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. 

July 21, 1864---The Battle of Bald Hill

JULY 21, 1864:                    

The Battle of Bald Hill. 

Following John Bell Hood’s defeat the previous day, Union troops under Major General Francis P. Blair, the brother of the U.S. Postmaster-General, engage and defeat Confederate soldiery under General Patrick Cleburne C.S.A. at Bald (or Leggett’s) Hill. The spot, today at the intersection of Interstate 20 and U.S. Route 23, overlooks Ralph Abernathy Drive and downtown Atlanta. Though only a political general, Blair has carried the war right into the heart of Georgia.    

July 20, 1864---The Battle of Peachtree Creek

JULY 20, 1864:         

The Battle of Peachtree Creek. 

Following a battle plan already designed by his former commander Joseph E. Johnston C.S.A., General John Bell Hood decides to stop the Union advance at Peachtree Creek. 

Unfortunately for the notoriously aggressive Hood, he fails to reconnoiter the Union lines sufficiently, and thus is unsure where the Union lines are weakest. Hood’s lack of knowledge in ordering the battle leads to a three hour delay as his subordinates shift troops hither and thither to place their strongest forces into positions that will allow them to attack the Union’s strongest forces. While this shuffling of regiments goes on, the Federals are constructing defensive earthworks which strengthen their positions even more. An impatient Hood finally tires of what he sees as dithering, and launches his attack three hours late, yet prematurely, before his units are fully in place. 

Although the attack is full of elan and the welkin rings with the spine-tingling Rebel Yell, Hood’s forces are battered against the Yankee positions.   

Hood loses 3,000 men to Sherman’s 2,000, and he is unable to drive the Union away from Peachtree Creek. 

Hood, though more aggressive than Johnston, has accomplished nothing in this battle but to bring Johnston’s nightmare to life in losing irreplaceable men even while gaining nothing. 

The aftermath of the Battle of Peachtree Creek. Confederate graves, marked with wooden headstones, are visible.

Having lost his first battle as commander of one of the main Southern armies John Bell Hood, however, is undeterred.

July 19, 1864---Marching on Atlanta

JULY 19, 1864:                   

General William Tecumseh Sherman U.S.A. is overjoyed at the replacement of Joe Johnston with John Bell Hood. Having worried throughout the Atlanta Campaign about his overstretched supply lines and unseen battle traps while facing the canny Johnston, Sherman announces that the appointment of the impulsive Hood is just what he wanted. Sherman is so confident facing Hood that he divides his forces. 

The Army of The Cumberland marches on Atlanta, while The Army of The Ohio and The Army of The Tennessee begin flanking movements around the newly-promoted General John Bell Hood C.S.A.’s Army of Tennessee is badly outnumbered. Unable to divide his forces to address all three threats, Hood decides to attack The Army of The Cumberland as the most immediate threat to Atlanta.

July 18, 1864---The Civil War Soldier

JULY 18, 1864:                   

About 2.75 million soldiers fought in the Civil War --- 2,000,000 for the North and 750,000 for the South. The average Yankee or Rebel was a white, native-born, male farmer, belonging to a Protestant sect. He was single, and aged between 18 and 29, with an average age of 25. The typical soldier stood about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed about 143 pounds.  

Besides farmers, both armies were made up of men in more than 300 different careers, including accountants, surveyors, locksmiths, teachers, carpenters, shoemakers, blacksmiths, house painters, masons, teamsters, and mechanics. Given the greater population of the North, it is surprising that the Southern army contained a greater number of merchants, lawyers, and dentists.

Most Civil War soldiers were born in the United States, but approximately one-quarter of Federal troopers were recent immigrants. Some 200,000 (approximately 10% of all Union men who served) were German-born. At least 150,000 Irish immigrants served the Union cause as well. Other significant groups included 45,000 men born in England and 15,000 Canadian-born men. Not all of these men were citizens when they served.  The Union armies were also comprised of men born in France, Norway, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Austria, and Poland. Fewer immigrants served in the Confederate armies, but the few that did represented the same broad spectrum. African-American soldiers made up roughly 10 percent of the Union army. Approximately 180,000 black soldiers wore the blue uniform; 40,000 lost their lives. Excepting Louisiana’s briefly extant Corps d’Afrique of 1861, African-Americans were not permitted to join the Confederate cause until its last days. Only a very few ever saw combat.

Soldiers on each side initially earned about $11.00 per month. In June 1864, the Confederacy raised each soldier’s pay to $18.00 per month, but due to rampant inflation, this sum was worth less than the lesser amount earlier in the war. The Confederacy struggled to pay even that, and many men fought for little or no money as time went on. The Union raised its monthly wage to $16.00 that same June. Black soldiers had initially been paid $10.00 per month, minus the $3.00 clothing allowance that white troops received --- in short, only $7.00. Eventually, there was wage parity (on paper) but many U.S.C.T. never saw the increase.

Officially, the daily Union ration consisted of 22 ounces of bread and either 12 ounces of pork or a pound of salted beef. Unofficially, and in reality, most men received hardtack, boiled beef, or bologna, usually less than fresh. Vegetables were provided as available. Coffee was the standard beverage, and smoking tobacco was a common addition to a soldier’s kit.   Confederates were supposed to receive (but rarely did) a daily ration of 12 ounces of bacon or 20 ounces of salted beef along with 18 ounces of flour or 20 ounces of corn meal or hardtack. Usually, Confederates got by on cornbread and coffee, and answered their oral cravings and pangs by smoking.   

In the Union army 80% of the men were in the infantry. 14% were in the cavalry. Six percent were in artillery units. In the Confederate army, 75% of the men served in the infantry, 20% served in the cavalry, and 5% served in artillery units.

Roughly 210,000 Union soldiers were captured and imprisoned in the South; 30,000 of them died. 215,000 Confederates were imprisoned in the North, and 26,000 of them died.

700,000 Americans died in the Civil War. Approximately 400,000 Yankees died in the war --- 150,000 in battle and 300,000 of disease, or roughly 20% of those who fought. The South lost about 300,000 men --- 100,000 in battle and 200,000 to disease (roughly 33% of those who fought).  Of every 1,000 Federals, 112 were wounded; 150 of every 1,000 Confederates were wounded. A Yankee stood a 1 in 8 chance of dying due to illness and a 1 in 18 chance of dying in battle. A Rebel faced a 1 in 5 chance of succumbing to disease and a 1 in 8 chance of dying in combat. About fifteen percent of the wounded became narcotics addicts due to the opium and cocaine used as standard medical pain killers in the 1860s.