December 4, 1864---The Battle of Waynesboro, Georgia

DECEMBER 4, 1864:         

The Battle of Waynesboro, Georgia:     

Having reinforced after the battle of Buckhead Creek, General Joseph Wheeler C.S.A. again attempts to break the momentum of Sherman’s March To The Sea by attacking Sherman’s wings. Skirmishes have been going on for the last week, a week in which Wheeler has had notably little success. Today he attacks Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry which have laid waste to the town of Waynesboro. Kilpatrick, who has been reinforced to Division strength, finds that Wheeler’s forces have dug in around ruined Waynesboro, and furious fighting commences just outside of the town. Ultimately, Kilpatrick’s men break through. Wheeler is forced to retreat from Waynesboro. He takes a blocking position on the road to Augusta which he assumes (mistakenly) is Sherman’s ultimate objective. Both sides lose approximately 300 men at Waynesboro, and the skirmishing goes on.

Kilpatrick is one of the great “characters” of the Civil War. His nickname was “Killcavalry” because of the often reckless tactics he employed. During The March To The Sea, Kilpatrick found true ecstasy in destroying Southern property. When he wasn’t despoiling the South he was seducing its women, and twice had to flee the Rebels buck naked, once when the boys in gray arrived unexpectedly at his temporary paramour’s home, and once again when a Confederate husband who was serving with Hardee’s forces came back to his home to surprise his wife, who he found in flagrante delicto with Kilpatrick. One can only assume that both husband and wife were equally, though not pleasantly, surprised.  Kilpatrick is an ancestor of Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper.