustained his already brilliant reputation, and that of the veteran army placed under his command.
The battle continued to rage with still increasing fury. The brigade that had been ordered from Logan’s corps arrived just in time to check the farther progress of the enemy in that direction, but was not able to keep a portion of the rebel force from getting in the rear of the Seventeenth corps; while a strong detachment pushed up against the Union position on the hill beyond, determined to obtain possession of it. But the brave troops held firmly to their post, and presented so determined a resistance, that the rebels recoiled before them, leaving the ground strewn with the dead and dying that fell from their ranks. A portion of the enemy, which had pushed for the gaps between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps—now bridged over with Wangelin’s brigade—made another attack on the right flank of the Sixteenth, and captured a six-gun battery, surprising the Unionists, but were promptly driven back in confusion, and with heavy loss.
The enemy’s attack upon the Union left flank was quite abandoned by three o’clock, the rebels having gained absolutely nothing except the capture of a few guns, while they had suffered enormous losses in every way.
At about four o’clock in the afternoon, General Hood massed a large force of troops for the purpose of assaulting the Fifteenth corps—lately commanded by General Logan, and then temporarily under General Morgan L. Smith. The corps was stationed behind substantial breastworks, and held the right of the Army of the Tennessee. The first rebel column marched against the Union line, and were handsomely repulsed and kept at bay for more than half an hour; when a second column approached steadily, and without flinching, beneath the furious Union fire. Close behind them came a third column, before which the Unionists were compelled to give way, losing their position, and two important batteries. This gain to the rebels was such a serious loss to General Sherman, that General Logan was ordered to regain the lost position at any cost. Several batteries from General Schofield were so placed that the enemy’s works could be shelled, and reinforcements for him rendered impossible; and just as the rebels were making ready to turn the captured battery upon the National line, the Fifteenth corps, reinforced by General Schofield, pressed forward, and after a desperate struggle, in which the combatants fought hand-to-hand, the Unionists regained their lost position, and retook their guns. The rebels retreated before them in the wildest confusion, and the battle terminated with this defeat of the enemy’s last effort.
In this battle the total loss to the Union army was estimated at three thousand seven hundred and twenty-two men, of whom the larger portion were killed and wounded.
In front of the National line the enemy’s dead was counted at two thousand and two hundred, of whom eight hundred were delivered under flag of truce; their total loss in killed amounted to three thousand two hundred and forty. Upwards of three thousand prisoners were taken by the Unionists, including one thousand wounded, among whom were many officers of high rank. Besides these severe losses in men, eighteen stands of colors, and five thousand small arms were taken from the rebels.