July 22, 1864---The Battle of Atlanta

JULY 22, 1864:          

The Battle of Atlanta. 

With Union troops within walking distance of Atlanta, General William Tecumseh Sherman U.S.A. attempted to break the Confederate lines around the city. Although the battle did not end in the fall of Atlanta this very day, it broke the back of Confederate combat resistance around the city. Union troops under the commands of General “Black Jack” John A. Logan, General Francis P. Blair, General Grenville Dodge, and Major General James Birdseye McPherson advanced on the city in a broad arc.

Although Sherman at first believed that the Confederate army had abandoned the city, once Union troops reached the actual environs of Atlanta, General John Bell Hood C.S.A. opened up with artillery and massed attacks against the Union front.  The Ponder House became a nest of Confederate snipers and an especial target of Union troops. 

The battle lines were so close and so confused that General McPherson found himself in the midst of a Confederate squad. Refusing to surrender, he was shot in the back and killed as he tried to reach his own lines. Sherman and Grant both grieved the loss of McPherson, who was well-known as one of the Union’s brightest and most aggressive commanders.

John Bell Hood wrote of McPherson:

I will record the death of my classmate and boyhood friend, General James B. McPherson, the announcement of which caused me sincere sorrow. Since we had graduated in 1853, and had each been ordered off on duty in different directions, it has not been our fortune to meet. Neither the years nor the difference of sentiment that had led us to range ourselves on opposite sides in the war had lessened my friendship; indeed the attachment formed in early youth was strengthened by my admiration and gratitude for his conduct toward our people in the vicinity of Vicksburg. His considerate and kind treatment of them stood in bright contrast to the course pursued by many Federal officers.

Although General Patrick Cleburne C.S.A. was almost able to break McPherson’s fragmented Corps, “Black Jack” Logan began to bombard the city from Bald Hill causing him to withdraw. As darkness fell, the battle ended with Atlanta all but encircled.

This gaslight lamppost survived the shelling of Atlanta despite being hit several times, and now bears memorial plaques listing the names of Confederate dead who were killed defending the city, including freemen, freedmen, and slaves

The Union had lost 3,641 men killed, wounded or missing. Confederate losses were 5,500. John Bell Hood, who had lost three battles in three days of command, was left with less than 35,000 men ages 14 to 70 to hold Atlanta.