Kennesaw Mountain

Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign

Earl J. Hess

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781469629889
  9781469602110
• eBook ISBN:
  9781469602127
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

While fighting his way toward Atlanta, William T. Sherman encountered his biggest roadblock at Kennesaw Mountain, where Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee held a heavily fortified position. The opposing armies confronted each other from June 19 to July 3, 1864, and Sherman initially tried to outflank the Confederates. His men endured heavy rains, artillery duels, sniping, and a fierce battle at Kolb’s Farm before Sherman decided to directly attack Johnston’s position on June 27. Kennesaw Mountain tells the story of an important phase of the Atlanta campaign. Historian Earl J. Hess explains how this battle, with its combination of maneuver and combat, severely tried the patience and endurance of the common soldier and why Johnston’s strategy might have been the Confederates' best chance to halt the Federal drive toward Atlanta. He gives special attention to the engagement at Kolb’s Farm on June 22 and Sherman’s assault on June 27. A final section explores the Confederate earthworks preserved within the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

Notes

ABBREVIATIONS

ADAH

Alabama Department of Archives and History

AHC

Atlanta History Center

AHC-UW

American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming

ALPL

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

ASU

Augusta State University

BC

Bowdoin College

CL-UM

William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan

CU

Cornell University

CWM

College of William and Mary

DU

Duke University

EU

Emory University

GLIAH

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

IHS

Indiana Historical Society

KHS

Kansas Historical Society

KMNBP

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

LC

Library of Congress

LMU

Lincoln Memorial University

LSU

Louisiana State University

MHM

Missouri History Museum

MOC

Museum of the Confederacy

MSU

Mississippi State University

MU

Miami University

NARA

National Archives and Records Administration

NC

Navarro College

NCSA

North Carolina State Archives

NL

Newberry Library

NYSL

New York State Library

OHS

Ohio Historical Society

OR

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. OR citations take the following form: volume number(part number):page number(s)—e.g., OR 38(4):479–80. All citations are to series 1.

RBHPC

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center

RU

Rice University

SC-SU

Stanford University

SHSI

State Historical Society of Iowa

SHSM-C

State Historical Society of Missouri, Research Center Columbia

SHSM-SL

State Historical Society of Missouri, Research Center St. Louis

SOR

Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. SOR citations take the following form: part number, volume number:page number(s)—e.g., SOR, Pt. 2, 46:548.

SRNB

Stones River National Battlefield

SU

Syracuse University

TC

The Citadel

TSLA

Tennessee State Library and Archives

UA

University of Alabama

UAF

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

UGA

University of Georgia

UH

University of Houston

UI

University of Iowa

UK

University of Kentucky

UM

University of Mississippi

UMBC

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

UNC

University of North Carolina

UND

University of Notre Dame

USAMHI

U.S. Army Military History Institute

USM

University of Southern Mississippi

UTA

University of Texas, Austin

UTC

University of Tennessee, Chattanooga

UTK

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

UVA

University of Virginia

UW

University of Washington

VHS

Virginia Historical Society

VT

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

WHS

Wisconsin Historical Society

YU

Yale University

PREFACE

1. Arbuckle, Civil War Experiences, 65.

CHAPTER ONE

1. Sherman to Halleck, September 15, 1864, OR 38(1):62–63.

2. Castel, Decision in the West, 111, 115, 121.

3. Ibid., 121, 123, 131–35, 137–38, 145–51.

4. Ibid., 152, 154, 156, 159, 160–68, 173–79, 188.

5. Ibid., 192–95, 200–202, 204–6; McMurry, Atlanta, 82–83.

6. Castel, Decision in the West, 217–21, 223, 225–26, 229–30, 233, 235, 237–41, 243–46; Howard, Autobiography, 1:551, 553; Hazen, Narrative, 257–58; Dean, “Pickett’s Mill,” 369, 371.

7. Castel, Decision in the West, 247.

8. Sherman to Halleck, September 15, 1864, OR 38(1):65–66; Sherman, Memoirs, 2:45; Osborn, Trials and Triumphs, 158.

9. Sherman to Halleck, June 5, 7, 8, 1864, Special Field Orders No. 21, Headquarters, Military Division of the Mississippi, June 9, 1864, OR 38(4):408, 428, 433, 445–46; Sherman, Memoirs, 2:50–51; Castel, Decision in the West, 264–66.

10. Castel, Decision in the West, 267, 269, 273; French, Two Wars, 201; Johnston, Narrative, 336; Sherman to Halleck, September 15, 1864, OR 38(1):67. McMurry, Atlanta, 103, calls the Mountain Line the First Kennesaw Line.

11. Sherman to Halleck, September 15, 1864, OR 38(1):67.

12. Castel, Decision in the West, 267, 270; Sherman to Halleck, September 15, 1864, OR 38(1):67; Howard to Clark, September 9, 1864, OR 38(3):80; Sherman to Halleck, June 13, 1864, OR 38(4):466; Albert Quincy Porter Diary, June 16–17, 1864, MSU; John C. Brown Diary, June 13, 1864, UI.

13. Castel, Decision in the West, 275–76; Sherman, Memoirs, 2:53.

14. Special Field Orders No. 25, Headquarters, Military Division of the Mississippi, June 14, 1864, OR 38(4):479–80.

15. Castel, Decision in the West, 278.

16. Howard to Whipple, September 18, 1864, OR 38(1):196; Whipple to Hooker and Howard, June 15, 1864, OR 38(4):483.

17. Sherman to Halleck, June 15, 1864, Sherman to Schofield, June 15, 1864, OR 38(4):481, 486.

18. Sherman to Halleck, June 16, 1864, OR 38(4):492; L. G. Bennett and Haigh, History of the Thirty-Sixth, 604.

19. Castel, Decision in the West, 280–81; Johnston, Narrative, 338; French, Two Wars, 203; McMurry, Atlanta, 103.

20. Byrne, Uncommon Soldiers, 162; Bohrnstedt, Soldiering with Sherman, 109; George G. Truair to father, June 17, 1864, Truair Family Papers, UTA; O’Connor to not stated, September 7, 1864, OR 38(2):229.

21. Sherman to Halleck, June 17, 1864, Sherman to Thomas, June 17, 1864, Whipple to Sherman, June 18, 1864, OR 38(4):498–99, 510–11; Castel, Decision in the West, 282–83; Thomas to Sawyer, July 16, 1864, Howard to Whipple, September 18, 1864, Wagner to Lee, September 10, 1864, OR 38(1):149, 197, 334.

22. Johnston, Narrative, 338.

23. Geary to Perkins, September 15, 1864, OR 38(2):131; Castel, Decision in the West, 275; Gile to not stated, June 18, 1864, David Herrick Gile Papers, YU.

24. Sherman to Thomas, June 18, 1864, Schofield to Sherman, June 18, 1864, Sherman to Schofield, June 18, 1864, OR 38(4):508–9, 515.

25. Sherman to [Grant], June 18, 1864, OR 38(4):507–8.

26. Ibid.

27. Howard to Thomas, June 18, 1864, Thomas to Howard, June 18, 1864, OR 38(4):512–13; Howard to Whipple, September 18, 1864, Newton to assistant adjutant general, Army of the Cumberland, September 1864, Bryan to Opdycke, September 1864, Wagner to Lee, September 10, 1864, OR 38(1):197, 295, 319, 334; Neal to Ra, June 20, 1864, Andrew Jackson Neal Papers, EU; French, Two Wars, 203.

28. Loring to French, June 18, 1864, OR 38(4):780.

29. Wynne and Taylor, This War So Horrible, 92; Johnston to Bragg, June 19, 1864, OR 38(4):780; Johnston to Cooper, October 20, 1864, OR 38(3):617; OR Atlas, pl. 59, no. 3; Marietta quadrant map, U.S. Department of the Interior.

30. French, Two Wars, 203.

31. Baumgartner, Blood & Sacrifice, 148, 150.

32. French, Two Wars, 203; Daniel Harris Reynolds Diary, June 18–19, 1864, UAF; Dacus, Reminiscences, unpaginated.

33. [Thomas M. Jack] to W. J. Morris, June 19, 1864, Special Orders From May 9th 1864 to June 19th 1864, Head Quarters, Army of the Mississippi, ch. 2, No. 221½, RG109, NARA; Meeker to Taylor, June 19, 1864, OR 38(4):529.

34. Sherman to Halleck,...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Kennesaw Mountain
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Table and Maps
• Illustrations
• Preface
• One. The Road to Kennesaw
• Two. Kolb’s Farm
• Three. Sherman Decides to Strike
• Four. The Fifteenth Corps Attack
• Five. The Fourth Corps Attack
• Six. The Fourteenth Corps Attack
• Seven. The Residue of a Long Day
• Eight. Along the Kennesaw Line
• Nine. Flanking
• Conclusion
• Orders of Battle
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index