ARMY OPERATIONS. 



65 



command, connected throughout by a contin- 

 ; :ii;iutry parapet, covered by abatis, che- 

 veaux-de-frise, and other impediments of the 

 approved kind. This inner line of works 

 completely enveloped Atlanta, and thence ex- 

 tended for six miles along the railroad track to 

 East Point, previously described as jointly used 

 by the Atlanta and West Point and Macon and 

 Western Roads, thus covering the latter. The 

 Federal army, instead of threatening the city on 

 the north and east, was now so shifted, from its 

 first position that, while the extreme left cov- 

 ered the northern approaches to Atlanta, the ex- 

 treme right was southwest of it, running parallel 

 to the railroad. The Federal lines were drawn 

 at an average distance of two and a half miles 

 from the city, and between them and the rebel 

 works intervened a narrow belt of rough and 

 wooded country, the scene of constant skirmish- 

 ing between the opposing forces. Thus Gen. 

 Hood, though in inferior force to Gen. Sher- 

 man, having the advantage of interior lines, and 

 acting strictly on the defensive behind almost 

 impregnable works, seemed able to hold his 

 position for an indefinite period. He had re- 

 cently been reinforced by some veteran troops 

 and by a body of several thousand Georgia mi- 

 litia, and had also added considerably to his 

 fighting material by arming and organizing la- 

 borers, teamsters, and quartermasters' men, 

 whose places were supplied by negroes. 



A survey of the situation satisfied Gen. Sher- 

 man that Gen. Hood's lines could only be car- 

 ried at a fearful sacrifice of life, and that in 

 order to reach the 'Macon Road and control the 

 supplies of Atlanta, a new movement by the 

 right flank, in which nearly the whole army 

 should participate, must be attempted. He ac- 

 cordingly determined to withdraw one corps to 

 the intrenched position at the railroad bridge 

 over the Chattahoochee, to protect communica- 

 tion with his base, and with his remaining 

 troops to march rapidly to the southwest and 

 south of the city, and crossing the two rail- 

 roads, break them up in such a manner that im- 

 mediate repairs would be impossible. The 

 movement thus resolved itself into a raid, as 

 the term is understood in modern military par- 

 lance, on a truly gigantic scale, and, if success- 

 ful, would probably cut off Atlanta for months 

 from its supplies and compel its evacuation. 

 It involved, in brief, to use Gen. Sherman's 

 own words, "the necessity of raising the siege 

 of Atlanta, taking the field with our main force, 

 and using it against the communications of At- 

 lanta, instead of against its intrenchments-.'' 

 By the 16th of August his plans were com- 

 pleted ; but, before commencing to put them in 

 execution, he ascertained that Gen. "Wheeler, 

 with nearly the whole force of rebel cavalry, 

 had moved round in a northeasterly direction 

 to cut his communications between Marietta 

 and Chattanooga. Thinking that in the ab- 

 sence of Gen. Wheeler the Federal cavalry 

 might perhaps accomplish the task he had 

 .narked out for the whole army, he temporarily 



suspended his orders and directed Gen. Kil- 

 patrick, recently returned to duty, to move 

 across the railroads and tear them up thorough- 

 ly. Gen. Kilpatrick started on the 18th with 

 a force of five thousand men, struck the Atlanta 

 and West Point Road at Fairburn and the Macon 

 road at Jonesboro, and Lovejoy's ; but, being 

 -ed by the enemy at each place, could 

 effect no permanent damage. He finally re- 

 turned on the 22d by way of Decatur, bringing 

 one hundred prisoners, three flags, and one 

 piece of artillery. 



This satisfied Gen. Sherman that his original 

 plan must be adhered to, and preparations for 

 carrying it out were pressed with renewed ac- 

 tivity. A battery of 44-inch rifled guns was 

 meanwhile put in position, and by its well- 

 directed discharges impressed the enemy with 

 the belief that regular siege operations were 

 in progress, thus aiding to mask the new move- 

 ment. It also materially interrupted the run- 

 ning of the rebel supply trains on the Macon 

 road, and was the cause of several conflagra- 

 tions in Atlanta. Notwithstanding the latter, 

 the enemy held resolutely to their forts, with 

 the evident intention of suffering the city to 

 perish rather than abandon their position. On 

 the night of the 25th, every thing being in 

 readiness, and the wagons loaded with fifteen 

 days' provisions, the 4th and 20th corps, occu- 

 pying the extreme left, were moved quietly 

 out of their intrenchments, and marched, the 

 former to a position in the rear of the Army of 

 the Tennessee, and the latter to the railroad 

 bridge over the Chattahoochee and the adjacent 

 ferries, which it was appointed to guard. On 

 the succeeding night the 4th corps was moved 

 southward toward Red Oak and Fairburn sta- 

 tions, on the Atlanta and West Point road, 

 twelve or fifteen miles south of Atlanta, fol- 

 lowed by the Army of the Tennessee, and on 

 the morning of the 27th the whole front of 

 the city was uncovered, except that portion 

 occupied by the 23d corps, which alone re- 

 mained within its intrenchments. In like 

 manner the 23d corps was withdrawn from its 

 intrenchraents and formed the left of the new 

 line, of which the Army of the Cumberland 

 held the centre, and the Army of the Tennes- 

 see the right. These operations were viewed 

 with undisguised wonder by the rebel troops 

 from within their fortifications, and seemed 

 to give color to the belief that Gen. Sherman 

 had commenced a retreat. A skirmish line 

 sent out toward the bridge, after the with- 

 drawal of Gens. Thomas and Howard, encoun- 

 tered the 20th corps intrenched behind a strong 

 tite de pont, and returned more bewildered if 

 possible than before. 



On the morning of the 28th, the Armies of 

 the Cumberland and the Tennessee lay between 

 Fairburn and Red Oak in a line facing east and 

 north. The day was devoted to a thorough 

 destruction of the West Point Railroad be- 

 tween these points, and some distance above. 

 " It was done," says Gen. Sherman, " with a 



