Adairsville
Civil War Georgia

American Civil War
May 17, 1864

Following the Battle of Resaca, May 13-15, General Joseph E. Johnston' s army retreated southward while Sherman pursued.

Failing to find a good defensive position south of Calhoun, Johnston continued to Adairsville while the Rebel cavalry fought a skillful rearguard action.

On the 17th, skirmish fire continued throughout the day and into the early evening. Major General O.O. Howard's IV Corps ran into entrenched infantry of Lieutenant General William J. Hardee' s corps, while advancing, about two miles north of Adairsville.

The 44th Illinois and 24th Wisconsin (under the command of Major Arthur MacArthur, father of Douglas) attacked Cheatham's Division at Robert Saxon (the Octagon House) and incurred heavy losses.

Three Union divisions prepared for battle, but Major General George H. Thomas halted them due to the approach of darkness. Sherman then concentrated his men in the Adairsville area to attack Johnston the next day.

Johnston had originally expected to find a valley at Adairsville of suitable width to deploy his men and anchor his line with the flanks on hills. The valley, however, was too wide, so Johnston disengaged and withdrew.

Result(s): Confederate delaying action (Allowed Johnston to bait a trap at Cassville.)

Location: Bartow County and Gordon County

Campaign: Atlanta Campaign (1864) next battle in campaign previous battle in campaign

Date(s): May 17, 1864

Principal Commanders: Major General William T. Sherman [US]; General Joseph E. Johnston [CS]

Forces Engaged: Military Division of the Mississippi [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS]

Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 200; CS unknown)


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The casual reader may find the quantity of information contained in Red Clay to Richmond somewhat daunting, but a reader possessed with a working knowledge of the war's people, places, and battles, will find this book to be an excellent synopsis of the war role of the 35th Georgia. The book's greatest strength, however, is the recounting of the experiences of the 35th's soldiers as they trekked through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania before coming home.

The most in-depth and complete account of the heroic but vain fight of the Georgia troops made up of militia, state line, Athens and Augusta work battalions in their stand against Sherman's hardened veterans on their March to the Sea. In defense of family and homes the 4,000-5,000 Georgia troops under Brigadier General Phillips attacked the Union right wing at Griswoldville, Georgia November 22, 1864. The Georgia troops surged forward seven times against the entrenched Union lines. Statistics show more casualties than any other fight of the Civil War in proportion to the number of troops engaged.

This book shows better than any other the disruptive effect of the Civil War on the lives of real Southern people. In 1,300 letters between many family members, this magnificant book chronicles the Jones family of Liberty County, Georgia from 1854 until the late 1860s. We see the family's lives from day to day as war clouds gather, the son becomes Mayor of Savannah, the army is raised, Sherman's army arrives and pillages the plantation every day for a month, the family becomes destitute refugees from the chaos of war, the slaves become free workers, etc. We see into the minds and hearts of this good family, experience their births and deaths, joys and sorrows and fears, at the time of the nation's greatest political crisis.

Carved In Stone is the story of the development of Stone Mountain, Georgia, from a natural wonder, to an historic site, to a recreational park. Stone Mountain is the largest exposed mass of granite in the world. Sixteen miles east of Atlanta, the 825-food dome rises to 1,683 feet above sea level. The northern face of the mountain is a perpendicular cliff nearly fifty stories tall. The world's largest piece of sculpture (where ride gigantic carved figures of three Confederate heroes: Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson) is a part of Stone Mountain's majesty.

From the first conflict under General Nathan Bedford Forrest at Murfreesboro in 1862 to the desperate and often brutal battles with Union cavalry in the Carolinas during 1865, the Second Georgia was almost constantly in action. While the Second Georgia fought in such famous campaigns as Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Knoxville, Resaca, Atlanta, and Bentonville, they also participated in deadly encounters at Farmington, Mossy Creek, Noonday Creek, Sunshine Church, and Waynesboro. Many of these conflicts are obscure to all but the most ardent Civil War historians. This is the first regimental history of a Georgia Cavalry regiment ever published. The Second Georgia served under both Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joe Wheeler.


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