Overview
Following the Union breakout from Chattanooga in late November 1863, General William T. Sherman took command of Federal operations in the Western Theater and pursued Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee into northern Georgia. This led to a series of battles known as the “Atlanta Campaign.”
During this campaign, Sherman used repeated flanking movements to threaten Confederate supply lines along the Western and Atlantic Railroad, forcing Johnston to retreat toward Atlanta. On July 17, 1864, President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston with General John Bell Hood, who launched costly attacks at Peachtree Creek and Atlanta but failed to drive Sherman away. After Sherman failed to capture Atlanta by direct attack, he changed strategy in late August and targeted the railroads supplying the city.
On August 25, Sherman ordered most of his troops south of Atlanta to attack the Macon and Western Railroad near Jonesborough. Hood responded by sending General William J. Hardee to disrupt the Union advance, but the Confederate attack was repulsed on August 31. The next day, Sherman’s army overwhelmed Hardee’s remaining corps and drove it toward Lovejoy’s Station. With his supply lines cut, Hood evacuated Atlanta, allowing Union forces to occupy the city on September 2, 1864.
Essential Facts
- Also Known As: Battle of Jonesboro.
- Date: August 31–September 1, 1864.
- Location: Clayton County, near Jonesborough, Georgia, along the Macon and Western Railroad.
- Participants: United States of America (USA), Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: William T. Sherman, Oliver O. Howard, John M. Schofield, and George H. Thomas.
- CSA Commanders: John Bell Hood and William J. Hardee.
- Who Won: The United States won the Battle of Jonesborough.
- Campaign: Atlanta Campaign (1864).
- Era: Civil War, 1864, May–August, Civil War, 1864, September–December.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: 1,149 killed, wounded, missing, or captured.
- Forces Engaged: Army of the Tennessee, Army of the Ohio, and Army of the Cumberland.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 70,000.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: About 2,000 killed, wounded, missing, or captured.
- Forces Engaged: Hardee’s Corps and Lee’s Corps, Army of Tennessee.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 24,000.
Significance
The Battle of Jonesborough is important to American History because the outcome forced Confederate forces to evacuate Atlanta, Georgia. William T. Sherman’s movement against the Macon and Western Railroad cut the supply lines that helped keep John Bell Hood’s army in the city. After Union forces repulsed William Hardee’s attack on August 31, 1864, Sherman’s army overwhelmed Hardee’s remaining corps on September 1 and drove it toward Lovejoy’s Station. With 60,000 Federal troops on Atlanta’s southern edge and the city’s supply lines cut, Hood decided to abandon Atlanta. Union forces occupied the city on September 2, 1864.
History
Federal Breakout from Chattanooga
In late November 1863, Union forces commanded by Major General Ulysses S. Grant successfully lifted Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Union victories at the Battle of Lookout Mountain (November 24) and the Battle of Missionary Ridge (November 25) forced Johnston to withdraw thirty miles south near Dalton, Georgia.
Grant’s Umbrella Strategy
After the Federal breakout from Chattanooga, President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to the special rank of Lieutenant General and placed him in command of all Union armies. Grant moved his headquarters to Washington, leaving his trusted subordinate, Major General William T. Sherman, in command of federal operations in the western theater.
Grant’s primary military strategy was a coordinated effort to attack and defeat the two main Confederate armies in the field, Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia in the east, and Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of Tennessee in the west.
Sherman Moves into Georgia
On May 5, 1864, Grant launched his Overland Campaign against Lee in Virginia. Two days later, Sherman led three armies, the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Major General James B. McPherson; the Army of the Ohio, commanded by Major General John M. Schofield; and the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Major General George H. Thomas, out of Tennessee in pursuit of Johnston’s army in northern Georgia.
Fighting Along the Western and Atlantic Railroad
Throughout the summer of 1864, the Confederate and Union armies engaged in a series of battles between Dalton and Atlanta in northern Georgia. Most of the fighting occurred at places on or near the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which connected Chattanooga and Atlanta. Both sides depended on the railway for supplies throughout the campaign. In a pattern that he often repeated, Sherman used flanking movements that threatened the railway to Johnston’s rear, forcing the Confederate commander to retreat south to protect his supply lines.
Hood Replaces Johnston
By mid-July, Sherman had driven Johnston’s army to the outskirts of Atlanta. Many Southerners, including President Jefferson Davis, had grown weary of Johnston’s strategy of retreat. On July 17, 1864, Davis relieved Johnston of his command, replacing him with General John Bell Hood. Known as an aggressive fighter, Hood was a veteran officer with a reputation for personal bravery who had suffered severe wounds at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863) and the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20, 1863). General Hood wasted little time responding to Southerners’ calls for action.
Sherman Besieges Atlanta
Hood launched costly attacks against Sherman’s armies on July 20 (Battle of Peachtree Creek) and July 22 (Battle of Atlanta) that produced high Confederate casualties (over 13,000 men killed, wounded, and captured/missing). Despite his high losses, Hood prevented Sherman from penetrating Atlanta from the north and from the east. Foiled in his efforts to capture the city by force, Sherman besieged Atlanta in late July. For the next month, Sherman tried to cut off supplies into the besieged city by using his cavalry to sever the railroads leading into Atlanta. Hood drove off Sherman’s cavalry, repairing any damage that the horsemen had done and maintaining his supply lines into the city.
Destroying Railroads
In late August, Sherman changed strategies. Rather than focus on Atlanta proper, he moved the bulk of his troops against the railroads leading into the city, destroying them beyond immediate repair. On August 25, Sherman ordered six of the seven divisions around Atlanta to move south of the city to attack the Macon and Western Railroad near Jonesborough, Georgia.
Federals Repulse Confederate Attack at Jonesborough
Not realizing the size of the Union forces accumulating near Jonesborough, Hood countered by sending out two corps, under the command of Lieutenant General William J. Hardee, to disrupt the Federals. On August 31, Hardee launched an attack on two Yankee corps, which the Federals easily repulsed.
Now sensing the size of the Union forces south of Atlanta, Hood ordered one of Hardee’s two corps back to the city in case the Federals attacked Atlanta. The next day, Sherman’s army overwhelmed Hardee’s corps, driving them away from Atlanta toward Lovejoy’s Station.
Aftermath
The Battle of Jonesborough was costly for both sides. The Union suffered 1,149 casualties (killed, wounded, and missing/captured) and the Confederacy lost about 2,000 soldiers (killed, wounded, and missing/captured).
With his supply lines severed and 60,000 Federal troops massed on the southern edge of Atlanta, Hood’s only recourse was to abandon the city. On September 2, 1864, federal troops commanded by Major General Henry W. Slocum marched into the undefended city. Two days later, Sherman declared the end of the Atlanta Campaign by issuing Special Field Order No. 64, which announced that “The army having accomplished its undertaking in the complete reduction and occupation of Atlanta will occupy the place and the country near it until a new campaign is planned in concert with the other grand armies of the United States.”
Timeline
- 1863, November — Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant lifted the Confederate Siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- Union forces won the Battle of Lookout Mountain (November 24)
- Union forces won the Battle of Missionary Ridge (November 25).
- Confederate forces marched southward to Dalton, Georgia.
- 1864, February 22–27 — Confederate forces won the First Battle of Dalton.
- 1864, February 25 — Union and Confederate forces engaged in the inconclusive Battle of Crow Valley, near Dalton.
- 1864, February 29 — President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to the special rank of Lieutenant General and placed him in command of all Union armies.
- 1864, May 5 — Grant launched the Overland Campaign against Robert E. Lee in Virginia.
- 1864, May 7 — William T. Sherman led three Union armies out of Tennessee in pursuit of Joseph E. Johnston’s army in northern Georgia, starting the Atlanta Campaign.
- 1864, May 7–13 — Union forces won the Battle of Buzzard’s Roost and the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge.
- 1864, May 13–15 — Sherman’s forces engaged the Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Resaca near Resaca, Georgia, and won.
- 1864, May 17 — Union forces won the Battle of Adairsville.
- 1864, May 20 — Johnston established new defensive lines at Allatoona Pass, about 30 miles north of Atlanta.
- 1864, May 25 — Confederate forces won the Battle of New Hope Church.
- 1864, May 26
- Confederate and Union forces entrenched near Dallas, Georgia.
- Johnston reinforced the Confederate right flank at Pickett’s Mill with soldiers led by Patrick R. Cleburne.
- 1864, May 27 — Confederate forces won the Battle of Pickett’s Mill.
- 1864, June 9 — Johnston withdrew the Army of Tennessee to a fortified position around Marietta, Georgia.
- 1864, June 14–15 — Union forces won the Battle of Pine Mountain.
- 1864, June 15–16 — Confederate forces won the Battle of Gilgal Church.
- 1864, June 19 — Johnston withdrew the Army of Tennessee to a defensive position near Kennesaw Mountain.
- 1864, June 22 — Union forces won the Battle of Kolb’s Farm.
- 1864, June 27 — Union forces won the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Johnston withdrew to the Chattahoochee River, ending the Marietta Operations.
- 1864, July 17 — Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieved Johnston of command and replaced him with John Bell Hood.
- 1864, July, 20 — Union forces won the Battle of Peachtree Creek.
- 1864, July, 22 — Union forces won the Battle of Atlanta and initiated a siege.
- 1864, July 25-27 — Sherman moved the Army of the Tennessee to the west side of Atlanta.
- 1864, July 28 — Union forces won the Battle of Ezra Church.
- 1864, July 30 — Confederate forces won the Battle of Brown’s Mill.
- 1864, August 5–7 — The two armies fought the Battle of Utoy Creek, which was inconclusive.
- 1864, August 14–15 — Union forces won the Second Battle of Dalton.
- 1864, August 20 —Confederate forces won the Battle of Lovejoy’s Station.
- 1864, August, 25 — Sherman ordered six of the seven divisions around Atlanta to move south and attack the Macon and Western Railroad near Jonesborough.
- 1864, August, 31 — William J. Hardee attacked two Union corps near Jonesborough, and Union forces repulsed the attack.
- 1864, September, 1 — Sherman’s army overwhelmed Hardee’s remaining corps and drove it toward Lovejoy’s Station.
- 1864, September, 2 — Union troops commanded by Henry W. Slocum entered Atlanta.
- 1864, September, 4 — Sherman declared the end of the Atlanta Campaign by issuing Special Field Order No. 64.
AP US History
Definition
Battle of Jonesborough (1864) — The Battle of Jonesborough was fought from August 31 to September 1, 1864, near Jonesborough, Georgia, during the Atlanta Campaign. General William T. Sherman moved most of his Union forces south of Atlanta to destroy the Macon and Western Railroad, threatening the city’s supply lines. Confederate General John B. Hood sent Lieutenant General William J. Hardee to stop Sherman’s forces, who repulsed his attack on August 31. Sherman’s army overwhelmed Hardee’s remaining corps the next day, forcing Hood to evacuate Atlanta.
Alignment
The Battle of Jonesborough is part of the following AP US History sections:
