Video
Command Decision for the Assault on Cheatham Hill
Transcript
[audio description] Against a black backdrop the National Park Service arrowhead logo stands above the words Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Against a dark gray backdrop are the words the 157th Commemoration of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain: Command Decisions for the Assault on Cheatham Hill.
Hello everyone! This is Ranger Kyle and I want to welcome you to our 157th anniversary of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. I am in a wooded area with some earthworks behind me, some Union earthworks. And we are here at tour stop number six: the Sherman and George Thomas headquarters. This is the start of a couple trails. We have a five mile southern loop section which is a nice peaceful walk through the woods. We also, in terms of history, have the historical assault trail which is a half mile all the way to Cheatham Hill and that gives you a very very good idea of what the Union troops would be facing here on June 27th, 1864. But what's going on right here is we are actually in the vicinity of what would be George Thomas's headquarters; not too far from the Union main line and as I said, a half mile from the Confederate lines. So, General Sherman's headquarters would also be in this vicinity at a place called Signal Hill which if you go north about three quarters of a mile it will be right around there. So to understand WHY we are having this fight here on June 27th, 1864, we have to think of the Atlanta Campaign as a whole. So what happens is Sherman and the Union army have a two to one numerical advantage pretty much throughout this entire campaign. So Sherman uses that to his advantage. Johnston will set up a defensive line. Because Sherman is two on one numerical advantage he will constantly sweep either on his right or his left, outflank General Joseph Johnston and the Confederates. The problem with Sherman is is that every time he flanks him, he runs into more resistance. Johnston is usually just one step ahead. This Atlanta Campaign is truly a game of chess one way or the other. This leads to frustration for Sherman constantly doing this just keeps coming up short. So he even, on June 17th, will even consider launching a full frontal assault. Another thing that builds Sherman's frustration here is going to be the rain. Rain, when they get here on June 19th, it had been raining already for a week. It continues on raining. This bogs down the armies. It kind of just keeps them here in a holding position. Meanwhile while that's going on, Sherman's line, he feels like his line itself is thinning. Now keep in mind, Sherman has a two to one numerical advantage here. If Sherman feels like his line is thinning, what must General Joseph Johnson's line be feeling like? So, he feels like this is a perfect opportunity to launch an assault even though the Confederates have been here already for a week and a half and have built up their positions including that at Kennesaw Mountain. Sherman also wants to show that he is willing to attack. He has felt that he's become predictable and coming just feigning and attacking one of Johnson's flanks. So he wants to change things up a bit. A couple other reasons: The last two reasons are on the Eastern Theater with his buddy Grant, General Grant. We are stuck now at the siege of Petersburg which started only on June 16th. So Sherman is thinking maybe because of this Lincoln needs a victory. Remember we are in an election year. So any victory for the Union is a even greater chance for Lincoln to get reelected. One other thing is General John Logan actually thinks in his memoirs he'll write that he actually feels that because he sees Sherman's, sorry, sees Grant's name in a newspaper constantly because of battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, Sherman feels like he needs a big victory, a big battle as well to kind of match with Grant. I mean, even today, we think of Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor. We don't really talk about the battles here at the Atlanta Campaign such as Resaca or even Kennesaw Mountain for that matter. They are overshadowed by what happens in the East. So, General Sherman finally decides June 24th he's going to send out an order called Special Field Orders No. 28. And what it will read is General James McPherson will be attacking near Burnt Hickory. He's also going to attack the northern line, of, the far left of the Union line attacking the Confederates far right. General Schofield is going to go not too far from here and attack the Powder Springs Road. So those two generals and their armies have been given commands of a certain point to attack. This is where Sherman now gives General George Thomas, the Commander of the Army of the Cumberland, some leeway. He gives Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamauga", his option of where to attack. He leaves it at his discretion. So, no commander, so once these orders are given out, Thomas, McPherson, Schofield, none of them really understand this. They've had all this success before flanking General Joseph Johnston. Why not continue it? Um, so no commander, none of these Schofield, McPherson or Thomas are going to agree with this. One of the Thomas' staff officers will actually ask why he doesn't protest. Thomas' reaction is, "I have protested so often against such things that if I protest again, Sherman will think I don't want to fight." And that is a common theme in the Civil War where, or even any war. Like you do your job as a soldier. You will listen to your your commanding officer. And that's exactly what these men will do. So they're going to do what they do as good soldiers. They're going to figure out their plans of attack and go from there. On June 26th, General George Thomas is going to do a personal recon out towards the fields trying to figure out where in the area, in the center of the Confederate line, where it is best to attack. He's going to bring one of his aides with him named Captain Henry Stone. And Captain Henry Stone will say this: "During the entire search of almost half a day I did not see one place that seemed to me to afford the slightest prospect of success. The place finally selected was chosen more because the lines were nearer each other than because the enemy's lines seemed vulnerable."
So from where we are here, at General George Thomas' headquarters to where he decides to attack at Cheatham Hill, we're about a half mile in distance. Okay so the plan is now set. On June 27th, George Thomas will take five brigades, about eight to nine thousand soldiers, and will take them all across a mile long front and attack the Confederate position at Cheatham Hill. This plan also will involve some time. At Pigeon Hill, they...Now both of these fights, Pigeon Hill and Cheatham Hill are supposed to start at the exact same time. However, George Thomas is a little slow in getting things going. So at Pigeon Hill, the assault will start at 8:00 am. About an hour later, at 9:00 am, the men of the five brigades under George Thomas will step off the field marching towards the Confederate line. And in a later video, we will talk about what happens more specifically with those soldiers. But so now the gun smoke has cleared. Everything has finished. The Union has kind of dug down in front of the Confederate lines to where they can't be shot at. General Sherman will actually ask George Thomas if another attack is possible. And George Thomas will reply back to General Sherman with this: "We have already lost heavily today without gaining any material advantage, one or two such assaults would use up this army."
So after that, no assault would be taken on the following days.However, there is one success for the Union army on this assault. Further south, General John Schofield will actually have success in turning Johnston's flank thus forcing the Confederates on the night of July the first to leave his positions. After this, Sherman publicly will end up blaming others although his subordinates were against it. But Sherman would find no no blame on himself. So what we have coming up are a couple more videos about the fighting at Cheatham Hill. We will talk about the Union assault, as well as the Confederate defenses. Thank you everyone and have a good day!
[audio description] Against a dark gray backdrop are the words Thank you for joining us for the 157th Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. For more programs please like and subscribe to our social media sites.
Description
[Sun 12:00 pm ET] Roughly one mile west of Cheatham Hill, Union generals Sherman and Thomas met to discuss, and ultimately order, an ill-fated frontal assault against Confederate General William Hardee and his troops entrenched atop Cheatham Hill. Join Ranger Kyle as he discusses the decisions these men made and how it ultimately effected the outcome of the battle.
This video highlights Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Driving Tour Stop #6: Sherman/Thomas Headquarters.
Duration
9 minutes, 54 seconds
Credit
NPS/ K. Carlson
Date Created
06/27/2021
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