by Earl J. Hess
41. Palmer to Whipple, July 20, 1864, 7:30 A.M., OR, 38(5):202; Pearce to Wilson, September 9, 1864; Banning to Wilson, September 9, 1864; Langley to Wiseman, September 9, 1864; and McKnight to Houghtaling, September 6, 1864, OR, 38(1):694, 704, 712, 837; Aten, History of the Eighty-Fifth, 200.
42. Thomas to Sherman, July 20, 1864, noon, OR, 38(5):196.
43. Hood to Cooper, February 15, 1865, OR, 38(3):630.
44. Ibid.; Stewart to Mason, January 12, 1865, OR, 38(3):630, 871. Hood reported that the interval between divisions should be 150 yards not 200 yards as Stewart stated. R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 63–64, incorrectly describes what an echelon formation was intended to accomplish. For a discussion of the echelon formation, see Hess, Civil War Infantry Tactics, 118–20, 245.
45. Sheppard, By the Noble Daring, 190; Furman to wife, July 21, 1864, Charles Manning Furman Papers, USC; Loring to West, September 15, 1864, and Nelson to Graham, July 24, 1864, OR, 38(3):876, 898; Goodloe, Some Rebel Relics, 308–9; William McLeod Civil War Pocket Diary, July 20, 1864, SAF.
46. Mason to Wheeler, July 20, 1864, 10:20 A.M.; Wade to Wheeler, July 20, 1864, 11 A.M.; and Mackall to Wheeler, July 20, 1864, 1:10 P.M., OR, 38(5):894–95.
47. Connelly, Autumn of Glory, 440.
48. Hood to Cooper, February 15, 1865, OR, 38(3):630; J. B. Hood, Advance and Retreat, 171; Cheatham to Roy, September 5, 1880, in notes to Roy’s article about Atlanta campaign, Hardee Family Papers, ADAH.
49. Hood to Cooper, February 15, 1865, OR, 38(3):630; J. B. Hood, Advance and Retreat, 171; Cheatham to Wheeler, July 20, 1864, OR, 38(5):896.
50. Connelly, Autumn of Glory, 441; Losson, Tennessee’s Forgotten Warriors, 174–75; Castel, Decision in the West, 371–72.
51. Hood to Cooper, February 15, 1865, OR, 38(3):630.
52. Jesse L. Henderson Civil War Diary, July 20, 1864, UM; E. D. Willett Diary, July 20, 1864, ADAH; Narrative, 7, Henry De Lamar Clayton Sr. Papers, UA; Cox, Atlanta, 152–53.
53. Hardee to Cooper, April 5, 1865, OR, 38(3):698; Samuel L. Black letter, May 31, 1880, in Roy, “General Hardee,” 348.
54. Samuel L. Black letter, May 31, 1880, in Roy, “General Hardee,” 348; diary, July 20, 1864, Edwin Hansford Rennolds Sr. Papers, UTK; Joslyn, Charlotte’s Boys, 269; Franklin, Civil War Diaries, 188; record of events, Company B, 31st Mississippi, SOR, pt. 2, 34:17; Lowrey to Benham, September 20, 1864, OR, 38(3):733.
55. Stewart to Mason, January 12, 1865, OR, 38(3):871.
56. Loring to West, September 15, 1864, OR, 38(3):876.
57. Featherston to Loring, November 20, 1867, Winfield Scott Featherston Collection, UM; Featherston to Robinson, July 23, 1864; Scott to Robinson, July 23, 1864; French to Gale, December 6, 1864; and Walthall to Gale, January 14, 1865, OR, 38(3):880–81, 895, 903, 925; Featherston to Hood, December 18, 1866, John B. Hood Papers, NARA; French, Two Wars, 218; undated map, Ladies Memorial Association Collection, AHC.
58. Stewart to Mason, January 12, 1865; Loring to West, September 15, 1864; Featherston to Robinson, July 23, 1864; Scott to Robinson, July 23, 1864; and Walthall to Gale, January 14, 1865, OR, 38(3):871, 876, 881–82, 894, 925; Featherston to Loring, November 20, 1867, Winfield Scott Featherston Collection, UM; Unsigned Account of Battle of Peach Tree Creek, Thomas R. Markham Papers, LSU; Cannon, Inside of Rebeldom, 237; French, Two Wars, 218.
59. Dispatch, July 20, 1864, Savannah Republican, reprinted in Charleston Mercury, July 26, 1864; S. Davis, Atlanta Will Fall, 133–34; Thomas B. Mackall Journal (McMurry transcript), July 20, 1864, Joseph E. Johnston Papers, CWM; McMurry, John Bell Hood, 128.
60. McMurry, Atlanta 1864, 150–52; Loring to West, September 15, 1864, OR, 38(3):876; Castel, Decision in the West, 375.
61. G. Smith, “Georgia Militia,” 334; Connelly, Autumn of Glory, 444n; Castel, Decision in the West, 382.
62. Connelly, Autumn of Glory, 442; Howard, “Struggle for Atlanta,” 313; Cox, Atlanta, 152–53.
63. Howard, Autobiography, 1:608, 610.
64. Johnston to Cooper, October 20, 1864, and “Abstract from returns of the Army of Tennessee, General Joseph E. Johnston, C.S. Army, July 10, 1864,” OR, 38(3):619, 679; Castel, Decision in the West, 366; Stone, “Atlanta Campaign,” 441, 443–44; McMurry, Atlanta 1864, 151.
65. McMurry, Atlanta 1864, 151.
Chapter 5
1. Cox, Atlanta, 161; Hardee to Cooper, April 5, 1865, OR, 38(3):698.
2. Hay, “Atlanta Campaign,” 36; Castel, Decision in the West, 373, 375; “Abstract from returns of the Army of Tennessee, General Joseph E. Johnston, C.S. Army, July 10, 1864,” OR, 38(3):679; Newton to Whipple, July 20, 1864, OR, 38(5):199; Newton to Fullerton, July 21, 1864, OR, 38(1):290. For a different estimate of Hardee’s strength, see R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 55.
3. Castel, Decision in the West, 375. Of forty-five references in primary sources concerning the starting time of the attack, twenty (or 44.4%) agree it was 3 P.M. Twelve of the sources (or 26.6%), state it as 4 P.M. The other thirteen sources (28.8%) give various times ranging from 2 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
4. Warner, Generals in Blue, 344–45; Howard, Autobiography, 1:613.
5. Unsigned letter to Cincinnati Commercial, reprinted in Cleveland Daily Plain Dealer, July 28, 1864; Howard, Autobiography, 1:613–14.
6. Newton to Fullerton, July 21, 1864, OR, 38(1):291; J.W.M. to editor, July 21, 1864, Indianapolis Daily Journal, July 26, 1864.
7. Warner, Generals in Gray, 19.
8. Castel, Decision in the West, 370, 376; R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 56, 105, 121–22; Thompson, Orphan Brigade, 261; entry of July 20, 1864, William McLeod Civil War Pocket Diary, SAF; Hardee to Cooper, April 5, 1865, OR, 38(3):698. Castel places Bate west of Clear Creek, but Jenkins correctly points out that his entire division lay east of the stream.
9. Pickett to [Hardee], July 20, 1864, 6 P.M., OR, 38(5):897; Blanch to Cox, September 15, 1864, OR, 38(1):348; R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 105–6.
10. R. Brown, To the Manner Born, 1–85; Newton to Fullerton, July 21, 1864, OR, 38(1):290; George Anderson Mercer Diary, July 20, 1864, UNC; “The Battle of Peach Creek,” Cincinnati Commercial, reprinted in Cleveland Daily Plain Dealer, July 28, 1864; Scaife, Campaign for Atlanta, 90.
11. R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 57, 113, 122, 124; Castel, Decision in the West, 376; R. Brown, To the Manner Born, 260–61; Walker, Hell’s Broke Loose, 153–54.
12. Howard to Whipple, September 18, 1864, and Blanch to Cox, September 15, 1864, OR, 38(1):202, 348–49; Kerwood, Annals of the Fifty-Seventh, 268–70.
13. Newton to Fullerton, July 21, 1864, and Newton to assistant adjutant general, Army of the Cumberland, September, no date, 1864, OR, 38(1):290, 297; J.W.M. to editor, July 21, 1864, Indianapolis Daily Journal, July 26, 1864; Hynes to brother, July 29, 1864, William D. Hynes Papers, ISL.
14. History of Battery A, 118; J.W.M. to editor, July 21, 1864, Indianapolis Daily Journal, July 26, 1864; Baumgartner and Strayer, Yankee Tigers, 127.
15. Bradley to sister Buel, July 21, 1864, and Bradley to mother, July 30, 1864, Luther P. Bradley Collection, USAMHI; Hynes to brother, July 29, 1864, William D. Hynes Papers, ISL; Atwater to Waterman, August 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):361.
16. Bradley to Lee, September 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):356; Baumgartner and Strayer, Yankee Tigers, 127; Longacre and Haas, To Battle for God and the Right, 201; R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 124–25, 136.
17. Longacre and Haas, To Battle for God and the Right, 201; Baumgartner and Strayer, Yankee Tigers, 127–28; Rice, “With Sherman: Another Chapter of the Peach Tree Creek Battle”; Hynes to brother, July 29, 1864, William D. Hynes Papers, ISL. According to Moritz Tschoepe, the 24th Wisconsin of Kimball’s brigade was rushed to help Opdycke to cover the bridge crossing, but this is not confirmed in any other source. See Tschoepe, “A Hot Day: Reminiscences of the Battle of Peach Tree Creek before Atlanta,” and Beaudot, 24th Wisconsin, 321–22.
18. Newton to assistant a
djutant general, Army of the Cumberland, September, no date, 1864, OR, 38(1):297–98; J.W.M. to editor, July 21, 1864, Indianapolis Daily Journal, July 26, 1864.
19. Howard, Autobiography, 1:619; Reynolds to Brannan, September 9, 1864, and Smith to Reynolds, September 7, 1864, OR, 38(2):471, 474; Spencer to Bridges, September 7, 1864, and Goodspeed to Immell, September 7, 1864, OR, 38(1):493, 500; Wills, George Henry Thomas, 269–70; Cleaves, Rock of Chickamauga, 230; H. Osborn, “Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign,” 131; McKinney, Education in Violence, 349; Howard, “Struggle for Atlanta,” 314.
20. Hynes to brother, July 29, 1864, William D. Hynes Papers, ISL.
21. Bradley to Lee, September 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):356.
22. Warner, Generals in Gray, 291–92; E. Jones, Enlisted for the War, 4–5.
23. Gardner to parents, July 23, 1864, Lyman Gardner Papers, WLC-UM; Hynes to brother, July 29, 1864, William D. Hynes Papers, ISL; record of events, 28th Kentucky, SOR, pt. 2, 22:663; Wagner to Lee, September 10, 1864, OR, 38(1):338.
24. Nisbet, 4 Years on the Firing Line, 209; Realf to Dear Friends, July 21, 1864, Richard Realf Letters and Poems, NL.
25. Conrad to Jackson, September 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):326–27; George A. Cooley Civil War Diary, July 20, 1864, WHS; History of the Seventy-Third, 324–25; Allendorf, Long Road to Liberty, 205–11.
26. Nisbet, 4 Years on the Firing Line, 209; record of events, 28th Kentucky, SOR, pt. 2, 22:663; Daniel E. Barnard to sister, July 24, 1864, Howe-Barnard Family Papers, NL; Kimball to assistant adjutant general, Second Division, Fourth Corps, August 4, 1864, OR, 38(1):307; Benjamin T. Smith Reminiscences, 158, ALPL.
27. “X” letter to Savannah Republican, July 25, 1864, reprinted in Augusta Daily Constitutionalist, August 4, 1864; E. Jones, Enlisted for the War, 1; Joslyn, Charlotte’s Boys, 269; Hamilton Branch to mother, July 21, 1864, Branch Family Papers, UGA; George Anderson Mercer Diary, July 20, 1864, UNC; Nisbet, 4 Years on the Firing Line, 209–10.
28. News notice in Macon Confederate, reprinted in Augusta Daily Constitutionalist, July 27, 1864; Tower, A Carolinian Goes to War, 224; Adamson, Brief History, 41; Kerwood, Annals of the Fifty-Seventh, 271; E. Jones, Enlisted for the War, 1; R. Brown, To the Manner Born, 261, 364n.
29. Newton to assistant adjutant general, Army of the Cumberland, September, no date, 1864, and Atwater to Waterman, August 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):298, 361; Hynes to brother, July 29, 1864, William D. Hynes Papers, ISL.
30. Wiley, Confederate Letters, 52; Rountree, “Letters from a Confederate Soldier,” 290; Clark, Under the Stars and Bars, 103.
31. Hamilton Branch to mother, July 21, 1864, Branch Family Papers, UGA; George Anderson Mercer Diary, July 20, 1864, UNC; “List of casualties in Mercer’s brigade from July 20 to September 1, 1864,” OR, 38(3):756; R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 136, 138–42.
32. Hawes, “Memoirs of Charles H. Olmstead,” pt. 10, 44; Furman to wife, July 21, 1864, Charles Manning Furman Papers, USC; B. Benjamin Smith to Capers, April 3, 1880, Ellison Capers Papers, TC; George Anderson Mercer Diary, July 20, 1864, UNC.
33. Wagner to Lee, September 10, 1864, OR, 38(1):338.
34. Ibid., and Peatman to Cox, September 20, 1864, OR, 38(1):338, 351.
35. Warner, Generals in Gray, 210; Castel, Decision in the West, 376; Losson, Tennessee’s Forgotten Warriors, 175; Rennolds, History of the Henry County Commands, 88. R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 144, 148, posits a different order of battle for Maney’s Division than I do.
36. Franklin, Civil War Diaries, 188; Martin Van Buren Oldham Journal, July 20, 1864, UTM; autobiography, 29, Edwin Hansford Rennolds Sr. Papers, UTK; Rennolds, History of the Henry County Commands, 88; R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 154–56.
37. Autobiography, 29, and diary, July 20, 1864, Edwin Hansford Rennolds Sr. Papers, UTK; Rennolds, History of the Henry County Commands, 88–89; Martin Van Buren Oldham Journal, July 20, 1864, UTM; Losson, Tennessee’s Forgotten Warriors, 176; Fowler, Mountaineers in Gray, 152; Franklin, Civil War Diaries, 188; Semmes to wife, July 22, 1864, Benedict Joseph Semmes Papers, UNC; Carroll Henderson Clark Memoirs, 44–45, TSLA. R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 148–49, 153, 155, argues that Carter and Strahl advanced beyond the rest of Maney’s Division and managed to threaten the right flank of Kimball’s brigade, but the evidence for this is inconclusive. I believe the force that threatened Kimball’s flank came from Loring’s Division, as explained in the next chapter.
38. Elmore to parents, July 26, 1864, Day Elmore Letters, CHM; Warner, Generals in Blue, 267–68; Kimball to assistant adjutant general Second Division, Fourth Corps, August 4, 1864, and Bryan to Opdycke, September, no date, 1864, OR, 38(1):306, 321; Daniel E. Barnard to sister, July 24, 1864, Howe-Barnard Family Papers, NL.
39. Record of events, 28th Kentucky, SOR, pt. 2, 22:663; Tilton to Waterman, September 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):363; Bennett and Haigh, History of the Thirty-Sixth Regiment, 615; Elmore to parents, July 26, 1864, Day Elmore Letters, CHM; Fleming, Confederate Ninth Tennessee, 116–17.
40. Hughes, Civil War Memoir, 214–15; Walton et al., “Sketches of the History,” 221.
41. Hughes, Civil War Memoir, 215.
42. Newton to Fullerton, July 21, 1864; Newton to assistant adjutant general, Army of the Cumberland, September, no date, 1864; and Kimball to assistant adjutant general, Second Division, Fourth Corps, August 4, 1864, OR, 38(1):290, 298, 306; Losson, Tennessee’s Forgotten Warriors, 176; Bennett and Haigh, History of the Thirty-Sixth Regiment, 615.
43. R. M. Collins, Chapters, 227–28; [Cox] to Sneed, August 2, 1864, and Lowrey to Benham, September 10, 1864, OR, 38(3):730, 733; Bowser, “Notes on Granbury’s Brigade,” 747.
44. Buck, Cleburne and His Command, 231; Irving Buck to Roy, March 27, 1880, in Roy, “General Hardee,” 384; R. M. Collins, Chapters, 228.
45. Spurlin, Civil War Diary, 43; Flynt to Sneed, July 29, 1864; Brown to not stated, July 28, 1864; and Perry to not stated, August 2, 1864, OR, 38(3):748, 749, 751; McCaffrey, Band of Heroes, 114–15.
46. R. M. Collins, Chapters, 228–30.
47. Lowrey to Benham, September 20, 1864, OR, 38(3):733; Nisbet, 4 Years on the Firing Line, 210.
48. [Cox] to Sneed, August 2, 1864, OR, 38(3):730.
49. Pickett to [Hardee], July 20, 1864, 6 P.M., OR, 38(5):897; entry of July 20, 1864, William McLeod Civil War Pocket Diary, SAF; Frano, Letters of Captain Hugh Black, 67; McMurray, History of the Twentieth Tennessee, 320. For an estimate of losses in Bate’s Division, see R. Jenkins, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 106, 110.
50. E. A. Carman to Clayton, December 6, 1875, Henry De Lamar Clayton Sr. Papers, UA; diary, July 20, 1864, Emmett Ross Papers, MSU.
51. Hardee to Cooper, April 5, 1865, OR, 38(3):698; Roy, “General Hardee,” 349; Castel, Decision in the West, 378.
52. Hardee to Cooper, April 5, 1865, OR, 38(3):698; Roy, “General Hardee,” 380; Irving A. Buck to Roy, March 27, 1880, and D. G. White to Roy, April 6, 1880, in Roy, “General Hardee,” 350, 382; Buck, Cleburne and His Command, 231–32.
53. Taylor to Sneed, July 29, 1864, OR, 38(3):752; W. Cate, Two Soldiers, 92; Buck, Cleburne and His Command, 231.
54. Hardee to Cooper, April 5, 1865, OR, 38(3):698–99; Cox, Atlanta, 160–62; Connelly, Autumn of Glory, 443; Castel, Decision in the West, 378.
55. [Cox] to Sneed, August 2, 1864, OR, 38(3):730; Mumford H. Dixon Diary, July 20, 1864, EU.
56. Neal to Pa, July 20, 1864, Andrew Jackson Neal Papers, EU; Mathis, In the Land of the Living, 103–4.
57. Hawes, “Memoirs of Charles H. Olmstead,” pt. 10: 44; Hughes, General William J. Hardee, 223–25.
58. Thomas B. Mackall Journal (McMurry transcript), July 20, 1864, Joseph E. Johnston Papers, CWM; Hughes, General William J. Hardee, 224–25; Hardee to Cooper, April 5, 1865, OR, 38(3):699; J. B. Hood, Advance and Retreat, 185–86.
59. Howard to Whipple, July 21, 1864, 7 P.M., OR, 38(5):214; Circular, Headquarters, Department of the Cumberland, July 25, 1864; Howard to
Whipple, September 18, 1864; Newton to Fullerton, July 21, 1864; Newton to assistant adjutant general, Army of the Cumberland, September, no date, 1864; and Kimball to assistant adjutant general, Second Division, Fourth Corps, August 4, 1864, OR, 38(1):174, 203, 290–91, 298, 306; “The Battle of Peach Creek,” Cincinnati Commercial, reprinted in Cleveland Daily Plain Dealer, July 28, 1864.
60. Henry Perrin Mann Civil War Diaries, July 20, 1864, SHSM-RCR; MacArthur to [Jackson], September 12, 1864, and Atwater to Waterman, August 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):330, 361; Hynes to brother, July 29, 1864, William D. Hynes Papers, ISL; George O. Pratt Diary, July 20, 1864, ALPL.
61. Bradley to mother, July 30, 1864, Luther P. Bradley Collection, USAMHI; Howard to Whipple, September 18, 1864; Newton to assistant adjutant general, Army of the Cumberland, September, no date, 1864; Kimball to assistant adjutant general, Second Division, Fourth Corps, August 4, 1864; “Report of Killed and Wounded in Third Brigade in Engagement With the Enemy, July 20, 1864”; and Atwater to Waterman, August 12, 1864, OR, 38(1):203, 298, 307, 359, 361; George A. Cooley Civil War Diary, July 21, 1864, WHS.
62. Howard to Whipple, September 18, 1864, OR, 38(1):203.
63. Diary, July 21, 1864, John Wesley Marshall Papers, OHS.
Chapter 6
1. “Abstract from returns of the Army of Tennessee, General Joseph E. Johnston, C.S. Army, July 10, 1864,” OR, 38(3):679; Hay, “Atlanta Campaign,” 36.
2. Garrett, Atlanta, 1:612; Harrison to Speed, August 12, 1864, OR, 38(2):344–45; Wells, “A Western Man’s Account of Peach Tree Creek”; Kaufman, Peachtree Creek, 117, 122.
3. Cox, Atlanta, 154–55.
4. Winkler to C. H. Young, July 28, 1864, Frederick C. Winkler Papers, WHS; H. Osborn, Trials and Triumphs, 160; Harrison to Speed, August 12, 1864; Coburn to Speed, July 28, 1864; Miller to Crawford, July 27, 1864; Crane to Coburn, no date; and Wood to Beecher, September 23, 1864, OR, 38(2):344–45, 389, 404, 412–13, 441; Newton, “Battle of Peach Tree Creek,” 150–51; Charles A. Booth Journal, July 20, 1864, WHS.