over the Etowah to be rebuilt, Sherman, on the 4th of June, moved directly upon Ackworth, compelling thereby Johnston to abandon New Hope Church. and occupying Ackworth on the 6th of June. On the 9th, a forward move the 16th to the 19th of May, Gens. Shanty. Between this and Marietta CH. XIII] JOHNSTON RETREATS TO ATLANTA. On 471 Thus, one principal object of the campaign was accomplished, the advancement of our lines from the Tennessee to the Chattahoochie; but Atlanta, only eight miles distant, was yet to be taken; and Sherman could not rest till his great work was accomplished. The troops needing repose after their severe labors, they remained in camp on the Chattahoochie until the 16th of July. The next day a general advance was made, the river was crossed, and a line formed along the Old Peach Tree Road. McPherson, and his fellow workers, Thomas and Schofield, under Sherman's direction, continued their movements from different points, and everywhere found the enemy in more or less force, skirmishing frequently and heavily. continual skirmishing and harassing burned his bridges, and left Sherman the rebels in their mountain fastnesses. undisputed master, north and west, of Johnston drew in his left flank the Chattahoochie.* towards Kenesaw, covering Marietta and his important communications with the Chattahoochie River. the 22d of June, the rebels made an attack on our troops at Kulp House; but were speedily repulsed with heavy loss. Sherman, on studying the ground, had no alternative but to assault the rebel lines, or turn their position. He resolved on the former, and accordingly, on the 27th of June, a vigorous assault was made. It resulted, however, we are sorry to say, in failure and heavy loss; Gens. Harker and McCook were killed, and our entire loss numbered 3,000. The next step was to turn the enemy's left, the movements for which, on the 1st and 2d of July, were noted by the rebel commander, who at once abandoned Kenesaw. Thomas's whole line was moved forward in pursuit toward the Chattahoochie, and on the morning of the 3d of July, Gen. Sher man entered Marietta. During the retreat about 2,000 prisoners were cap. tured. The rebel general endeavored to make a stand at the Chattahoochie, where he had constructed a strong tête de pont, with an advanced line at Smyrna. Sherman, by his excellent strategy, forced Johnston across the river, and while leading him to suppose that the purpose was to turn his left flank, Sherman pushed forward really against Johnston's right flank. For several days, energetic movements were in progress, and Johnston soon took the alarm. On the 9th of July, he retreated to Atlanta, Great complaints having been made. against the rebel Gen. Johnston, seeing that he had done little else than retreat before Sherman's advance, he was removed by Jeff. Davis from command, and J. B. Hood put in his place, July 18th. This latter was the impersonation of the impetuous, dashing "chivalry" of the South; and it was confidently ex * On the 10th of July, Sherman sent a force of about 2,000 cavalry, under Gen. Rousseau, from Decatur, Ala bama, to cut the Montgomery and Opelika Railroad, and destroy Johnston's source of supply from this quarorders and instructions to the very letter, whipping ter. Rousseau, as Gen. Sherman states, "fulfilled his the rebel Gen. Clinton en route; he passed through Talladega, and reached the railroad on the 16th, about twenty-five miles west of Opelika, and broke it well up to that place; also three miles of the branch toward Columbus, and two toward West Point. He then turned north, and brought his command safely to Ma rietta, arriving on the 22d, having sustained a trifling loss, not to exceed thirty men." they meant to give up Atlanta without further contest; but this was not so. Hood was manoeuvring in order to induce Sherman to advance rapidly, and thereby afford him an opportunity to make a sudden and crushing assault upon our troops. Sherman pushed forward his force, thus favoring in part Hood's wishes; but he was by no means unaware that the rebel commander intended to fight, and he continued his dispositions for pressing the city on its eastern and southern fronts. During the forenoon, Sherman met McPherson and had a conference with him on some points of importance. Shortly afterwards, Gen. McPherson was killed. It appears that, in some way, unattended by his staff, which had been sent off on duty in various directions, he had fallen in with the rebel skirmishers, and refusing to surrender, had been shot down, —a loss particularly severe just at this pected that, discarding Johnston's Fa- The battle, which had been begun by the enemy's attack on Sherman's left flank, raged violently during the remainder of the day. The rebels fought with persistency and even fury; while their assaults were met by our men, who stubbornly refused to give way. The details are fully given in Gen. Sher man's report, to which the reader is The rebels having, on the 22d of July, abandoned their advanced line of works, Sherman at first thought that whose body was recovered and brought to me in the * Pollard, in his spiteful way, says: "Johnston was removed, and Lieut.-Gen. Hood put in command of the army, President Davis declaring that if the people wanted' a fighting general,' they should have such in this man, who was brave, headstrong, incompetent; who had the heart of a lion, but, unfortunately, with it a head of cood."-" Last Year of the War," p. 86. "Among the dead," are Sherman's few, expressive words, in his report, was Major-General McPherson, heat of battle, and I had it sent in charge of his personal staff back to Marietta, on its way to his northern home. He was a noble youth, of striking personal ap pearance, of the highest professional capacity, and with a heart abounding in kindness that drew to him the affections of all men." Gen. Grant, in his report, speaks of the "brave, accomplished, and noble-hearted McPherson," p. 34. CH. XIII.] SHERMAN'S FLANK MOVEMENT. referred. This battle of the 22d of July, we may here mention, was by far the most bloody which had as yet been fought in Georgia. Sherman's loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, was 3,722. The rebel loss was much heavier, over 3,000 being killed, and some 5,000 or 6,000 wounded and made prisoners. On the 21st of July, Sherman detached Gen. Garrard's cavalry to go to Covington, on the Augusta Road, fortytwo miles east of Atlanta, and 1864. from that point to send detachments to break the two important bridges across the Yellow and Ulcofauhatchee Rivers, tributaries of the Ocmulgee. The work was thoroughly performed, and immense damage was inflicted on the rebels. Garrard returned in safety on the 24th of July. Sherman next determined to cripple the Macon Road, the only avenue by which the rebels obtained stores and ammunition. Two large bodies of cavalry were organized for this purpose, under Stoneman and McCook. Stoneman's force amounted to 5,000, McCook's to 4,000, and Sherman considered that be. tween them the rebels under Wheeler could be disposed of, and their work effectually accomplished. These well appointed forces were to move in concert, the one to the left to McDonough, the other to the right by Fayetteville; both were to meet on the Macon Road near Lovejoy's, on the night of July 28th, and destroy it completely. Stone man was not successful in his portion of the task, and was taken prisoner with several hundred men, the rest of his force managing to escape. McCook did better, but was not successful to VOL. IV.-60. 478 the extent which Sherman expected. As a whole, the raid was rather a failure, and the rebel communications were only temporarily interrupted. 1864. Steadily pursuing his purpose, Sherman, early in August, extended his right in order to flank Hood in that direction; but the rebel commander, having interior lines. and impregnable works, acted on the defensive entirely, and could not be assaulted to advantage. This led Sherman to resolve on a new movement, which virtually involved raising the siege of Atlanta, and by which, marching to the south and south-west of the city, he meant to break up the roads and means of communication of the rebels. Setting a battery at work on Atlanta, Sherman proceeded to carry out his movement, much to the surprise of the enemy, watching him, who thought that he might be retreating. On the morning of August 28th, the Armies of the Cumberland and the Tennessee devoted themselves to the destroying the West Point Railroad. It was done with a will, as Sherman said, and over twelve miles were destroyed, the rails being heated and twisted in the most effectual manner, and some torpedoes and shells being left to explode in case of any attempt at repairing the road. On the 30th of August, the army again moved southeasterly to strike the Macon Road, from Rough and Ready to Jonesboro. A severe engagement took place with Hardee's troops, in which the enemy lost very heavily. Sherman was in hope of closing in upon the rebels, and an assault was made, September 1st, on their works at Jonesboro, with How ard's corps. The other corps did not get up in time, and Hardee, during the night, fell back seven miles to Lovejoy's and entrenched himself. Hood was astounded on ascertaining the true position of affairs, and that our army was between him and Hardee. He at once ordered an evacuation of Atlanta, and the destruction of such supplies and ammunition as could not be carried away. Fire was applied about midnight, September 1st, and explosions of ordnance trains were heard for miles in every direction. Gen. Slocum, the next morning at nine o'clock, entered the city without opposition, and the national flag waved over the rebel stronghold. Hood marched towards McDonough, and soon after formed a junction with Hardee and Lee. Sherman followed, on the 2d of September, but did not attack the rebels in their strongly fortified position. On the 4th, he began his march to Atlanta, and in a few days the armies were encamped around the city.* As giving a comprehensive summary of the striking incidents of this campaign, we may quote Gen. Sherman's * Wheeler, with the rebel cavalry, did some mischief to Sherman's railroad communication, but the roads were repaired about as fast as he broke them. On the 15th of September, as Sherman stated, the roads and telegraph were in order, and the cars running with regularity and speed. It may be mentioned here, that, during the operation of this campaign, ex peditions were sent out from Memphis and Vicksburg to check any movements of the enemy's forces in Mis sissippi upon our communications. The manner in which this object was accomplished reflected credit upon Gens. A. J. Smith, Washburn, Slocum, and Mower; and although Gen. Sturgis's expedition was less successful than the others, it assisted in the main object to be accomplished. words, in his congratulatory order, dated at Atlanta, September 8th: "The officers and soldiers of the Armies of the Cumberland, Ohio, and Tennes see, have already received the thanks of the nation, through its President and Commander-in-Chief; and it now remains only for him who has been with you from the beginning, and who intends to stay all the time, to thank the officers and men for their intelligence, fidelity and courage displayed in the campaign of Atlanta. On the 1st of May, our armies were lying in garrison, seemingly quiet from Knoxville, and our enemy lay behind his rocky-faced barrier at Dalton, proud, defiant and exulting. He had had time, since Christmas, to recover from his discomfiture on the Mission Ridge, with his ranks filled and a new commander-in-chief, second to none of the Confederacy in reputation for skill, sagacity, and extreme popularity. All at once our armies assumed life and action and appeared before Dalton; threatening Rocky Face, we threw ourselves upon Resaca, and the rebel army only escaped by the rapidity of its retreat, aided by the numerous roads with which he was familiar, and which were strange to us. Again, he took post in Allatoona, but we gave him no rest; and by a circuit toward Dallas, and subsequent movement to Ackworth, we gained the Allatoona Pass. Then followed the eventful battles about Kenesaw, and the escape of the enemy Chattahoochie River. The crossing of the Chattahoochie and breaking of the Augusta Road was most handsomely executed by us, and across |