Battle of Utoy Creek

Battle of Utoy Creek. "paying dearly for their courage and temerity". By late July 1864 three major battles...Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta and Ezra Church...had weakened but not defeated the Confederate army defending Atlanta. By that time Union Major General William T. Sherman had begun inching his troops southwest around the city. His new plan was to destroy the two railroads still transporting vital supplies from Montgomery and Macon via East Point to Atlanta. To protect these railroads, the Confederates constructed a new line of trenches eventually stretching approximately eight miles generally southwest from their main defensive entrenchments encircling the city. Positioned along the new extended line was Confederate Major General William B. Bate's division on high ground running parallel to and south of the Sandtown road (present day Cascade Road). Confederate Lieutenant Lot D. Young of the 4th Infantry Regiment in the Kentucky "Orphan Brigade" recalled the battlefield. After his return visit in 1912, Young wrote, “I here recognize...the falls of the little creek at which on the day previous to the battle I enjoyed the only refreshing bath for several days.”, General Sherman's plan involved a two-pronged attack against the western end of the extended line. On Saturday morning, August 6th, Union Brigadier General James W. Reilly's brigade in Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox's division advanced south toward the "Orphan Brigade” of Brigadier General Joseph H. Lewis. The Confederates were entrenched and ready. They had also cut down trees, pointing their branches toward the enemy. Ironically, two of the first opposing units engaged were from the same state, the Federal 11th Kentucky and Confederate 4th Kentucky Infantry Regiments. Lieutenant Young recalled, "[The Federals] swept past. . .doubtless not knowing that they were about to encounter breastworks of a formidable character...But they were plucky fellows and charged to within a few yards of our works, paying dearly for their courage and temerity.” Cox rushed reinforcements forward but after two failed attempts his division retired with losses of several hundred casualties while General Bate's division suffered fewer than twenty., A second Federal division aimed at the western flank of the Confederate line. After struggling across South Utoy Creek, Union Brigadier General Milo S. Hascall's division forced Confederate dismounted cavalry and two cannon to retreat a short distance. But Hascall's men pushed no further. A late afternoon supporting attack by one division of the Federal 14th Corps ended almost before it began. Yet commanding Confederate General John B. Hood, concerned about his army's exposed left flank, ordered General Bate's division to retire east to their previous position., The strong extended Confederate siege line, ultimately stretching from Atlanta to East Point, persuaded General Sherman to exert additional pressure on the city by initiating a heavy artillery bombardment. He wrote, "[Atlanta] will be a used-up community by the time we are done with it." But Sherman was impatient about a long siege. In late August he moved six of his seven infantry corps further southwest, outflanking the Confederate extended line thus threatening the last two railroads supplying Atlanta. The opposing armies would clash again at Jonesborough., Photo captions:: Bottom-Waterfall on the Utoy Creek battlefield in Cascade Springs Nature Preserve , (Courtesy of Atlanta Trails, www.atlantatrails.com. All rights reserved.) , Some of the first combat during the Battle of Utoy Creek occurred near here between the Federal 11th Kentucky Infantry Regiment and Confederate 4th Kentucky Infantry Regiment (of the famed “Orphan Brigade”). Numerous soldiers had bathed here the previous day. , Middle - "The Battle of Utoy Creek” , by Marc Stewart (All Rights Reserved) , Brother vs. Brother": the Federal 11th Kentucky Infantry Regiment advancing against the Confederate 4th Kentucky Infantry Regiment , Right - Confederate artillery position on the Utoy Creek battlefield (Photo by Clint Brownlee © 2014)