Issue 23, summer 2014 The Sesquicentennial
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- Hood immediately challenged Sherman At the Battle of Peachtree Creek Battle Summary Date: July 20, 1864
- Estimated Casualties: 6,506 total (US 1,710; CS 4,796)
- Peachtree Marker text On July 20 th
- Location: Fulton County Campaign: Atlanta Campaign (1864) Date: Beginning July 22, 1864 Principal Commanders
- Major General Oliver O. Howard . This greatly angered XX Corps commander Major General Joseph Hooker
General Johnson yielded Command to General Hood. Sherman, learning of the change had strategy meetings with his staff to change plans as required to battle the more aggressive Hood. Atlanta was still the goal and Sherman wasted no time in preparing to continue to carry the battle to the Confederates. 
John Bell Hood Hood immediately challenged Sherman At the Battle of Peachtree Creek Battle Summary Date: July 20, 1864 Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas [US]; Gen. John B. Hood [CS] Forces Engaged: Army of the Cumberland [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS] Estimated Casualties: 6,506 total (US 1,710; CS 4,796) Description: Under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the Army of Tennessee had retired south of Peachtree Creek, an east to west flowing stream, about three miles north of Atlanta. Sherman split his army into three columns for the assault on Atlanta with George H. Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland moving from the north. Johnston had decided to attack Thomas, but Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieved him of command and appointed John B. Hood to take his place. Hood attacked Thomas after his army crossed Peachtree Creek. The determined assault threatened to overrun the Union troops at various locations. Ultimately, though, the Yankees held, and the Rebels fell back. 
Peachtree Creek Marker Peachtree Marker text On July 20th, Hood ordered the attack to begin at 1:00 P.M. Hardee and Stewart were to advance, drive the enemy back to the creek, and then west into the angle formed by the creek and the river; but events east of Atlanta caused the line to be shifted about a mile to the east, delaying the attack until all but Ward´s division of the enemy had occupied strong ground in line of battle. Bate´s division (Hardee´s right) halted with its right on Clear Creek and its left reaching Walker´s right near Peachtree and Spring Street. Walker´s left met Maney´s right near Brookwood Station. Maney´s left joined the right of Loring´s division (Stewart´s right) which now occupied Loring Heights. Loring´s left extended to meet Walthall´s right near Northside Drive and Bellemeade Avenue. Walthall´s left regiment halted west of Howell Mill Road. About 3:30, Hardee moved forward, Stewart a half hour later. Walker´s advance, astride Peachtree Road, was impeded by uncut forest growth, Maney´s by miry creek bottom and steep hills, Bates by swampy, densely-thicketed bottom of Clear Creek. At Collier Road, Walker´s charging men met a withering fire of musketry and canister from Newton´s lines. Although they fought desperately, heavy losses forced them back. On their left, Maney´s men also met defeat. In the creek bottoms, Bates swung around Newton´s left flank to attack his rear; but Bradley´s men, massed along the road overlooking the creek, met them with musketry. At the Peachtree Creek Bridge, Thomas in person emplaced Ward´s two batteries on the high ground along Peachtree Hills Avenue. Canister from these guns shattered Bate´s right. Already suffering from Bradley´s musketry, his men fell back. Having no reserves, Hardee could not renew the attack so he withdrew. About 4:00, Stewart´s corps attacked. Loring moved forward with Featherston´s brigade on the right, Scott on the left. Featherston´s men crossed Tanyard Branch and moved through dense wood into a wide clearing. They reformed their lines (astride Dellwood Drive) under fire from Geary´s batteries, firing from their left. Sweeping back the Federal picket line barricaded along it, they charged over Collier Road and into the gap between Newton´s right and Geary´s left; but a cross fire of musketry from those positions, together with Ward´s arrival, drove them back with severe losses. Ward´s men took position along Collier Road. Atlanta Location: Fulton County Campaign: Atlanta Campaign (1864) Date: Beginning July 22, 1864 Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman [US]; Gen. John Bell Hood [CS] Forces Engaged: Military Division of the Mississippi [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS] Description: Following the Battle of Peachtree Creek, Hood determined to attack Maj. Gen. James B. 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 fifteen-mile 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 Gen. Frank 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 flank and sent his reserves—Grenville Dodge’s XVI Army Corps—to that location. Two of Hood’s divisions ran into this reserve force and were repulsed. The Rebel attack stalled on the Union rear but began to roll up the left flank. Around the same time, a Confederate soldier shot and killed McPherson when he rode out to observe the fighting. Determined attacks continued, but the Union forces held. About 4:00 pm, Cheatham’s corps broke through the Union front at the Hurt House, but Sherman massed twenty artillery pieces on a knoll near his headquarters to shell these Confederates and halt their drive. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan’s XV Army Corps then led a counterattack that restored the Union line. The Union troops held, and Hood suffered high casualties. 
Battle of Atlanta The Battle of Atlanta cost Union forces 3,641 casualties while Confederate losses totaled around 5,500. For the second time in two days, Hood had failed to destroy a wing of Sherman's command. Though a problem earlier in the campaign McPherson's cautious nature proved fortuitous as Sherman's initial orders would have left the Union flank completely exposed. In the wake of the fighting, Sherman gave command of the Army of the Tennessee to Major General Oliver O. Howard. This greatly angered XX Corps commander Major General Joseph Hooker who felt entitled to the post and who blamed Howard for his defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville. On July 27, Sherman resumed operations against the city by shifting to the west side to cut the Macon & Western Railroad. Several additional battles occurred outside of the city before Atlanta's fall on September 2. 
Attack! 
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