JONESBORO, Battle of and Fall of At lanta. After the battle of Ezra Church (q.v.), 28 July 1864, General Sherman, unable fully to invest Atlanta, drew the Fourteenth corps and Schofield's Army of the Ohio from the left and extended his lines on the right nearly to East Point, about six miles below Atlanta, the junc tion of the two railroads leading from the south, upon which the city and Hood's army de pended for supplies. Hood made a correspond ing movement to cover the roads, meeting Sher man's advance with strong, well-entrenched lines, and, 6 August, severely handling two of Schofield's brigades that had crossed Utoy Creek, killing and wounding over 300 men and taking two colors. To compel Sherman to re linquish his movement and raise the siege of Atlanta, Hood, 10 August, sent Wheeler with about 5,000 cavalry to operate upon his line of communication with Nashville. Wheeler moved promptly, struck and destroyed the railroad near Marietta, Calhoun, Adairsville and Dalton, captured over 1,000 head of beef-cattle and other supplies, and, after demonstrating on Dalton and Resaca, was driven into East Tennessee. Sher man had issued an order, 16 August, for a gen eral movement on the 18th upon the West Point and Macon railroads, for the purpose of forcing Hood from Atlanta, but hearing of Wheeler's raid, he suspended the order and directed Gen eral Kilpatrick, with 5,000 cavalry, to move on the night of the 18th against the West Point and Macon roads and destroy them completely. Kilpatrick started from near Sandtown, crossed the West Point road at Fairburn and struck the Macon road a short distance north of Jonesboro, some 26 miles from Atlanta, where he encountered Ross' brigade of cavalry, which was driven through Jonesboro. But little of the railroad had been destroyed when Jackson's brigade of cavalry and an infantry brigade, coming up from the south, compelled Kilpatrick to retreat. Making a circuit, he again struck the railroad at Lovejoy's, about six miles south of Jonesboro, and encountered a Confederate force, through which he cut his way and reached Decatur, near Atlanta, on the 22d. As Sherman was satisfied that Kilpatrick had not greatly damaged the railroad, he renewed his order for the movement of the whole army. On the night of the 25th the siege of Atlanta was raised. The sick and wounded, spare artillery and surplus transportation were sent back to the Chatta hoochee bridge; Stanley's Fourth corps drew out from the left and moved to the right, closing up with the Fourteenth near Utoy, and the Twentieth corps fell back to an entrenched posi tion covering the Chattahoochee bridge and the hospitals. On the night of the 26th the Army of the Tennessee (General Howard) drew out, rapidly made a wide circuit and came up on the right of the Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas, along Utoy Creek, facing south. The Army of the Ohio remained in
position, now on the extreme left. On the 28th, making a general left wheel, pivoting on Scho field's army, both Thomas and Howard reached the West Point road extending from East Point to Red Oak and Fairburn, Schofield closing in upon the left of Thomas, but a short distance from the Confederate works covering the junc tion of the road at East Point. The next day was devoted to the railroad, of which nearly 13 miles was destroyed, and on the 30th the entire army moved eastward for the Macon Rail road. Schofield, on the left, approached it near Rough and Ready, and presented a bold front toward East Point; Thomas, in the centre, reached Couch's, on the Fayetteville and De catur road, with but little opposition; and How ard, on the right, driving before him the enemy's cavalry, saved the bridge over Flint River after a sharp engagement ; then, crossing part of his command, halted at night within half a mile of Jonesboro. On the morning of the 31st How ard, finding himself in the presence of a large force, disposed the Army of the Tennessee for battle and entrenched, Logan's Fifteenth corps on the left, Ransom's Sixteenth corps on the right and Blair's Seventeenth corps in rear of Logan's left. When Sherman began his move ment on the night of the 25th S. D. Lee's corps of Hood's army covered the railroad from near Atlanta to a place nearly a mile south of East Point. Hardee's corps was on Lee's left, while Hood held Atlanta with Stewart's corps and the Georgia militia. Hood had been deceived; he knew of Sherman's earlier movement, but mis interpreted it as preliminary to a retreat across the Chattahoochee; but when undeceived' on the 30th, he ordered Hardee with his own corps and Lee's to move rapidly to Jonesboro and crush Howard on the morning of the 31st. Hardee, who was near Rough and Ready, four miles below East Point, began moving about 4 P.M., followed later by Lee, and at noon of the 31st both were in Howard's front. Af3 P.M. Hardee attacked with Lee's corps and part of his own, under Cleburne, with the expectation of driving Howard into the river, and for two hours the fighting was severe, but Hardee was repulsed. Lee, who, on the Confederate side, bore the brunt of the fight, says: "The attack was a feeble one and a failure, with a loss to my corps of about 1,300 men killed and wounded." Hardee's entire loss was about 1,700. The Union loss was 179 killed and wounded, al most entirely of Logan's corps.