Battle of Atlanta. In the Civil War the main National and Confederate armies remained quiet in their camps after their arrival at the Chattahoochee until the middle of July, 1864. Sherman was 8 miles from the city. On the 17th he resumed offensive and active operations, by throwing Thomas's army across the Chattahoochee, close to Schofield's right, with directions to move forward. McPherson moved against the railway east of Decatur, and destroyed (July 18, 1864) 4 miles of the track. Schofield seized Decatur. At the same time Thomas crossed Peachtree Creek, on the 19th, in the face of the Confederate intrenchments, skirmishing heavily at every step. At this juncture, General Rousseau, who had swept through Alabama and northern Georgia, joined Sherman with 2,000 cavalry.
On the 20th the National armies had all closed in, converging towards Atlanta, and at 4 P.m. the Confederates, under John Bell Hood, made a sortie, and struck Hooker's corps with great strength. The Confederates were repulsed and driven back to their intrenchments. The entire National loss in this conflict was 1,500 men: Sherman estimated that of the Confederates at not less than 5,000 men. Hood left on the field 500 dead, 1,000 severely wounded, and many prisoners. On the morning of the 21st the Confederates had abandoned their position on the south side of Peachtree Creek, and Sherman believed they were evacuating Atlanta. He pressed on towards the town in a narrow semicircle, when, at the average distance of 2 miles from it, the Nationals were confronted by an inner line of intrenchments much stronger than the one just abandoned. Behind these swarmed a Confederate host. On the 22nd, McPherson moved from Decatur to assail this strong line: Logan's corps formed his center, Dodge's his right, and Blair's his left. The latter had driven the Confederates from a commanding eminence the evening before, and the Nationals proceeded to plant a battery upon it.
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