BATTLE OF LITTLE KENESAW.
June 24, 1864.
On the twenty-fourth of June General Sherman ordered an attack to be made at two points south of Kenesaw—the one to be made upon Little Kenesaw, by General McPherson, and the other, about a mile south of that point, by General Thomas. At six A. M. of the twenty-seventh—the appointed day—the Seventeenth corps, commanded by General Blair, moved upon the eastern point of the mountain, threatening the enemy’s right; while the Fifteenth (General Logan), and the Sixteenth (General Dodge), attacked the northern slope. The three brigades forming the Fifteenth corps scattered the enemy’s skirmishers, and pushing up the slope with daring impetuosity, carried a large part of the rebel rifle-pits. Rushing forward, the troops found themselves at the foot of a precipitous cliff not less than thirty feet high, which they attempted to scale, but from which they were beaten back by the fire of the enemy formed in line of battle at its summit, and by a shower of heavy stones, which were hurled down upon them. A second attack was ordered, and, for the purpose, a portion of General Newton’s division of the Fourth corps, and General Davis’s, of the Fourteenth, were selected. Buoyant with courage, the troops rushed forward, charged up the mountain in the midst of a murderous fire, and gallantly carrying the line of rifle-pits, reached the works beyond. Many of them scaled the ramparts, but the fire of musketry and artillery was so overpowering that the men were hastily recalled. General Newton’s troops returned to their original line, but the Second brigade of General Davis threw up works between those they had carried, and the enemy’s main line, and there they held their position. Brief as this fight was, it cost General Sherman a loss of three thousand men in killed and wounded, while that of the rebels, intrenched behind strong works, was comparatively trifling.
Referring to this defeat General Sherman says, “Failure as it was, and for which I assume the entire responsibility, I yet claim it produced good fruits, as it demonstrated to General Johnston that I would assault, and that boldly, and we also gained and held ground so close to the enemy’s parapets that he could not show a head above them.”
It would have been wholly out of character in General Sherman to have rested under the imputation of defeat; and, accordingly, immediate preparations were made to turn the rebel left. On July 1st, General McPherson was relieved by Garrard’s cavalry in front of Kenesaw, and was in that way enabled to threaten Nickajack creek and Turner’s Ferry across the Chattahoochie, Stoneman’s cavalry being pushed down below the ferry. The effect of this movement was instantaneous, and on the morning of the 3d, Kenesaw was utterly abandoned by the rebels, and its summit covered by Union soldiers before the sun had risen. General Thomas’s line was then moved toward the Chattahoochie, in pursuit of the rebels, and at half past eight o’clock General Sherman entered Marietta, and took possession of the city. During the rebel retreat upwards of two thousand prisoners were captured by the Union soldiers.
General Thomas overtook the enemy at the Smyrna camp-meeting ground, about five miles from Marietta, protected in front with a strong parapet; and in rear by the Nickajack and Rottenwood creeks. General Sherman assigned a garrison for Marietta, and joined General Thomas at Smyrna. On the 4th, the whole line of rebel pits was captured, and on the next morning the enemy was gone. The army of General Sherman then moved directly on the Chattahoochie, beyond which the enemy was found behind a very strong line. Heavy skirmishing opened at once, which served to show the strength of the rebels, and to prove to General Sherman that the line could be turned only in one way—namely, by crossing the main river. On the 7th, General Schofield having been ordered to cross the Chattahoochie, did so with success, surprised the enemy, and effected a lodgment on high ground, from which the rebels fled to the eastward. General Garrard next secured the fort at Rosswell, which he was ordered to hold till relieved by infantry; which was done, while General Schofield crossed the river two miles below Powens’ Ferry, and took a strong position on the right. Thus three safe points of passage across the river were secured. Each position obtained had good roads leading direct to Atlanta, and at daylight on the tenth of July, the enemy had fled, leaving the Unionists in full possession of all they had won.
One of the most important objects of the campaign was now accomplished; and beyond—only eight miles distant—lay the city of Atlanta, to obtain possession of which was the next object of General Sherman’s march. Without an hour’s delay the first step was taken.
An expedition, commanded by General Rousseau, in command of the district of Tennessee, was sent out at that time to break the railroad between Montgomery and Opelika, by which Johnston received his supplies.
General Rousseau, as his commanding general states, “fulfilled his orders and instructions to the very letter;” and on his route encountered and defeated the rebel General Canton, returning safely to Marietta on the twenty-second; having sustained a loss of not more than thirty men.
During this period the main army had spent some days in rest and collecting supplies, and had advanced on the seventeenth along the road called the Old Peachtree.
All the armies had closed in and were converging towards Atlanta on the twentieth. In the afternoon the enemy emerged from his works along the road and attacked the Union right centre, composed of General Newton’s division of General Hooker’s corps, and of General Johnson’s division. This attack, though entirely unexpected, was handsomely repulsed by all three generals against whom it was aimed, with a loss to the enemy of five hundred killed, one thousand wounded, many stand of colors, and over three thousand prisoners. The National loss did not exceed fifteen hundred in all, killed, wounded and missing.
During the 21st the enemy’s position was examined and found to be strong—his right resting below the Augusta road to the east, and his left on the Chattahoochie, about four miles from Atlanta. On the 22d this whole line was found to have been abandoned during the night, which singular movement was subsequently explained to the astonished Unionists by learning that General Johnston had been superseded in command by General Hood, and an entirely new line of policy determined on by the rebels.