Battle of Atlanta

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Battle of Atlanta
Decatur
Siege of Atlanta.jpg
Began:

July 22, 1864

Ended:

Same day

Location:

Fulton County, Georgia

Theater:

Western Theater

Campaign:

Atlanta Campaign

Outcome:

Union victory

33 star flag.png
Combatants
2nd National Flag.png

Military Division of
the Mississippi

Army of Tennessee

Commanders

William T. Sherman
Major General, USA

John Bell Hood
Lieutenant General, CSA

Strength
Casualties

3,641

8,499

  

NPS Battle Summary

[1] Following the Battle of Peachtree Creek, Hood determined to attack Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee. He withdrew his main army at night from Atlanta’ s outer line to the inner line, enticing Sherman to follow. In the meantime, he sent William J. Hardee with his corps on a fifteen-mile march to hit the unprotected Union left and rear, east of the city. Wheeler’s cavalry was to operate farther out on Sherman’s supply line, and Gen. Frank Cheatham’s corps were to attack the Union front. Hood, however, miscalculated the time necessary to make the march, and Hardee was unable to attack until afternoon. Although Hood had outmaneuvered Sherman for the time being, McPherson was concerned about his left flank and sent his reserves—Grenville Dodge’s XVI Army Corps—to that location. Two of Hood’s divisions ran into this reserve force and were repulsed. The Rebel attack stalled on the Union rear but began to roll up the left flank. Around the same time, a Confederate soldier shot and killed McPherson when he rode out to observe the fighting. Determined attacks continued, but the Union forces held. About 4:00 pm, Cheatham’s corps broke through the Union front at the Hurt House, but Sherman massed twenty artillery pieces on a knoll near his headquarters to shell these Confederates and halt their drive. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan’ s XV Army Corps then led a counterattack that restored the Union line. The Union troops held, and Hood suffered high casualties.

References

  1. NPS.gov: NPS Battle Summaries


NPS.jpg Portions of this document contains material based on a work of a National Park Service employee, created during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, such work is in the public domain. See the NPS website and NPS copyright policy for more information.

Portions of this document are extracted from Wikipedia:Battle of Atlanta and as such all text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Some content, where noted, may be copyright protected.

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