In the fourth year of the Civil War, as the Union Army continued to surge into Confederate territory their victory seemed assured. With General William Sherman leading the Union march towards Georgia, it appeared as if no Confederate forces could stand in their way. 

One account of the war was from Sally Garrison, whose father was Marvin Sharp, a captain in the Confederate Army who died in the Battle of Atlanta in 1864. In a diary, Sally wrote that there was a drought in 1863. During that time, many Confederate soldiers became stationed in Atlanta to protect the city, which only increased the burden placed on the citizens. In July 1864, the Battle of Atlanta began with Sherman’s crossing the Chattahoochee River.

On the afternoon of July 20th, 1864, near the tributary of the Chattahoochee River, Peachtree Creek, the Confederates fired at the advancing Union army. The Confederates, led by General John Bell Hood, attacked with around 20,000 men hoping that the Union would not have proper defenses after crossing the creek, producing a vicious battle. Bruce Elmore, one member of the 143rd New York Volunteer Infantry, wrote that “the Rebels shell at us considerably” and that the regiment was “laying in the same place” since his last letter indicated the difficulty in trying to capture the city of Atlanta. Another Union soldier, Dwight S. Allen of the 22nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, wrote on July 25th, that the Rebels were “desperate” and “Sherman’s boys will capture” Atlanta soon.

George Young was among the wounded soldiers from the 143rd. A minie ball entered his knee splintering two bones. He died in 1909 from the wound he suffered at the Battle of Peachtree Creek. Later on the same day Young was wounded, the Union Army drove away the Confederates.

Today, a sizable amount of evidence of the Battle for Peachtree Creek is visible in areas of north and northeast Atlanta, from Vinings to Durand Mill near Emory University. The breastworks that the retreating Confederate army erected, attempted to use, and eventually lost to the Union are evident at Tanyard Creek in northeast Atlanta just inside I-285, Cheatham Hill near Kennesaw Mountain, and on the Lovett School campus in northwest Atlanta near the Chattahoochee River. From these sites, it is easy to visualize thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers behind such breastworks on either side of a creek or a river firing until given the order to advance and retreat, respectively.

Credits and Sources:

Researched and written by Forrest Martin, Edward Holliday, and Cope Fitzharris, students at the Westminster Schools.

Allen, Dwight S. Dwight S. Allen to Parents, Sisters, and Brother, July 25, 1864. Ahc.MSS549f. America's Turning Point. Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA.

Dickinson, Blair. “Decline of lines in Rome, nation leaves ghostly reminders behind.” Rome News-Tribune (Rome, GA), February 19, 1990.

Elmore, Bruce. Bruce Elmore to Libbie, July 29, 1864. Ahc.MSS673f. America's Turning Point. Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA.9

Fitzharris, Cope. Photograph. January 19, 2016. JPEG.

Martin, Forrest. Photograph. January 19, 2016. JPEG.

Osborne, Seward R., Jr. "George Young: Forgotten Hero of Peach Tree Creek." North South Trader, March/April 1980, 28-32.

Rochfort, John Downes. Trestle Bridge over the Etawah at Whiteside, near Atlanta, Georgia, 1864. 1864. Photograph. Science and Society Museum, London, UK.

Secrist, Philip L. Sherman’s 1864 Trail of Battle to Atlanta. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2006.

Sharp, Sally A. “A Bit of My Experiences During the Civil War.” Thurza Chapter UDC, 1864, 1-3.