1864 Atlanta Campaign July 17th - John Bell Hood replaced Johnston as the Confederate commander on July 17th,

1864. July 20th After crossing the Chattahoochee, Sherman split his army into three columns for the assault on Atlanta with Thomas' Army of the Cumberland, on the left, moving from the north. Schoeld and McPherson had drawn away to the east, leaving Thomas on his own. Johnston decided to attack Thomas as he crossed the creek, but Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieved him of command and appointed Hood to take his place. Hood adopted Johnston's plan and attacked Thomas after his army crossed Peachtree Creek. The determined assault threatened to overrun the Union troops at various locations, but eventually the Union held, and the Confederates fell back. The advance of McPherson from the east side of Atlanta distracted Hood from his offensive and drew off Confederate troops that might have joined the attack on Thomas. The failure of the attack was largely due to faulty execution and a lack of pre-battle reconnaissance. Peachtree Creek - Union victory; almost 4,800 losses by Hood, just 1,700 for Federals CSA has 20,000 men (est.) starting the battle. July 22nd Then, in the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, Hood determined to attack McPherson's Army of the Tennessee. He withdrew his main army at night from Atlanta's outer line to the inner line, enticing Sherman to follow. In the meantime, he sent William J. Hardee with his corps on a fteen-mile (24km) march to hit the unprotected Union left and rear, east of the city. Wheeler's cavalry was to operate farther out on Sherman's supply line, and Cheatham's corps was to attack the Union front. Hood, however, miscalculated the time necessary to make the march, and Hardee was unable to attack until afternoon. Although Hood had outmaneuvered Sherman for the time being, McPherson was concerned about his left ank and sent his reservesDodge's XVI Corps to that location. Two of Hood's divisions ran into this reserve force and were repulsed. The Confederate attack stalled on the Union rear but began to roll up the left ank. Around the same time, a Confederate soldier shot and killed McPherson when he rode out to observe the ghting. Determined attacks continued, but the Union forces held. About 4 p.m., Cheatham's corps broke through the Union front, but massed artillery near Sherman's headquarters halted the Confederate assault. Logan's XV Corps then led a counterattack that restored the Union line. The Union troops held, and Hood suffered high casualties. The Battle of Atlanta - Union victory; 8,500 losses for Hood, 3,600 for Union. July 28th Sherman's forces had previously approached Atlanta from the east and north and had not been able to break through, so Sherman decided to attack from the west. He ordered Howard's Army of the Tennessee to move from the left wing to the right and cut Hood's last railroad supply line between East Point and Atlanta. Hood foresaw such a maneuver and sent the two corps of Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee and Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart to intercept and destroy the Union force at Ezra Church. Howard had anticipated such a thrust, entrenched one of his corps in the Confederates' path, and repulsed the determined attack, inicting numerous casualties. Howard, however, failed to cut the railroad. Concurrent attempts by two columns of Union cavalry to cut the railroads south of Atlanta ended in failure, with one division under Maj. Gen. Edward M. McCook completely smashed at the Battle of Brown's Mill and the other force also repulsed and its commander, Maj. Gen. George Stoneman, taken prisoner. Ezra Church - Union victory; 3,000 losses for Hood, 562 for Union. First week for Hood; three lost battles; 16,300 casualties to Union's < 6,000. August 5-7 Battle of Utoy Creek After failing to envelop Hood's left ank at Ezra Church, Sherman still wanted to extend his right ank to hit the railroad between East Point and Atlanta. He transferred Schoeld's Army of the Ohio from his left to his right ank and sent him to the north bank of Utoy Creek. Although Schoeld's troops were at Utoy Creek on August 2, they, along with the XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, did not cross until August 4. Schoeld's force began its movement to exploit this situation on the morning of August 5, which was initially successful. Schoeld then had to regroup his forces, which took the rest of the day. The delay allowed the Confederates to strengthen their defenses with abatis, which slowed the Union attack when it restarted on the morning of August 6. The Federals were repulsed with heavy losses and failed in an attempt to break the railroad. On August 7, the Union troops moved toward the Confederate main line and entrenched. They remained there until late August. CSA victory (minor importance); Hood lost 225 men, Federals lost just 400. August 14-15 Second Battle of Dalton Wheeler and his cavalry raided into North Georgia to destroy railroad tracks and supplies. They approached Dalton in the late afternoon of August 14 and demanded the surrender of the garrison. The Union commander refused to surrender and ghting ensued. Greatly outnumbered, the Union garrison retired to fortications on a hill outside the town where they successfully held out, although the attack continued until after midnight. Around 5 a.m. on August 15, Wheeler retired and became engaged with relieving infantry and cavalry under Maj. Gen. James B. Steedman's command. Eventually, Wheeler withdrew.
Union victory - casualty numbers unknown

August 20 Lovejoy's Station While Wheeler was absent raiding Union supply lines from North Georgia to East Tennessee, Sherman sent cavalry Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick to raid Confederate supply lines. Leaving on August 18, Kilpatrick hit the Atlanta & West Point Railroad that evening, tearing up a small area of tracks. Next, he headed for Lovejoy's Station on the Macon & Western Railroad. In transit, on August 19, Kilpatrick's men hit the Jonesborough supply depot on the Macon & Western Railroad, burning great amounts of supplies. On August 20, they reached Lovejoy's Station and began their destruction. Confederate infantry (Patrick Cleburne's Division) appeared and the raiders were forced to ght into the night, nally eeing to prevent encirclement. Although Kilpatrick had

destroyed supplies and track at Lovejoy's Station, the railroad line was back in operation in two days. CSA victory (minor importance) - Hood lost 240 men, Feds just 237. August 31 - Sept 1st On August 31, Howard's army repulsed a nal Confederate attack in the rst day of the Battle of Jonesborough (August 31 and September 1). Lee ordered a frontal assault that was vigorously led by J. Patton Anderson. General Logan, from the Federal lines, admired Anderson's bravery in the battle before he was shot down. Lee's troops were repulsed with heavy casualties. Jonesborough - Union victory; Hood loses another 2,000; Union loses 1,149. CSA strength was 2 Corps. September 2nd With all his rail communications nally severed, Hood evacuated Atlanta during the night of September 12. Aftermath of the Atlanta Campaign Sherman was victorious, and Hood established a reputation as the most recklessly aggressive general in the Confederate Army. Casualties for the campaign were roughly equal in absolute numbers: 31,687 Union (4,423 killed, 22,822 wounded, 4,442 missing/captured) and 34,979 Confederate (3,044 killed, 18,952 wounded, 12,983 missing/captured). But this represented a much higher Confederate proportional loss. Hood's army left the area with approximately 30,000 men, whereas Sherman retained 81,000. Sherman's victory was qualied because it did not fulll the original mission of the campaigndestroy the Army of Tennesseeand Sherman has been criticized for allowing his opponent to escape. However, the capture of Atlanta made an enormous contribution to Northern morale and was an important factor in the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln. The Atlanta Campaign was followed by Federal initiatives in two directions: almost immediately, to the northwest, the pursuit of Hood in the Franklin Nashville Campaign; and after the presidential election of 1864, to the east in Sherman's March to the Sea.

Hood's Tennessee Campaign (Sept 18 - Dec 27th) Hood moved through northern Alabama and concentrated his army at Florence from October 30 to November 21, waiting for supplies and to link up with his newly assigned cavalry commander, Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Rather than attempting to pursue Sherman through Georgia, Hood decided to execute a new plan: move north into Tennessee, defeat Thomas's army before it could concentrate, seize the important manufacturing center of Nashville, and continue north into Kentucky, possibly as far as the Ohio River. From this point, he could travel east to Virginia to join up with Gen. Robert E. Lee at Petersburg. His theater commander, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, urged Hood to take immediate action in an attempt to distract Sherman's advance, emphasizing the importance of moving before Thomas could consolidate his forces. Nov 29th Battle of Spring Hill - Union victory; 500 Rebel losses to just 350 Federal. Allowed the entire Union army to escape in the night to Franklin. CSA began with 12,000 effectives. Nov 30th Battle of Franklin - Union victory; 6,250 CSA losses (1,750 killed); Union lost 2,300 (just 189 killed). Furious at his failure at Spring Hill, Hood pursued Schoeld to the north and encountered the Federals at Franklin behind strong fortications. In the Battle of Franklin on November 30, Hood ordered almost 20,000 of his men to assault the Federal works before Schoeld could withdraw across the Harpeth River and escape to Nashville. The Union soldiers repulsed multiple assaults and inicted over 6,000 casualties on the Confederates, which included a large number of key Confederate generals, doing heavy damage to the leadership of the Army of Tennessee.[ CSA began with 27,000 effectives. Dec 15-16 Battle of Nashville - Union victory; CSA lost another 6,000 men; Union lost 3,000. CSA began with 30,000 effectives (how is that possible?). Dec 16th - 23rd Hood's Retreat