Atlanta - Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow. John R. Hornady
in the Atlanta campaign. The battle of Kennesaw Mountain proved another Confederate triumph, but, as on so many other occasions, "the Yankees wouldn't stay licked," and the result was merely to postpone the inevitable.
Describing this battle in his Memoirs, General Sherman said, ''About 9 A. M. of the day appointed (June 27, 1864) the troops moved to the assault, and all along our line for ten miles a furious fire of artillery and musketry was kept up. At all points, the enemy met us with determined courage and great force. McPherson 's column fought up the face of lesser Kennesaw, but could not reach the summit. About a mile to the right (Just below the Dallas Road) Thomas's assaulting column reached the parapet, where Brigadier-General Harker was shot down and mortally wounded, and Brigadier-General McCook (my old law partner) was desperately wounded, from the effects of which he afterward died. By 11:30 the assault was, in fact, over, and had failed. We had not broken the rebel line at either point."
In view of the inhuman methods resorted to by the Germans in the great World War, it is worthwhile to record here an incident which illustrates the presence of a contrary spirit among the Americans who were fighting one another in '61'-65. At the battle of Kennesaw Mountain the fire of the Confederates upon the Federals was so terrific that the woods were set on fire at a point where General Harker's forces had made a daring but futile assault. Here the ground was thickly strewn with the dead and dying, and when flames arose, threatening to burn the living with the dead, the Confederates were ordered to cease firing, one of their commanders calling to the Federals that fire would be withheld until the wounded could be carried off the field. Thereupon the battle ceased upon this front, and was not renewed until the wounded had been removed. Then the exchange of shot and shell was resumed with wonted fury. It was thus that brave men fought.
The severe repulse received by Sherman at Kennesaw Mountain, whose somber brow is clearly visible from Atlanta skyscrapers, had no material effect upon his plans. He pushed doggedly on. This battle was not over before he realized its futility, and before the last shot was fired, he had started a movement toward the Chattahoochee River. This caused an immediate evacuation of their positions by the Confederates, who crossed the river for the purpose of placing themselves between Atlanta and the oncoming army of Federals. The crossing of the Chattahoochee was effected by the Confederates on July 9th, the Federals pushing their forces across by the 17th, and thereby putting behind the last natural barrier that stood between them and Atlanta.
On June 16, the body of General Polk, the distinguished soldier-bishop, who had been killed the day before by a shell, was brought to Atlanta. Funeral services were held at St. Luke's Church, where the body had been escorted by a committee of prominent citizens. It was a time of great gloom in the City, and this atmosphere was deepened by the presence of the still form of this fallen leader. The victory at Kennesaw Mountain, which followed the death of General Polk by a few days, served temporarily to lift the pall of gloom, but subsequent events left little hope to those who felt that the fall of Atlanta meant the fall of the Confederacy, and who had longed for and prayed for some rift in the clouds.
Meanwhile there was much criticism over the failure of the government at Richmond to lend assistance to General Johnston, it being pointed out that a sufficient force of cavalry could have been run in behind Sherman, destroying his lines of communication and thereby making continued progress impossible. But no criticisms, no representations along this line, had effect, and no action was taken by the Richmond authorities until Sherman was upon Atlanta. At this point General Johnston was relieved of his command and General J. B. Hood was placed in charge. Thereupon much controversy arose concerning the wisdom of the step, the Confederate press expressing widely divergent views. However, the time came when it was generally conceded to have been one of the great blunders of the war. Sherman interpreted the change as meaning, that there would be a change in tactics; that under the impetuous Hood the Confederates would proceed to attack instead of merely resisting attack, and thereupon he caused notice of the change to be sent to all division commanders and warned them "to be always prepared for battle in any shape. "
News of the removal of General Johnston and the elevation of General Hood was conveyed to General Sherman by a Federal spy, who obtained a copy of a newspaper containing General Johnston's order relinquishing command, and escaped to the Federal lines. Thus General Sherman knew of the change within twenty-four hours.
The forces of General Sherman were arrayed about Atlanta in the following order: General Palmer on the extreme right. General Hooker on the right center, General Howard center. General Scofield left center, and General McPherson on the extreme left. A general advance was made on July 18, and Peachtree Creek was reached on the following day, a line of battle being formed along the south bank of the creek by Howard, Hooker and Palmer. In the meantime the left wing had moved around toward Decatur, where several miles of railroad was torn up for the purpose of cutting off any possibility of communication from that source.
Matters stood thus on the morning of the 20th, when a portion of General Hood's army made a sudden and determined assault upon Howard's position, the attack being extended presently to the position of General Hooker. This assault, carried on with the utmost courage and desperation, and involving about half of General Hood's forces, resulted in temporary gains, but before dark the Confederates, faced by overwhelming numbers, were forced to fall back, leaving several hundred of their dead upon the field. They had inflicted terrific punishment upon the enemy, especially among the forces of General Hooker, whose losses were about fifteen hundred.
On the day of this gallant but unsuccessful charge, Atlanta received her first baptism of fire from the guns of General Sherman. Only three shells fell in the city during the day, but the effect was more than ordinarily shocking, made so by the fact that the first one to fall killed a child at the intersection of Ivy and East Ellis Streets, the tragedy occurring in the presence of the father and mother of the child.
The following day, July 21, was devoted by both sides to preparations for what was to prove a decisive struggle. General Hood withdrew from the Peachtree Creek line and occupied the "last ditch" position which had been prepared for the defense of Atlanta; a fortified line facing North and East. Here Stewart's Corps, a part of Hardee's Corps, and G. W. Smith's division of militia, were stationed, while General Hood's own corps, and the remainder of Hardee's moved to a road leading from McDonough to Decatur, the purpose being to strike the left of McPherson's line. Meanwhile General wheeler's cavalry had been sent to Decatur for the purpose of attacking the supply trains of the enemy.
General Hood's supreme effort occurred on the 22nd, the following day, when a tremendous assault was made against the grand division of General McPherson, composed of Logan's and Blair's Corps, and which occupied the left of the Federal army. The assault was sudden and unexpected, and was carried with such fury that temporary success was achieved, but the enemy rallied to the shock, and was able to repel repeated charges, in spite of the desperate courage displayed by the men in gray. During this battle, General McPherson was killed, but General Logan assumed command at once and every assault of the Confederates was thrown back.
Having failed on the left. General Hood opened a determined attack upon Sherman's right at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and carried forward the struggle for a time with conspicuous success. He broke through the main lines, capturing De Gre's battery of four twenty-pound Parrott guns, and turning the weapons upon the enemy. Superior numbers told, however, and in the end the Confederates were beaten back, being forced to abandon the captured guns.
The result of these engagements, in which the smaller forces of General Hood threw all that they possessed of courage and resourcefulness into the conflict, sealed the fate of Atlanta, but the end was not yet. The losses in this battle were heavy, and the Confederates, waging the offensive, suffered most severely. General Hood's losses were estimated at 6,000 killed and wounded, while those of General Sherman were placed at 3,500.
A truce was declared on the following day, July 23, for the burial of the dead, but this truce existed only upon the front where the fighting had raged. Meanwhile the shelling of Atlanta had been resumed, and was going along steadily while the Confederates consigned their dead to the grave.
A third attempt to inflict defeat upon the besieging army was made by General Hood on July 28, when Hardee's and Lee's infantry made a daring and spectacular attack