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.