Lieutenant-General John Bell Hood to James A. Seddon, July 23, 1864

HEADQUARTERS ATLANTA,        

July 23d, 1864

Hon. James A. Seddon, Secretary of War:

The enemy shifted his position on Peach Tree Creek last night, and Gen. Stewart’s and Cheatham’s corps formed line of battle around the city.

Gen. Hardee’s corps made a night march, and attacked the enemy’s extreme left to-day. About one o’clock he drove him from his works, capturing sixteen pieces of artillery and five stands of colors. Gen. Cheatham attacked the enemy, capturing all pieces of artillery.

During the engagement we captured about two thousand prisoners.

Gen. Wheeler’s cavalry routed the enemy in the neighborhood of Decatur to-day, capturing his camp.

Our loss is not yet full ascertained.

Major Gen. Walker was killed. Brig. Gens. Smith, Gist and Mercer were wounded.

Prisoners report that Gen. McPherson was Killed

Our troops fought with great gallantry.

J. B. HOOD, General.

SOURCE: Richmond Dispatch, Richmond Virginia, Monday, July 25, 1864, p. 1

Lieutenant-General John Bell Hood to James A. Seddon, July 22, 1864—10:30 p.m.

NEAR ATLANTA, July 22, 1864—10.30 p.m.

Hon. J. A. SEDDON, Richmond:

The army shifted its position last night, fronting Peach Tree Creek, and formed line of battle around the city with Stewart's and Cheatham's corps. General Hardee, with his corps, made a night march and attacked the enemy's extreme left at 1 o'clock to-day; drove him from his works, capturing 16 pieces of artillery and 5 stand of colors. Major-General Cheatham attacked the enemy at 4 p.m. with a portion of his command; drove the enemy, capturing 6 pieces of artillery. During the engagements we captured about 2,000 prisoners, but loss not fully ascertained. Major-General Walker killed; Brigadier-Generals Smith, Gist, and Mercer wounded. Our troops fought with great gallantry.

J. B. HOOD,        

General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 38, Part 5 (Serial No. 76), p. 900

Brigadier-General Thomas Benton Smith.

General Thomas Benton Smith, who was the youngest general in the Confederate army and enjoys the further distinction of being the only one now living, has reached the venerable age of eighty-five years. His birth occurred in Rutherford county, Tennessee, on the 24th of February, 1838, his parents being James M. and Martha (Page) Smith, the former a native of Dinwiddie county, Virginia. He comes of English ancestry in the paternal line and of Welsh descent on the maternal side, and his mother's people lived in North and South Carolina before coming to Tennessee. General Smith still has in his possession a silver piece that his maternal ancestors brought from Wales and which was given to him by his mother. His maternal grandparents, John and Martha Page, lived ten miles from Franklin and five miles from Triune. James M. Smith, the father of General Smith, was a carpenter of Mechanicsville, Rutherford county, this state, who made and sold gins, while his wife made cloth to provide wearing apparel for her children and the ten negro slaves owned by the family. Their home was a log house of two rooms and a side porch. James M. Smith was a soldier of the War of 1812, participating in the battle of New Orleans under Andrew Jackson. When the Civil war was inaugurated he and his wife owned one hundred and five acres of land and other property to the value of about ten thousand dollars.

In the acquirement of an education Thomas Benton Smith walked two miles to attend common school and later became a student in a military academy at Nashville, Tennessee, from which he was graduated. Andrew Johnson gave him a lieutenant's commission and he then went to West Point, New York, attending school for sixteen years altogether. The opening of the Civil war found him busily engaged in the cultivation of a farm of one hundred and five acres which he owned in the vicinity of Triune and he left the plow handles to enlist in the Zollicoffer Guards of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment, being sworn in at Triune on the 17th of May, 1861. Both he and his brother, John M. Smith, joined the Confederate forces, leaving their mother and the negroes at home. Thomas B. Smith was sent with his company to Camp Zollicoffer and in January, 1862, took part in the battle of Fishing Creek, while subsequently he fought at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Baton Rouge, Franklin and Nashville. His horse was shot from under him at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and again at the battle of Atlanta. After he had surrendered he was struck on the head with a sword by a Yankee colonel named W. S. McMillen, the blow splitting the bone of his head and exposing his brain, and he was placed in the Tennessee state prison, which was being used as a hospital. Following his discharge at Fort Warren, Massachusetts, he was given transportation and came direct to Nashville. Vernon K, Stevenson, the first president of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, who was his close personal friend, offered him a position in recognition of the fact that General Smith had made his son, Vernon K. Stevenson, Jr., a member of his staff in 1864. General Smith engaged in railroad work first as a brakeman, then as freight conductor and later won promotion to the position of passenger conductor on the Nashville & Chattanooga, being identified with railroad interests altogether for ten years, during a part of which period he was in the service of the Nashville & Decatur. After leaving the railroad he became a candidate for congress in the counties of Williamson, Wilson and Rutherford and following the election of E. I. Gollady of Lebanon, Tennessee, returned home, where he remained until the death of his mother. He was then sent to the Central State Hospital of Nashville, where he has been a patient for about forty-seven years, or since 1876, when the institution was under Dr. Callender's administration. He has always been accorded the best and kindest treatment and has numerous friends whose regard he prizes. His closest kin are nephews and nieces. He enjoyed the personal friendship of many distinguished men of an earlier day, including Andrew Johnson, General Felix K. Zollicoffer, General John C. Brown, General William B. Bate, General Bragg, who handed him his commission as brigadier general, General W. J. Hardee, General Frank Cheatham, Colonel E. W. Cole, John W. Thomas and W. L. Danley. Lieutenant James L. Cooper of Nashville and Dr. D. B. Cliff, Sr., of Franklin, Tennessee, were members of his staff while he held the rank of brigadier general in 1864. He attends the annual reunion of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Veterans at Centennial Park, also goes to Mount Olivet once a year to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers and occasionally takes other trips to Nashville. He declares that he is as happy as anyone could be under the circumstances and he is spending the evening of life in quiet content.

(Since this biographical sketch was written, General Smith has passed to his reward. In honor of his distinguished character and services his body was placed in state in the hall of the house of representatives in the capitol of Tennessee, where the funeral services were held under the auspices of the United Confederate Veterans.)

SOURCE: Tennessee: The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Volume 2, p. 144-7

Captain Charles Wright Wills: July 25, 1864

July 25, 1864

We moved up to the rear of the corps on the 21, and had just got comfortably fixed for the night when orders came that we should report back to the brigade on the front line.  Just as we started a heavy rain set in, and continued while we marched one and one-half miles to the left, where we stacked arms in rear of a line of work occupied by the 6th Iowa. The Rebel line lay in plain sight, just across an open field, and the bullets made us keep pretty close.

At sunset we were ordered to extend, or rather build a line of works to hold our regiment, between the 6th Iowa and 40th Illinois. We had fairly commenced, and the boys were scattered everywhere, bringing rails, logs, etc., when the Johnnie's bugle sounded “forward,” and the Rebels raised a yell and fired a couple of volleys into us. There was a lively rush for our guns, but we saw through it in a minute, and in three minutes were at work again. Only two men were hurt in the regiment, one from Company C, and Wm. Nicholson of my company had the small bone of his leg broken just above the ankle. We got our works in shape about daylight, and about 8 a. m. I heard a cheer from our skirmishers, and saw the Rebel skirmishers run right over their works like deer. Our line followed them and took possession of their works, and no Rebel or works being in sight, and our boys knowing they were only two miles from Atlanta, thought sure they had the town, and all started on the “double quick” for it, yelling, “potatoes” or “tobacco,” or what he particularly hankered for. They got along swimmingly until within about three-quarters of a mile from town, when they ran against a strong line of works and were brought up standing, by a volley therefrom. They deployed immediately, and by the time their officers got up had a good line established, and were whacking away at the fort apparently as well satisfied as if they had got their tobaco.

McPherson had an idea that all was not right, for our line was allowed to advance no further than the one the Rebels had left, and we were set to work changing its front. At dinner when we were about leaving “the table,” Captain Smith mentioned hearing some heavy skirmishing in our rear as we came to our meal. That was the first any of us knew of the battle. In a few minutes we all heard it plainly, and from our works could see exactly in our rear a body of grey coats, advance from a wood and the battle opened, although we did not know what troops of ours were engaged. Have since heard it was a portion of the 16th Corps who were moving out to extend the line. Their being just in that position was a piece of luck, as it saved the trains of the Army of the Tennessee, and, perhaps, the whole army. I should think they fought an hour before the battle swung around toward us. During the battle, our regiment changed position three times, facing east, west and south. We helped repulse four charges, took 115 prisoners, and helped take 400 more. Also ran the enemy out of a line of works they had taken from our 3d brigade, and the best of it is, we lost only ten men. I cannot for my life see how we escaped so well. General Blair is reported to have said that the Army of the Tennessee is eternally disgraced for going outside of all precedent, in refusing to be whipped when attacked in flank and rear, as well as in front. Hood confines his strategy to maneuvering troops for battle, and pretends to be emphatically a “fighting cock.” He attacked Thomas on the 20th and 21st, away on the right, and on the 22d walked into us. He got his comb badly cut, and if I am any prophet at all, will not attempt another fight soon. Sherman estimates the enemy's loss in the three days' fighting at 12,000. Our loss in the same time is less than 3,500. I am surprised that we have not attacked them in return before this, but am far from anxious to charge their works. Although I do know that if we charge with two lines as good as our brigade, and don't go too fast, we can take any ordinary works. The prisoners we got the other day were run down. When our regiment drove the Rebels out of the works of the 3d brigade, a man shot through the thigh, asked me for water as I passed him. I asked him if the Rebels robbed him, he said, no, but they killed a man in the ditch with a spade right in front of him. I looked where he pointed and found a 97th Indiana boy with his thigh broken by a pistol shot, and three cuts in his face by a spade. He was not dead, he knew me, and reached out his hand smiling. He said an officer rode up with some footmen and told him to surrender, when he shot the officer and ran his bayonet through one of the men. Another shot him, and the man he bayoneted used the spade on him. McPherson was killed early in the fight. The Rebels had his body a few minutes, but the 16th Corps charged and retook it. Altogether, it was the prettiest fight I ever saw.

The Rebel plan of attack was excellent, and if their assaulting columns had charged simultaneously, there is no telling what might have been the upshot. As it was, part of 17th Corps changed position in their breastworks three times, that is, repulsed an assault from one side, and being attacked from the rear, jumped over and fought them the other way. I was up to where the 20th and 31st Illinois fought. The dead Rebels lay about as thick on one side of the works as the other, and right up to them. Two more fights like this, and there will be no more Rebel army here. We lost about 600 prisoners, and took 2,000.

Garrard's cavalry division went out to Covington on the Augusta road. Am just going on picket.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 283-6

Captain Charles Wright Wills: July 23, 1864

July 23, 1864.

The fight came off the 22d, and a glorious one it was for us. Lieutenant Blair of our regiment was killed, also Charles Buck, of Company F, and John Smith of my company. There were seven wounded only. Our brigade gets credit for 400 prisoners. They took us in rear and every other way, but the repulse was awful. Everybody is wishing that they may repeat the attack. Generals McPherson and Force are killed. (Force, was not killed.) Our regiment gets credit for its part, though we were very fortunate in losing so few. Our skirmish line is within one mile of the town.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 283

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, April 22, 1862

Camp South Of Raleigh, Virginia, April 22, 1862.

Dear Uncle: — The ugly chap on the enclosed bill is Governor Letcher of Virginia. He is entitled to our lasting gratitude. He is doing more for us in this State than any two brigadiers I can think of. He has in all the counties, not occupied by our troops, little squads of volunteers busily engaged in hunting up and “squadding in,” as they call it, all persons capable of military duty. Thousands who wish to escape this draft are now hiding in the mountains or seeking refuge in our lines. Meantime the rascals are plundering and burning in all directions, making friends for the Union wherever they go. The defeat of the enemy in eastern Virginia sends this cobhouse tumbling very fast.

We left Raleigh last week and have been struggling against storms and freshets ever since. Today it has snowed, rained, sleeted, and turned off bright but gusty a dozen times. Camp muddy, tents wet, but all glad to be started.

I have for the present an independent command of the Twenty-third Regiment, a section of McMullen's Battery, and a small body of horse. We are the advance of Fremont's column. We are directed to move by “easy marches” forward south. The design being, I suppose, to overtake us in force by the time we meet any considerable body of the enemy. We meet and hear of small bodies of enemy now constantly, but as yet nothing capable of serious resistance.

I see that Buckland's Seventy-second was in the great battle at Pittsburg. Glad they are not reported as sharing the disgrace which seems to attach to some of the other new regiments. There was shocking neglect there, I should guess. Generals, not the regiments, ought to be disgraced. A sudden surprise by a great army with cavalry and artillery can't be had without gross negligence. The regiments surprised ought not [to] be held up to scorn if they are stricken with a panic in such a case. A few thousand men can slip up unperceived sometimes, but for an army of fifty or sixty thousand men to do it — pshaw! it's absurd. What happened to Buckland's regiment? Send your newspapers of Fremont giving letters from the regiment.

I see that your friend McPherson* is one of the distinguished. Good.

Colonel Scammon is back with the brigade, Thirtieth, Thirty-fourth, and a regiment of cavalry.

Good-bye,

R. B. Hayes.

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* James B. McPherson, a native of Sandusky County. He was at that time chief engineer on General Grant's staff. A brilliant and able officer who rose to the position of corps commander. He was killed in battle at Atlanta, July 22, 1864, — the officer highest in rank and command killed during the war. His grave is at Clyde, Ohio, marked by an imposing monument. One of the entrances to Spiegel Grove bears his name.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 233

Diary of Dolly Lunt Burge: July 22, 1864

[The day of the battle of Atlanta]

We have heard the loud booming of cannon all day. Mr. Ward [the overseer] went over to the burial of Thomas Harwell, whose death I witnessed yesterday. They had but just gone when the Rev. A. Turner, wife, and daughter drove up with their wagons, desiring to rest awhile. They went into the ell [a large back room] and lay down, I following them, wishing to enjoy their company. Suddenly I saw the servants running to the palings, and I walked to the door, when I saw such a stampede as I never witnessed before. The road was full of carriages, wagons, men on horseback, all riding at full speed. Judge Floyd stopped, saying: “Mrs. Burge, the Yankees are coming. They have got my family, and here is all I have upon earth. Hide your mules and carriages and whatever valuables you have.”

Sadai [Mrs. Surge's nine-year-old daughter] said:

“Oh, Mama, what shall we do?”

“Never mind, Sadai,” I said. “They won't hurt you, and you must help me hide my things.”

I went to the smoke-house, divided out the meat to the servants, and bid them hide it. Julia [a slave] took a jar of lard and buried it. In the meantime Sadai was taking down and picking up our clothes, which she was giving to the servants to hide in their cabins; silk dresses, challis, muslins, and merinos, linens, and hosiery, all found their way into the chests of the women and under their beds; china and silver were buried underground, and Sadai bid Mary [a slave] hide a bit of soap under some bricks, that mama might have a little left. Then she came to me with a part of a loaf of bread, asking if she had not better put it in her pocket, that we might have something to eat that night. And, verily, we had cause to fear that we might be homeless, for on every side we could see smoke arising from burning buildings and bridges.

Major Ansley, who was wounded in the hip in the battle of Missionary Ridge, and has not recovered, came with his wife, sister, two little ones, and servants. He was traveling in a bed in a small wagon. They had thought to get to Eatonton, but he was so wearied that they stopped with me for the night. I am glad to have them. I shall sleep none to-night. The woods are full of refugees.

SOURCE: Dolly Lunt Burge, A Woman's Wartime Journal, p. 4-6

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Monday, July 10, 1865

The men of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps are raising a subscription for the purpose of erecting a monument in memory of the lamented Gen. James B. McPherson,¹ the old commander of the two corps, who was killed in the battle of Atlanta on the 22d day of July, 1864. I gave $5.00 myself, the whole company raising $75.00.

_______________

¹ Major-General McPherson was a noble man, a Christian gentleman, kind to the officers and men in his command, and the men of his two corps placed him equal to any of the generals in the army. East or West. — A. G. D.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 286

Diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut: August 23, 1864

All in a muddle, and yet the news, confused as it is, seems good from all quarters. There is a row in New Orleans. Memphis¹ has been retaken; 2,000 prisoners have been captured at Petersburg, and a Yankee raid on Macon has come to grief.

At Mrs. Izard's met a clever Mrs. Calhoun. Mrs. Calhoun is a violent partizan of Dick Taylor; says Taylor does the work and Kirby Smith gets the credit for it. Mrs. Calhoun described the behavior of some acquaintance of theirs at Shreveport, one of that kind whose faith removes mountains. Her love for and confidence in the Confederate army were supreme. Why not? She knew so many of the men who composed that dauntless band. When her husband told her New Orleans had surrendered to a foe whom she despised, she did not believe a word of it. He told her to “pack up his traps, as it was time for him to leave Shreveport.” She then determined to run down to the levee and see for herself, only to find the Yankee gunboats having it all their own way. She made a painful exhibition of herself. First, she fell on her knees and prayed; then she got up and danced with rage; then she raved and dashed herself on the ground in a fit. There was patriotism run mad for you! As I did not know the poor soul, Mrs. Calhoun's fine acting was somewhat lost on me, but the others enjoyed it.

Old Edward Johnston has been sent to Atlanta against his will, and Archer has been made major-general and, contrary to his earnest request, ordered not to his beloved Texans but to the Army of the Potomac.

Mr. C. F. Hampton deplores the untimely end of McPherson.² He was so kind to Mr. Hampton at Vicksburg last winter, and drank General Hampton's health then and there. Mr. Hampton has asked Brewster, if the report of his death prove a mistake, and General McPherson is a prisoner, that every kindness and attention be shown to him. General McPherson said at his own table at Vicksburg that General Hampton was the ablest general on our side.

Grant can hold his own as well as Sherman. Lee has a heavy handful in the new Suwarrow. He has worse odds than any one else, for when Grant has ten thousand slain, he has only to order another ten thousand, and they are there, ready to step out to the front. They are like the leaves of Vallambrosa.

_______________

¹ General Forrest made his raid on Memphis in August of this year.

² General McPherson was killed before Atlanta during the sortie made by Hood on July 22d. He was a native of Ohio, a graduate of West Point, and under Sherman commanded the Army of the Tennessee.

SOURCE: Mary Boykin Chesnut, Edited by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary, A Diary From Dixie, p. 323-4

Diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut: August 14, 1864

We have conflicting testimony. Young Wade Hampton, of Joe Johnston's staff, says Hood lost 12,000 men in the battles of the 22d¹ and 24th, but Brewster, of Hood's staff, says not three thousand at the utmost. Now here are two people strictly truthful, who tell things so differently. In this war people see the same things so oddly one does not know what to believe.

Brewster says when he was in Richmond Mr. Davis said Johnston would have to be removed and Sherman blocked. He could not make Hardee full general because, when he had command of an army he was always importuning the War Department for a general-in-chief to be sent there over him. Polk would not do, brave soldier and patriot as he was. He was a good soldier, and would do his best for his country, and do his duty under whomever was put over him by those in authority. Mr. Davis did not once intimate to him who it was that he intended to promote to the head of the Western Army.

Brewster said to-day that this “blow at Joe Johnston, cutting off his head, ruins the schemes of the enemies of the government. Wigfall asked me to go at once, and get Hood to decline to take this command, for it will destroy him if he accepts it. He will have to fight under Jeff Davis's orders; no one can do that now and not lose caste in the Western Army. Joe Johnston does not exactly say that Jeff Davis betrays his plans to the enemy, but he says he dares not let the President know his plans, as there is a spy in the War Office who invariably warns the Yankees in time. Consulting the government on military movements is played out. That's Wigfall's way of talking. “Now," added Brewster, “I blame the President for keeping a man at the head of his armies who treats the government with open scorn and contumely, no matter how the people at large rate this disrespectful general.”

_______________

¹ On July 22d, Hood made a sortie from Atlanta, but after a battle was obliged to return.

SOURCE: Mary Boykin Chesnut, Edited by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary, A Diary From Dixie, p. 319-20

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Friday, August 12, 1864

It rained nearly all day. I received a letter today from William Green, my bunk-mate out in the front. He reports that the loss of our company in the battles of July 21st and 22d before Atlanta was four men: George Sweet and David Hobaugh killed, and H. Newans wounded, and Aaron Pearce is missing. I wrote a letter to Albert Downing this afternoon.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 209-10

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, August 7, 1864

A train came in this evening from the front loaded with the wounded from the Seventeenth Army Corps. They were wounded in the battles of July 21st, 22d and 28th around Atlanta. There is still no news from Grant's army.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 209

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, August 2, 1864

We had a refreshing rain last night. Governor Stone of Iowa arrived at the hospital this morning, having come from the front, with an order from General Sherman granting a thirty-day furlough to the sick and wounded from the Iowa regiments here in the hospital. Those able for duty are to be sent to the front. News came from the front that the Iowa Brigade was badly cut to pieces in the battle of the 22d of July. Many of them were taken prisoners, including almost all of the Sixteenth Regiment. Among the killed are the major of the Thirteenth and the lieutenant colonel of the Fifteenth.¹ There is no news from General Grant's army.

_______________

¹ Later I learned that while the brigade's loss was great, yet Company E's loss was light. By a flank movement the brigade advanced a short distance upon Atlanta. — A. G. D.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 208

General John Bell Hood to Jefferson Davis, September 13, 1864

LOVEJOY'S STATION, GA., September 13, 1864.

His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS,

Richmond, Va.:

In the battle of July 20 we failed on account of General Hardee. Our success on July 22 not what it should have been, owing to this officer. Our failure on August 31 I am now convinced was greatly owing to him. Please confer with Lieutenant-Generals Stewart and S. D. Lee as to operations around Atlanta. It is of the utmost importance that Hardee should be relieved at once. He commands the best troops of this army. I must have another commander. Taylor or Cheatham will answer. Hardee handed in his resignation a few days since, but withdrew it. Can General Cobb give me all the reserve regiments he has?

 J. B. HOOD.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 39, Part 2 (Serial No. 78), p. 832; John Bell Hood, Advance and Retreat, p. 249

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, August 2, 1864

NEAR ATLANTA, Geo.,

August 2, 1864.

. . . I have for some days been occupying a good house on the Buckhead Road, about four miles north of Atlanta, but am going to move in the morning more to the right to be nearer where I expect the next battle. You have heard, doubtless, full accounts of the battles of the 20th, 22nd, and 28th, in all which the enemy attacked a part of our lines in force, but was always repulsed with heavy loss. But I fear we have sustained a reverse in some cavalry that I sent around by the rear to break the Macon road. It was commanded by McCook,¹ a cousin of Dan's. They reached the railroad and broke it; also burned a large number of the baggage wagons belonging to the enemy, and were on their way back when they were beset by heavy forces of cavalry about Newnan and I fear are overpowered and a great part killed or captured. Some 500 have got in and give confused accounts, but time enough has elapsed for the party to be back, and I hear nothing further of them. Somehow or other we cannot get cavalry. The enemy takes all the horses of the country, and we have to buy and our people won't sell. Stoneman is also out with a cavalry force attempting to reach our prisoners confined at Andersonville, but since McCook's misfortune I also have fears for his safety. I am now moving so as to get possession of the railroad out of Atlanta to the south — we already have possession of those on the north and east — when it will be difficult for Hood to maintain his army in Atlanta. This army is much reduced in strength by deaths, sickness, and expiration of service. It looks hard to see regiments march away when their time is up. On the other side they have everybody, old and young, and for indefinite periods. I have to leave also along the railroad a large force to guard the supplies; so that I doubt if our army much exceeds that of Hood. No recruits are coming, for the draft is not till September, and then I suppose it will consist mostly of niggers and bought recruits that must be kept well to the rear. I sometimes think our people do not deserve to succeed in war; they are so apathetic.

McPherson was shot dead. I had his body brought up to me, and sent it back to the railroad. He was shot high up in the breast with a bullet, and must have fallen from his horse dead. Howard, who succeeds him, is a fine gentleman and a good officer. . . .  I expect we will have a hard fight for the railroad about the day after to-morrow, and [it] must be more heavy on us as we must attack. I am always glad when the enemy attacks, for the advantage then is with us. Now our line is as strong as theirs, but being on the outer circle is longer. I see that Grant has sprung his mines at Petersburg, and hope he will succeed in taking that town, as it will be a constant threat to Richmond, but Richmond itself can only be taken by regular siege. Atlanta is on high ground and the woods extend up to the forts which look strong and encircle the whole town. Most of the people are gone — it is now simply a big fort. . . .

__________

¹ General E. M. McCook.

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 304-6.  A full copy of this letter can be found in the William T Sherman Family papers (SHR), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556, Folder CSHR 2/17

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, July 29, 1864

IN THE FIELD, NEAR ATLANTA,

July 29, 1864.

Since crossing Chattahoochee I have been too busy to write. We have had three pretty hard battles. The enemy attacked my centre as we were fairly across the Peachtree Creek, and got badly beaten. Next as we closed in on Atlanta he struck our extreme left and the fighting was desperate. He drove back a part of the left, but the men fought hard and when night closed our losses amounted to 3,500 and we found nearly 3,000 dead rebels. Making the usual allowance the enemy must have sustained a loss of 10,000. Yesterday I shifted the Army of the Tennessee to my extreme right and in getting into position it was again attacked and repulsed the attack. The fight was mostly with the 15th Corps. Logan commanded it. McPherson's death was a great loss to me. I depended much on him. In casting about for a successor I proposed Howard who is a man of mind and intellect. He is very honest, sincere and moral even to piety, but brave, having lost an arm already. But he was a junior Major General to Hooker who took offense and has gone away. I don't regret it; he is envious, imperious and braggart. Self prevailed with him and knowing him intimately I honestly preferred Howard. Yesterday's work justified my choice, for Howard's disposition and manner elicited the shouts of my old corps, and he at once stepped into the shoes of McPherson and myself. I have now Thomas, Schofield and Howard, all tried and approved soldiers. We are gradually drawing our lines close up to Atlanta, fortifying our front against the bold sallies, and I now have all the cavalry out against the roads between Atlanta and Macon. I am glad I beat Johnston, for he had the most exalted reputation with our old army as a strategist. Hood¹ is a new man and a fighter and must be watched closer, as he is reckless of the lives of his men. It is wonderful with what faith they adhere to the belief that they whip us on all occasions though we have them now almost penned up in Atlanta. If no reinforcements come I think I will cut them off from all communication with the rest of the confederacy. . . .

__________

¹ On July 18 Sherman had learned that Hood had superseded Johnston in command of the Confederate forces in Atlanta.

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 303-4.  A full copy of this letter can be found in the William T Sherman Family papers (SHR), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556, Folder CSHR 2/16

William P. L. Muir

Mr. Muir, b. Dec. 5, 1837, in Philadelphia, Pa. Enlisted August 8, 1861, in Company E, 15th Iowa volunteer infantry. Mustered into United States service Nov. 5, 1861, at Keokuk, Iowa, a private; promoted to first sergeant March 1, 1862. Was in the battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6 and 7, 1862; severely wounded in right leg. His regiment was brigaded with the 11th, 13th and 16th Iowa regiments, and known as Brocker's [sic, should be Crocker's] Iowa brigade, and attached to the 17th army corps, Army of the Tennessee. Participated in all the battles and sieges of this army, including battles of Iuka, Corinth, Vicksburg, Jackson and the Atlanta campaign. Oct. 3, 1862, severely wounded in head at battle of Corinth. Feb. 9, 1863, promoted to second lieutenant. Dec. 7, 1863, to first lieutenant. July 20, 1864, breveted captain, and July 22, 1864, major; same day taken prisoner at battle of Atlanta, Ga., and confined in Macon, Savannah and Charleston military prisons until exchanged, Sept. 29, 1864. Detached from his own command during winter of 1864-5, and served on staff of Brigadier General A. G. Malloy as assistant adjutant general. Dec. 15 and 16, 1864, was in the battle of Nashville, Tenn., and March 10, 1865, participated in battle of Kinston, N. C. March 16, 1865, rejoined his own command and assigned to duty on staff of Brigadier General A. Hickenlooper as assistant adjutant general. July 24, 1865, mustered out of service at Louisville, Ky., by reason of close of the war.

SOURCE: Charles Hutchinson Thompson, A Genealogy Of The Descendants Of John Thomson Of Plymouth, Mass., p. 136

James Getty

GETTY, JAMES, farmer, Sec. 32; P. O. Louden; was born in Beaver Co., Penn., Aug. 20, 1844; he lived there until 4 years of age; his parents then moved to Allegheny Co., Penn., where they lived four years and then came West to Lyons, Clinton Co., Iowa, in 1851; his home was there until 1867.

He enlisted in the army Oct. 4, 1861, in Co. A., 15th Iowa; he re-enlisted March 1,1864; was wounded at Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864; he was taken prisoner and confined in the Andereonville prison until Nov. 20, [1864]; he was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 29, 1865. He came to this county in 1868; owns 120 acres of land. He married Rebecca H. Todd Oct. 17, 1872, a native of Ohio; no family.

SOURCE: The History of Cedar County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1878, p. 640

Gen. William W. Belknap

BELKNAP, WILLIAM W., GEN., is the son of Gen. William G. Belknap, of the United States Army, who distinguished himself in the war of 1812, in the Florida war, and at Resaca and Buena Vista in the war with Mexico, and died in the service in 1851, in Texas. He was born at Newburg, New York, in 1829, and, after attending the high school and academy there, and pursuing his studies in Florida, where his father was stationed, he entered Princeton College in 1846, and graduated in 1848. Alter studying law in Georgetown, D. C, and being admitted to the bar in Washington City, he went, in July, 1851, to Keokuk and commenced the practice of the law, shortly afterward forming a partnership with Hon. R. P. Lowe (who was soon after elected District Judge, and later Governor and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State), and brought his mother and two sisters there in 1852. He was a member of the Legislature from Lee County, in 1857, as a representative of the Democratic party; but, being a strong Douglas Democrat, and not uniting with the members of that party who favored what was known as the Lecompton Constitution of Kansas, which was an important and exciting question in the politics of the party, he joined the Republican party. He was appointed Major of the 15th Iowa Vols., by Gov. Kirkwood, in 1861, of which regiment Gen. Hugh T. Reid was Colonel, and participated in that capacity in the battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded and had his horse shot under him. He remained in the army until the close of the war, rising gradually through the grades of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel; was appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers, by President Lincoln, in 1864, on the recommendation of his Commanders, Gens. Blair and Sherman, and was brevetted Major General in 1865 for gallant and meritorious services during the war. Having, as Brigadier General of Volunteers commanded the 3d Brigade, 4th Division, 17th Army Corps ( Blair's) of the army of the Tennessee ( McPherson'.s); he was in numerous battles; among them, Shiloh, Corinth, the several battles near Atlanta, and the battle of Bentonville, N. C. He was engaged in the siege of Corinth, Vicksburg and of Atlanta, and commanded his Brigade (composed of the 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th Iowa Regiments), under Sherman in his march from Atlanta to the sea; thence to Goldsboro', Raleigh and Washington. He was repeatedly mentioned for coolness and courage, and in the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, he took prisoner Col. Lampley, 45th Alabama, by pulling him over the works by his coat collar. At the close of the war, he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the 1st District of Iowa. On the accession of Gen. Grant to the Presidency, he was offered the choice of either one of three important public positions in another State, and one at Washington, which he declined, and remained Collector of the 1st District (comprising the counties of Lee, Des Moines, Louisa, Washington, Jefferson, Van Buren, Henry, and Davis), until October, 1869, when he was appointed Secretary of War by President Grant, and his many friends point to the records of that office for the proof of his faithful labors for a term of over six years. Prior to this appointment, he was selected as the orator for the Army of the Tennessee at the re-union of all the Western armies, at Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, December, 1868, and delivered the address at the great Re-union of Iowa soldiers, at Des Moines, in September, 1870. After his resignation of the office of Secretary of War, articles of impeachment were presented against him, and, after a protracted and thorough trial, he was acquitted by the Senate. Gen. Belknap married, in 1854, Miss LeRoy, of Keokuk, the sister of Mrs. Hugh T. Reid, and their son, Hugh Reid Belknap, is now a student at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. His present wife, whom he married in 1873, formerly Miss Tomlinson, of Harrodsburg, Ky., is the daughter of the late Dr. John Tomlinson, an able and famous physician of that locality. They have one child, a daughter, Alice Belknap. Since leaving the War Department Gen. Belknap has been engaged in legal practice; his residence is Keokuk, but his business before the Departments at Washington, a large part of which results from his employment as attorney by several Railroad Corporations, requires him to be absent from home during a portion of each year.

SOURCE:  The History of Lee County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, Illiniois, 1879, p. 683-4

Levi Wells

A Recruit accredited to Des Moines, Polk County, age, twenty-six, native of Illinois; enlisted March 22d, 1864; wounded in left shoulder, at Atlanta, July 23, 1864; died August 12, 1864, at Rome, Ga., of wounds.

SOURCE: Leonard Brown, American Patriotism: Or, Memoirs Of Common Men, p. 228