Georgia Natural Wonder #266 - Battle of Ezra Church, July 28, 1864

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #266 - Battle of Ezra Church, July 28, 1864

The third of the four battles for Atlanta, the Battle of Ezra Church was fought today. With the destruction of the railroad to Augusta on the east side of Atlanta, Sherman ordered his hard-fighting Army of the Tennessee, now under the command of Major General Oliver Howard, to swing around to the West to destroy the railroads near East Point. Although Sherman attempted to conceal the maneuver around to the west side of Atlanta for the purpose of cutting the Macon railroad, Hood quickly discerned both it and its purpose. His reaction was to send the depleted Corps of Lt Generals Alexander Stewart and Stephen Lee (Hood's former Corps) to stop the advance. Lee with two divisions of his corps (John C. Brown's and Major General Henry D. Clayton's) travelled out on the Lick Skillet road west of Atlanta with instructions to block Howard's southward advance while Stewart's Corps circled around by way of that road to attack Howard from the rear the following morning. In brief, Hood again sought to ambush and crush a major portion of Sherman's army, with the Army of the Tennessee once more his target.


This is pretty much the main and only image of battle.

Today's TRD Scrolling Nugget derives Easy from Ezra and features our German born singer John Kay. The Rebels getting pushed around.



 
William Tecumseh Sherman and John Bell Hood 3rd big battle for Atlanta.


Oliver Otis Howard - Howard should get some credit for the eventual success at Gettysburg because he wisely stationed one of his divisions on Cemetery Hill as a reserve and critical subsequent defensive line. Monument to Howard on Cemetery Hill. Howard was also a leader in promoting higher education for freedmen, most notably in founding Howard University in Washington, D.C., and serving as its president 1867–73; and aided in the charter of Howard University and Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) in 1867.


Alexander Peter Stewart - served as the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi 1874 until 1886 Stephen Dill Lee - First president of Mississippi State Unibersity.


John Calvin Brown  -  Later became 19th Governor of Tennessee from 1871 to 1875  - Henry DeLamar Clayton, Sr.  - In 1886, Clayton became president of the University of Alabama, until his death in the fall of 1889. Holy Cow the SEC West (Ole Miss - MSU - Bama) fighting today.

For a third time in eight days Hood failed. Instead of taking up a defensive position covering the Lick Skillet road, the impulsive and overaggressive Lee thought he saw an opportunity to hit Howard before his troops could entrench and so attacked near a small Methodist chapel called Ezra Church. Howard however, anticipated the move, and quickly had his army fortify on some hills near Ezra Church, some troops using the pews of the church to create entrenchments. Unfortunately for Lee - or rather for his soldiers - Howard, who equaled McPherson in prudence, had anticipated the Rebel onslaught despite assurances from Sherman that there was no danger of such and therefore had ordered his lead corps, the XV, to halt and fortify, which it did. There was no surprise for Howard, who had predicted such a maneuver based on his knowledge of Hood from their time together at West Point before the war. His troops were already waiting in their trenches when Hood reached them. Shaped like a reverse "L", the main Union line extended north with a short line running west.



This area, along with the angle and part of the line running north, was held by Major General John Logan's veteran XV Corps. John Alexander Logan was the hero of  (GNW #266) seven days before with the Union counterattack personally led by "Black Jack" Logan, who had assumed command of the Army of the Tennessee on McPherson's death that day. It drove the Confederates back and restored the XV Corps' front. This is the image captured in the Cyclorama painting. After all he commissioned the painting for his political campaign. He was an an 11 year congressman and a 16 year Senator from Illinois. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President as James G. Blaine's running mate in the election of 1884. He died in 1886 and the City of Atlanta was gifted the Cyclorama masterpiece.




One whole side of the Cyclorama was Logan riding to the rescue.


Logan was good at the counter attack. The Rebels overran the picket line, and captured three guns from the 1st Iowa Battery at the Battle of Dallas Georgia (GNW #192).  They penetrated a gap in the defenses, but Logan galloped up, bringing reinforcements and shouting, "Give them hell boys!" A counterattack by the 6th Iowa Infantry Regiment threw back Armstrong's men and recaptured the guns at Dallas. Here he is galloping up again recapturing guns at Dallas.

Deploying his men, Lee directed Major General John C. Brown's division to attack north against the east-west portion of the Union line. Their movement was screened by thick woods in the area and in some locations they were within 50 yards of the Federal line before they were seen.  Brantley’s Brigade on the Confederate left attacked Lightburn’s Brigade on the Federal right in the area of Battle Hill.  They were successful at first and were able to take the hill for a short time, but were forced to retreat when several regiments from the reserves of the XV and XVI Corps arrived.  Sharp’s Brigade, who held the center of Brown’s Division, advanced on the Federal line through the area of what is now the West Lake Marta Station.



What ensued was more a massacre than a battle. Brown's Division attacked and were immediately slaughtered by the well-guarded, entrenched Federals. The Confederate army attacked before the Union army's improvised breastwork of logs and rails. Advancing, Brown's men came under intense fire from the divisions of Brigadier Generals Morgan Smith and William Harrow. 


Morgan Lewis Smith - After the Civil War Smith served as U.S. Consul in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1866–1868. William Harrow resumed his law practice and became active in local politics. In 1872 Harrow died in a train derailment accident at New Albany, Indiana. He was en route to Jeffersonville, where he had planned to make a speech supporting presidential candidate Horace Greeley.

Taking immense losses, the remnants of Brown's division fell back. Logan's veterans mowed down the oncoming Confederates by the hundreds, stopping their assault cold. Undeterred, Lee sent Major General Henry D. Clayton's division forward just north of the angle in the Union line. Clayton’s Division of Lee’s Corps was advancing on the Federal line just east of the salient and in the area of Ezra Church.  Their repeated assaults were constantly repulsed by the Federals who had the high ground and in some locations had begun to dig in and build barricades. Encountering heavy resistance from Brigadier General Charles Woods' division, they were forced to fall back. 


Charles Robert Woods as a brigadier general and a brevet major general. Woods chose to continue his military career and remain in the U.S. Army after the end of the American Civil War, on February 18, 1874, he was given command of the 2nd U.S. Infantry.    


Ezra Church.

Having wrecked his two divisions against the enemy's defenses, Lee soon was reinforced by Stewart. Not content with slaughtering his own troops, Lee thereupon asked Stewart, who had arrived on the scene with his corps, to throw Walthall's Division into the fray. Stewart did so and Walthall's men suffered the same fate as those of Lee's Corps. Around 2pm, part of Stewart’s Corps began to advance in support of Lee’s Corps. They concentrated their force  in the same area of Clayton’s Brigade. When Maj Gen Edward Walthall's forces attacked in support they were cut down as well. Federal forces fired so ferociously that rifles overheated and burned or exploded in their owner's hands.


Edward Cary Walthall and his division surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston at Greensboro, North Carolina, on May 1, 1865. He went on to be a Senator from Mississippi for 12 years.   
Still with our Ezra to Easy connection, Wathall wasn't born to follow the earlier attacks as with this Byrds classic.



With the failure of Brown's, Clayton's and Walthall's attacks, Stewart ordered forward his final division, under Maj Gen William Loring. However, at that point, Gen Stewart was wounded (Struck in forehead) by a spent shell. Minutes later, Loring went down with a severe wound as well. Stewart was wounded in the fighting on a hill on the south side of MLK Blvd between Federal Drive and Gordon Terrace.  Stewart was about to send additional units into the fight when he was wounded and carried from the field. 


William Wing Loring spent nine years in an Egyptian Army after the war and unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate against Charles W. Jones in Florida.

Walthall, one of Stewart’s Divisional commanders assumed command and instead of sending in more soldiers, he began to withdraw from the area. After being repulsed by the Federals multiple times and the coming nightfall, the Confederates pulled back to their jumping off point and began to dig in.  Some of the works are still visible in a section of Westview Cemetery.
With Lee, Brown, and Brigadier Generals George Johnson and Randall Gibson all wounded in the fight as well, Walthall wisely halted the fight near nightfall.


George Doherty Johnston was wounded in the leg two days after promotion to brigadier general. He later became the superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy (now The Citadel). Randall Lee Gibson was an 8 year Congressman and 9 year Senator from Louisiana. Later he was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and a president of the board of administrators of Tulane University.

When the firing ceased, about 3,642 men were casualties. There were 3,000 on the Confederate side and 642 on the Union side. A lopsided Union victory here - one of the most one-sided of the war - resulted from a disjointed series of Confederate attacks against strong Union positions. This battle was the last of Hood's grand offensives during which he lost nearly a third of his infantry in 10 days.

"How many men have you left?" a Union soldier called over to the Rebs."Oh, enough for another killing or two," came the reply.

Tangent Stephen Dill Lee 

Lee was an American soldier, planter, legislator, and author. He was the youngest Confederate lieutenant general during the American Civil War, and later served as the first president of Mississippi A&M College (Mississippi State). Late in life, Lee was the commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans.



Lee was born in 1833 in Charleston, South Carolina. He was raised in Abbeville, South Carolina. He possibly volunteered for service with the United States Army during the Mexican - American War. Lee entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1850, graduating four years later and standing 17th out of 46 cadets.



Lee was serving as adjutant of Florida as well as his regiment's quartermaster in 1857 during the Seminole Wars. From 1858 to 1861 he was assigned to the western frontier, posted in Kansas and then in the newly created Dakota Territory. Lee then resigned his U.S. Army commission twelve days later to enter the Confederate service.

Civil War Service

After resigning from the U.S. Army in 1861, Lee entered the Confederate forces as a captain in the South Carolina Militia. On March 6 he was assigned as the Assistant Adjutant General and Assistant Inspector General of the Forces at Charleston, and on March 16 he was appointed a captain in the Regular Confederate States Artillery. Beginning on April 11 Lee was aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. 



That same day he delivered an ultimatum from Beauregard to Union Maj. Robert Anderson, demanding the evacuation of Fort Sumter, which was refused and after bombardment the fort fell on April 14, precipitating the start of the Civil War. When Beauregard received permission to organize two regular companies of artillery on May 11, Lee was assigned to command one of them (the other went to Capt. Charles S. Winder.) Lee's company was assigned to Castle Pinckney until May 30, when it was sent to Fort Palmetto on Cole's Island, arriving June 1.

Castle Pickney.

In June 1861 Lee resumed his position in the South Carolina Militia, and then in November he was promoted to the rank of major in the Confederate Army. Lee commanded a light battery in Hampton's Legion in Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army later in 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in March 1862, and was the artillery chief for Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws's division of the Army of Northern Virginia from April to June 17, and then in the same role under Brig. Gen. John B. Magruder until July.

Virginia Lee.

Lee participated in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, notably during the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31 and June 1, the Battle of Savage's Station on June 29, during the Seven Days Battles from June 25 to July 1, and the Battle of Malvern Hill also on July 1. He briefly served in the 4th Virginia Cavalry in July, was promoted to colonel on July 9, and assumed command of an artillery battalion of Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's Corps that same month. Under Longstreet, Lee fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run that August and then Battle of Antietam on September 17, where his guns played a prominent role in defending the ground near the famed Dunker Church.


Artillery Hell - Early morning looking north along the Hagerstown Turnpike. The intensity of artillery fire at Antietam led Colonel Stephen D. Lee, commander of the Confederate cannons shown here, to describe the battle as "Artillery Hell." This painting depicts the earliest part of the battle.

The following is a summary of Lee's involvement at Antietam:

He deployed late on the 15th on the West side of Antietam Creek. He exchanged fire with the Federal batteries [across] the creek on the 16th the fight becoming more intense as sundown approached. On the morning of the 17th he positioned his batteries on the high ground near the Dunkard Church, and was heavily engaged against the assaults of the Federal I and XII Corps through the Cornfield and to the West Woods. 

Artillery and dead at Dunkard Church.

About 10AM, he was ordered to the vicinity of Sharpsburg in the face of Burnside's afternoon drive from the Lower Bridge, and was furiously engaged there as well. We talked about Robert Toombs heroics at the Burnside Bridge in our post on Washington Georgia (GNW #128 Part 2).



On November 6, 1862, Lee was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Leaving the artillery branch, Lee briefly led an infantry division during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou from December 26?29, where he repulsed the attacks of Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. Beginning in January 1863 he led a brigade in the Department of Mississippi & Eastern Louisiana until that May, when he was ordered to take command of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's artillery defending access to the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. Lee fought notably during the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16, where he was wounded when he was hit in a shoulder. Military historian Jon L. Wakelyn praises Lee's performance in this action, saying "he was the hero of the battle of Champion Hills."

 
Dedication ceremony of the monument to S.D. Lee at Vicksburg National Military Park

Lee served throughout the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg until Pemberton's surrender to Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, becoming a prisoner of war. While on parole, he was promoted to the rank of major general on August 3, 1863. Beginning on August 16 Lee was assigned to command the cavalry of Department of Mississippi & Eastern Louisiana, and he was officially exchanged on October 13. He was then given command of the Department of Alabama & East Louisiana on May 9, 1864. Troops in Lee's department under Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest scored a victory at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads on June 10, and seriously threatened Union supply lines supporting Sherman in Georgia. Lee personally reinforced Forrest but the combined Confederate force was defeated at the Battle of Tupelo, ensuring the safety of Sherman's supply lines.


Forest at Battle Tupelo.

Lee was promoted to lieutenant general on June 23, 1864, making Lee the youngest at this grade in the Confederate Army. On July 26 he was assigned to lead the Second Corps, Army of Tennessee, commanded by John B. Hood. During the Atlanta Campaign, Lee fought and commanded at the lopsided Confederate defeat at the Battle of Ezra Church on July 28 and was in command of the extended line in south west Atlanta in August 1864. His troops with the attachment of William B. Bates Division and a Brigade of Georgia Militia defeated Schofield's movement to break the railroad lines at East Point at the Battle of Utoy Creek. For this action he published a general order recognizing Bates Division for defeating the attack of the combined US XXIII and XIV Corps. 


Battle Utoy Creek. (Our next GNW)

He was also in command of his corps at the Battle of Jonesborough on August 31 and September 1, 1864. Lee fought in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign and was severely wounded in the foot at the Battle of Spring Hill on November 29, 1864, but did not give up the command until an organized rearguard took over the post of danger. In regard to the confused and disappointing fight at Spring Hill, Lee considered it "one of the most disgraceful and lamentable occurrences of the war, one that is in my opinion unpardonable."


Battle Spring Hill.

He then participated in the Battle of Franklin on November 30. Lee's men arrived at Franklin at 4 p.m. with orders from Hood to support Benjamin F. Cheatham's force if necessary. Meeting with Cheatham, Lee decided the situation was dire and attacked at 9 p.m., taking serious losses from the Union position and from Confederate artillery as well. Following the campaign's Battle of Nashville on December 15/16, 1864, Lee kept his troops closed up and well in hand despite the general rout of the rest of the Confederate forces. For three consecutive days, they would form the fighting rearguard of the otherwise disintegrated Army of Tennessee. Lee was wounded in the foot by shell fragments on December 17.


Lee in later life

Upon recovery, Lee joined Gen. Joseph E. Johnston during the 1865 Carolina's Campaign. On February 9, 1865, he married Regina Harrison, with whom Lee would have one child, a son named Blewett Harrison Lee. When the remnants of the Johnston's Army of Tennessee was re-organized in early 1865, Lee was left without a command matching his rank, and his commission as a lieutenant general was canceled on February 23; however, on March 23 he was appointed a "temporary" lieutenant general. Lee surrendered at that rank with Johnston's forces in April and was paroled on May 1.

Postbellum career

After the war Lee settled in Columbus, Mississippi, which was his wife's home state and during the greater part of the war his own territorial command, and devoted himself to planting. He served as a state senator in 1878, and was the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi (modern-day Mississippi State University) from 1880 to 1899. Lee served as a delegate to the state's constitutional convention in 1890, was the head of the Vicksburg National Park Association in 1899. He also was an active member (and from 1904 commander-in-chief) of the United Confederate Veterans society.


Lee (left) during a Confederate Veteran's reunion march

In 1887 Lee wrote an article for the first volume of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, and he published Sherman's Meridian Expedition and Sooy Smith's Raid to West Point in 1880. Lee died in 1908 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was buried in Friendship Cemetery located in Columbus. He fell sick after giving a speech to former Union soldiers from Wisconsin and Iowa, four of the regiments whom he had faced in battle 45 years earlier at Vicksburg. The cause of his death was attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage. At the time Lee was also planning the next reunion of the United Confederate Veterans, held on June 9, 1908.

Legacy

Based on Lee's familiarity with the three major arms of an Civil War-era army, military historian Ezra J. Warner summarized him as an able and versatile corps commander, saying "Despite his youth and comparative lack of experience, Lee's prior close acquaintanceship with all three branches of the service - artillery, cavalry, and infantry - rendered him one of the most capable corps commanders in the army."


Lee is also memorialized with busts in the center of the Drill Field at Mississippi State University and Friendship Cemetery in Columbus. Lee Hall at Mississippi State University is also named in his honor. 

The Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee Camp #545 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Vicksburg, the Stephen D. Lee's Caledonia Rifles Camp #2140 in Caledonia and the Captain Stephen Dill Lee Chapter of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars in Charleston, SC were named in his honor.

On April 27, 1906, in a speech given at New Orleans, Louisiana, Lee gave the following charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans

"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish."

Some say history will not be kind as Lee insisted that all textbooks and teachings stress that secession was a dignified, justified approach to preserve their constitutional rights - not a treasonous rebellion to protect and expand slavery. And he had a bad day today here at Ezra Church.


Engraving of the battle by Theodore R. Davis for Harper's Weekly.

Among the wounded was General Alexander P. Stewart, who led a corps under Hood. Again, he was shot in forehead by a spent bullet. Stewart was assigned command of the Third Corps, after Polk was killed by artillery on Pine Mountain just two weeks prior. (GNW #135)


Polk getting shot.

Another notable participant was Ernst R. Torgler, a 24-year old sergeant in the 37th Ohio Infantry. Ernst Torgler was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, and entered military service in Toledo Ohio where he is buried. Sgt. Torgler received the Medal of Honor, our country's highest award for bravery during combat, in 1894. Torgler saved the life of his commanding officer, Major Charles Hipp. Major Hipp was shot from his horse and Torgler rushed through a hail of Bullets to rescue him. His citation reads (in part): "At great hazard of his life he saved his commanding officer, then badly wounded, from capture".


Grave cites Medal of Honor.

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Let's hear from the first superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy in Pineville, Louisiana. NEVER forget Sherman was an LSU man.

NEAR ATLANTA, GA., July 28, 1864 - 9 p. m.
Major-General HALLECK, Washington, D. C.:

The enemy again assaulted to-day; this time on our extreme right, to which flank I had shifted the Army of the Tennessee, to gain ground toward the railroad. The blow fell upon the Fifteenth Corps, which handsomely repulsed it, capturing 4 regimental flags. The attack was kept up for five hours. Our men were partially covered, while the enemy were exposed. Our loss is comparatively small, while that of the enemy is represented as heavy. I will give approximate figures to-morrow. The cavalry has now been out two days, and to-morrow should show the effect. I feel confident they will reach the Macon road. Our right is about a mile distant from the railroad, but the ground is very difficult. I may be forced to extend still farther to command it. We had heavy cannonading all day, the enemy using ordnance as heavy as 6-inch rifled guns. Bragg has been to Atlanta on a second visit.

W. T. SHERMAN.


These cannons were used in the Battle of Fort Sumter and procured by Sherman for the university after the Civil War, and are displayed at the Military Science building at Louisiana State University. Counting Gibson from Tulane and Sherman from LSU along with the generals that went on to lead Ole Miss - MSU - Bama, the SEC is still fighting fighting today. Johnston (above) with Citadel and Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross from Texas A&M. 7 Southern Schools!

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Capturing the Flag

Sherman mentioned capturing 4 flags. During the battle of Ezra Church, Private Harry Davis of the Forty-Sixth Ohio Infantry, a twenty-three year old Columbus, Ohio native, captured the flag of the attacking Fortieth Louisiana Infantry of General John Bell Hood's Army of the Tennessee. 



General John Logan later presented the flag to Private Davis and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor the following December. Henry Clay Davis survived the war and died in 1929.

TRD Driving Tour

My driving tour of battlefield starts by taking I-20 west to the MLK exit. Go right on MLK and Mozley Park will be on your left. There are several Historical markers in Mozley Park at 1565 Mozley Place SW, Atlanta GA 30314 They help explain the action here at the actual site of the Ezra Church. Two markers are missing, then there is a group of Markers in a circle. 

Battle Hill

Marker has been reported missing. It was in Hunter Hills. It was at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW and Mathewson Place SW, on the right when traveling west on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW. The marker then stood at the edge of Mozley Park. The marker was observed standing in 2003. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location.
Text for the missing marker was taken from “Georgia Historical Markers”

The name "Battle Hill" is associated with the area because of an engagement fought here on July 28, 1864. This was the 3d attempt of the Confederate forces under General John B. Hood to repel the 3 Federal armies, commanded by General Sherman, endeavoring to capture Atlanta. The same Federal forces that fought East of the city July 22, had been shifted to the W. side to cut the 2 remaining railroads which entered the city from the southwest. Hood attacked with S. D. Lee's & A. P. Stewart's corps; their repeated assaults struck the Federal 15th A.C. but failed to dislodge it. Siege operations persisted until August 25. 


At some point this post had replaced the original concrete/rebar metal-clad post. Plaques in the background describe Civil War action in the area.

Site of Ezra Church

Marker has been reported missing. Site of Ezra Church Marker was at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW and Mathewson Place SW, on the right when traveling west on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW. The marker stood at the edge of Mozley Park.

Here stood the little frame edifice known as Ezra Church (Methodist), on a half-acre plot deeded by James & Nancy Coursey to the trustees Oct. 31, 1853. As a landmark, its name was given to the battle fought here July 28, 1864. Col. Hugo Wangelin's brigade, Woods' div. 15th A. C. [US] was posted here during the battle & lacking intrenchments, fought behind a barricade of benches removed from the church. During Federal siege operations after the battle, the church was demolished. Miss Sarah Huff, who visited the site the following December, recalled seeing the carcasses of the horses still on the frozen ground.


Second "just a post" near all the other plaques in Mozley Park that described Civil War action in the area. They are all here, because this where the Church was.

These are the main markers in the circle.



Another Ezra to Easy connection our third scrolling nugget. Six Markers instead of nine with all the missing markers If 6 were 9 from Jimi Hendrix.



THE BATTLE OF EZRA CHURCH July 28, 1864 / PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS



THE PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS CONTINUED



The Union Dispositions



The Battle of Ezra Church July 28, 1864 - The Confederate Attack 



I know that is hard to read with the wearing/vandalism of the marker, so I provide the Text:

On July 27th, Lieut. Gen. Stephen D. Lee assumed command of Hood´s former corps. Both he and Stewart directed to hold their respective corps "in readiness" and to report at Hood´s headquarters. After explaining his plan to attack Sherman´s threatening right flank, and drive it back from the railroad, Hood ordered Lee to move Brown´s and Claytron´s divisions from the eastern fortifications of Atlanta to White Hall (West End), southwest of the city, leaving Stevenson´s divisions in the lines. Stewart was ordered to follow with Loring´s and Walthall´s division, leaving French´s in place. Early the next morning, all four divisions were at White Hall. At 10:00 a.m. on the 28th, Lee ordered Brown and Clayton to move out the Lickskillet Road (Gordon Street and Road), which led from White Hall to Lickskillet (Adamsville), to the Poor House (on Gordon Street south of the main gate of Westview Cemetery). At the Poor House, Brown met Brig. Gen. Wm. H. Jackson whose cavalry division had contested Howard´s advance. His skirmishers had pressed back steadily, yet Jackson´s information indicated "the enemy´s infantry to be small". Lee also having arrived at the Poor House, he immediately ordered Brown to deploy his division on the left (southwest) side of the road, in the present cemetery Grounds. Brown deployed his four brigades with Johnston´s on the right, Sharp´s in the center, Brantly´s on the left and Manigault´s in reserve. Clayton was ordered to deploy on the right of the road, facing north. He deployed his three brigades with Gibson´s on the left, Holtzclaw´s on the right and Baker´s in reserve. Hood had ordered Lee to "move out the Lickskillet Road, attack the enemy´s right flank, and drive him from the road and the one leading from it by Mount Ezra Church (old Chapel Road)." Accordingly, Lee ordered Brown to "attack and drive the enemy to Ezra Church and hold the position" and Clayton to attack on Brown´s right. Brown´s men drove Smith´s skirmishers from Lickskillet Road and up the steep slopes to the first ridge beyond it (Anderson Park and southeastward). Finding that Logan´s right, which he was expected to turn, would overlap his own, Brown shifted his lines 250 yards to the left. Realigned, his men swept over the first ridge, driving off enemy skirmishers, charged across the intervening ground, and assaulted the Union barricades; but despite the shift to the left, Logan´s refused right was still beyond reach.

The Confederate Attack, Cont.


Vandalism always on the left.

Union & Confederate Forces engaged.



Hard to read that at bottom of marker, text reads:

Estimated strength of Confederate forces present: 12,723
Actual losses (killed, wounded and missing): 4,632

The Union information

Estimated strength of Union troops actually engaged: 25,954 (only 10,000 involved)
Actual losses (killed, wounded and missing): 607 (I had 1,719 from my research)

Nearby map of The Battle of Ezra Church marker.





To make up for the missing markers, there is a newer marker.

Battle of Ezra Church - Hood's Third Attack



That's hard to read so the text is:

After General John Bell Hood took command of the the army defending Atlanta he directed three Confederate failed attacks against Union Major General William T. Sherman's armies. On July 28, 1864, Union Major General Oliver O. Howard's "Army of the Tennessee" moved south with the goal of cutting the last railroad lines supplying Atlanta. Sensing impending battle, Howard's 15th Corps halted near Ezra Church, a Methodist chapel. The 17th Corps soon arrived to extend the line. In most places the Federals were entrenched. On open ground near the church some soldiers erected barricades using church pews.

General Hood sent the corps of Lieutenant General Stephen Dill Lee, his least experienced corps commander, west from Atlanta. Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart's corps followed Lees. The Confederates marched along Lick Skillet Road (Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard) with orders to halt the Federal advance. Yet they were "not to attack unless the enemy exposes himself in attacking us."

When General Lee's corps arrived he imprudently attacked with two divisions against Howard's strong line and was shattered. The musketry was so fierce a Federal officer wrote "no mortal could stand." General Stewart then sent Major General Edward Walthall's division forward, trampling on the bodies of Lee's casualties. The result was the same. In Walthall's opinion, "Double the force could not have accomplished what my division was ordered to undertake."

After the battle a Federal picket called out, "Well, Johnny, how many of you are left?" The despondent Confederate replied, "Oh, about enough for another killing." The movement of General Sherman's armies to the south around Atlanta was temporarily halted but at a heavy cost.


Battle of Ezra Church Hood's Third Attack Marker with other Georgia Historical Commission markers on the battle.

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From Mozley Park you go back toward I-20 on MLK. Take a left on Laurel Avenue. Go about 200 yards. Clayton's Div., Lee's A.C. Marker is at the intersection of Laurel Avenue SW and Archer Street SW, on the left on Laurel Avenue SW.  Now in its third location.

Clayton's Div., Lee's A.C.



The Marker, is now at the intersection of Laurel Avenue SW and Archer Street SW, on the left when traveling south on Laurel Avenue SW. 



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The Federal Salient

Marker has been reported missing. It was at the intersection of Laurel Avenue SW and Archer Street SW, on the left when traveling south on Laurel Avenue SW. Text read:

July 28, 1864. The N.E. cor. of Laurel & Archer was the location of a salient angle in the line of Logan’s 15th Corps troops [US] in the Battle of Ezra Church. N.W. from the angle, Harrow’s & M. L. Smith’s divs. extended to Anderson Ave.; Wood’s div. was deployed N.E. along the old Lick Skillet Rd. (no longer there) to Ezra Ch. (S.E. cor. Mozley Park) & beyond, where it joined the Right of the 17th Corps.Clayton’s div. (S, D. Lee’s A. C.) attacked the angle with Gibson’s, Baker’s & Holtzclaw’s brigades [CS]. This was the Right of the Confederate line. The post-war structure, Battle Hill school, stood at the S.E. cor. of Laurel Ave. & Archer St.

The marker was last recorded as standing at this location in 2000, leaving the post standing. In 2010 or 2011 the Clayton's Div., Lee's A.C. Marker was removed from a nearby location and now stands on the post. The Clayton's Div., Lee's A.C. Marker is incorrect for this location. However, from my reading of the text, Clayton's Div., Lee's A.C. fell upon the Federal line at the salient angle (at Laurel Ave. & Archer. St.), occupied by the left flank, Logan’s 15th A. C. So maybe this is a good place for both Markers.


Laurel Ave. looking north toward the intersection with Archer St.  This high ground was occupied by the Federals of Harrow’s Division of the 15th Corps(US).  This spot is as far south as the Federal lines came during the battle and here the line formed a salient angle moving off to the north west (left) and to the north east (right).  From this point back to the north east, there was a gap in the Federal line of approximately 100 yards.  This gap was due to the heavily wooded terrain at the time.  As the attack began, the Federals recognized the vulnerability of the gap in their lines and quickly brought up several regiments of reserves to fill the gap.


Looking south down Laurel Ave.between Archer St. (to the rear of the camera position) and Mims St.  The Confederate attack came straight at the Federal lines through here.  As you look into the distance you can see the terrain begins to take on a upward slope.  Clayton’s Division(CS), which was formed up to the right of Brown’s Division(CS), used the low ridge to hide their movements from the Federals.  They were able to form up and deploy for battle while using the concealment that was offered by the  ridge line.  The woods in this area were so thick, that the Confederates were able to get within 50 yards of the Federal lines before they were seen.

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Clayton's Div., Lee's A.C.

This marker was originally installed at Wellington and Elixir Streets, from where it vanished about 1980. (A replacement marker was installed at that site in 1985) This replacement marker is evidently still here. Keep going down Laurel and take left on Elixir to intersection with Wellington. It's basically a duplicate marker in a different spot, the original spot.

 

This marker was later recovered and installed on a new post across Interstate Highway 20 from the original location. (The construction of I-20 cut through the site of the Battle of Ezra Church, and cut off many streets in the area.) It was for a second time at the intersection of Westview Drive SW and Laurel Avenue SW, on the right when traveling east on Westview Drive SW.


The marker stood on this corner for approximately ten years. Nothing to see here.

A former manager of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Historic Marker Shop once stated that at the time this marker was installed here, they were unaware that the 1985 replacement marker still stood at the original location. Now its in its third location on post of the missing Federal Salient marker.

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Come back to MLK on either Laurel or Wellington depending where you are, and next marker on left. Hard to stop here.

Battle of Ezra Church Gen. Stewart Wounded

Battle of Ezra Church Gen. Stewart Wounded Marker is at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Gordon Terrace, on the left when traveling west on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.



This marker replaced an earlier marker of the same title and similar text erected by the Georgia Historical Commission at this location, which had disappeared. An error was made in the in the first sentence, "Long's" should be "Loring's" division.

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Go under I-20 and take a right on Anderson Avenue to next marker right there at the MARTA Station.

Battle of Ezra Church (Right of 15th Corp)


Battle of Ezra Church (Right of 15th Corp) Marker is at the intersection of Anderson Avenue and Entrance to MARTA West Lake Station Parking Lot, on the right when traveling north on Anderson Avenue. 


Battle of Ezra Ch. (Right of 15th Corp) Marker. Looking south on Anderson Avenue: the MARTA parking lot entrance is to the left, and the overpass in the distance is Interstate 20.

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Keep going on Anderson and road turns left and becomes Verbena St.

Battle of Ezra Church (Gen. J. C. Brown's Div.)



Battle of Ezra Church (Gen. J. C. Brown's Div.) Marker is on Verbena St. 0.1 miles west of Anderson Avenue, on the right when traveling west. 


Looking east in the area in front of Battle Hill. Anderson Ave. and Verbena St. are to the right side of the image.  The Confederates of Brown’s Division and later Walthall’s Division crossed this area in their repeated attempts to take the Federal lines.  The Confederates would have been attacking from the right side of the image to the left.

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Come back up Anderson back past the MARTA Station and under I20, to MLK and take a right, but get ready to take a U turn to the side of the fence at the West View Cemetery. 

Battle of Ezra Ch. Marker (S.D. Lee's Corps)


Battle of Ezra Ch. Marker (S.D. Lee's Corps) is on Martin Luther King Jr Drive SW (Georgia Route 139) 0.1 miles west of Anderson Avenue, on the right when traveling east. The marker stands at the fence enclosing West View Cemetery. 

Lick Skillet Road

The Lick Skillet Road Marker has been reported missing. It was on Martin Luther King Jr Drive SW (Georgia Route 139) 0.1 miles west of Anderson Avenue, on the right when traveling east. 


The marker stood at the fence enclosing West View Cemetery. Looking west on Martin Luther King Jr Drive; West View Cemetery is on the left behind the fence.


Flag of the 46-55 Tennessee which they lost at Ezra Church, July 28, 1864

Nearby Westview Cemetery all along your right behind the fence, is another protected part of the battlefield, where Confederates rushed up to charge the center of the Union line. Keep going east a few yards on MLK, but veer right on Ralph David Abernathy to go to the entrance of Westview Cemetery. Pull in the welcome center for them to mark a driving map to save you some headache. This is the largest cemetery in the Southern United States and will probably be a separate GNW down the road as I have so much information about Atlanta.



We are in the cemetery just like in Easy Rider, our last Ezra to Easy scrolling nugget comes from the Electric Prunes.



First I go to the Confederate Memorial. It was erected by The Confederate Veterans Association of Fulton County to honor its fallen soldiers from the nearby Civil War Veterans home. The monument features a stone soldier holding a flag and standing on top of small cannon balls. 

 
Two cannons lie just beyond a circle of Confederate graves and mark a path leading to the historic monument. One of the few monuments ever erected by Confederate veterans, stands guard over fallen comrades.


Ezra Church still a war zone, 5 Historical Marker's Missing in Action. Monuments and Marker's under constant attack.


We Slaves Free, Thanks Boys. This Really Is Gracious Gallant Actions.

When the monument is not vandalized, the inscription speaks of peace: "Nation shall not rise up against nation. They shall beat their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks. Neither shall they learn war anymore. Of Liberty born of a Patriots dream; of a storm cradled Nation that fell."



 

The solitary grave of Lt. Edward Clingman, killed at Ezra Church, is marked with engravings of a saber, pistol and Confederate flag, and is located along the eastern outer drive. Behind the grave is a section of Confederate trenches. 



Hard to see Text reads:

Son of Dr. & Mrs. Henry Patillo Clingman of Goldsboro, N.C. Born Apr. 23, 1842 Killed in battle near Atlanta, Ga. Apr 28, 1864 while leading his company E, 3 Ark. Regt. Cavalry, in a charge against the Federals. Entered the army Apr. 1861

The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms
Deut 33, 27


Confederate earthworks inside Westview Cemetery.  After Confederate forces failed to force the Federals out of the lines, they fell back to this area along high ground in what is now Westview Cemetery.  This position was later captured by Federal troops and during the time period called “The Siege of Atlanta”, they place an artillery battery here on the high ground and began shelling the city.


Franklin Garrett wrote that Clingman actually fell, and died the glorious death of a soldier while leading a charge made by our company on July 28th, near Campbellton on the Chattahoochee River. Presently, he's not sure why it was decided to move Clingman from his resting place in old Campbell County to Westview Cemetery other than to provide him a little company and a hero’s burial in the Confederate trenches where the Battle of Ezra Church took place – today’s Westview Cemetery. Dang, that shatters my story that he died charging the trenches here.

Map of Westview. G marks Confederate Memorial. R marks Ezra Church battle marker. S marks Clingman grave and trenches.

Lastly, there is a marker back near MLK Drive.

Battlefield of Ezra Church July 28, 1864







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One last Ezra to Easy scrolling Nugget The End.



Here are some Yankee reports…………

HDQRS. THIRD DIVISION, FOURTH ARMY CORPS, Near Atlanta, Ga., July 29, 1864.
Lieutenant Colonel J. S. FULLERTON;

COLONEL: Moore, a scout, whom I sent out on the 26th in the forenoon, returned this p. m. and make the following statement: General S. D. Lee arrived about the 25th instant from Mississippi and brought 3,500 troops with him. These were dismounted cavalry, are now used as infantry, and are in the intrenchments. Moore says he went to the depot every time the cars came into Atlanta, and that the trains were loaded with re-enforcements of the Georgia militia. He says many arriving in this way. Moore says he heard Judge Wright and Ridley, citizens, say that there would be enough of the re-enforcements to make a small corps for General Cheatman. Moore says the rebels acknowledge they were defeated yesterday, and he heard officers talking who said they had lost between 8,0000 and 9,000. Moore says he heard in Atlanta yesterday afternoon that there had been an engagement yesterday at 11 a. m., between our cavalry, under General Garrard, and the rebel cavalry, under Wheeler, in the direction of Yellow River, but he was not able to learn any of the details. Moore says that the understanding prevails in the rebel army that Atlanta is to be defended to the last extremity, but that much dissatisfaction prevails among the common soldierly about the removal of General Johnston and the manner in which General Hood has handled the army since taking command of it. The soldierly were dissatisfied with the attacks that Hood has made. Moore says the supply of forage and subsistence is very short indeed, produced by there being now but one line of railroad. When he was in Atlanta he could get no corn for his horse; hitherto he had got plenty. He says he heard it sid that if the rebels were driven out of Atlanta they would try to make their first stand at East Point. Moore says Stewart's and Lee's corps made the attack yesterday morning, but were subsequently re-enforced by a part of Hardee's corps, which had been left in the works. After the fighting ceased a part of the troops were brought back to occupy the intrenchments around the town. Moore says they kept a strong line in their works. Moore says our shells fall into the town and annoy them very much, though they have inflicted no great loss. General Bragg is still in Atlanta. General Johnston is in Macon. General Loring was wounded in the fight yesterday severely. Moore says he heard officers saying that they would get re-enforcements of militia and constricts to make up for their late losses. Moore brings a paper of this date.

Respectfully submitted, with the newspaper, for the information of the corps and department commanders.
TH. J. WOOD, Brigadier-General of Volunteers, Commanding.


Thomas John Wood  - He suffered controversy at the Battle of Chickamauga, where he was blamed for contributing to William S. Rosecrans's defeat. He obeyed a seemingly senseless order that required him to pull his division out of the line to the support of another division further to his left, dangerously creating an unprotected gap in the right of the line. Less than 30 minutes after Wood moved his division, Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's men poured through the resulting gap and cut Rosecrans's army in two. Wood redeemed himself during the successful assault on Missionary Ridge in November and at the Battle of Lovejoy's Station on August 20, 1864, where despite a badly shattered leg, he stayed on the field encouraging his men. At Missionary Ridge, Wood's division was the first division to reach the rebel positions atop the heights and the first division to drive defenders from their fortifications.


Dead in brook by Ezra Church.

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HDQRS. DEPARTMENT AND ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, Before Atlanta, Ga., July 28, 1864.
Major General W. T. SHERMAN,Commanding Military Division of the Mississippi:

GENERAL: The corps of Hood attacked us to-day at 11.30 a. m. on the right of my line, mainly opposite the Fifteenth Corps, with lines extending beyond my right flank. The assaults were pertinaciously kept up for four with scarcely any intermission, and were invariably repulsed. The enemy's dead lie thickly on our front. We took several stand of colors and quite a number of prisoners. General Logan bore the burnt of the battle, and his command acquitted itself nobly. Generals Blair and Dodge weakened their lines to the lowest limits on order to extend his flank and re-enforce him at any point. Our casualties are small, owing to the fact that we had just covered ourselves with rough barricades. Some of Polk's command was engaged in the last assaults. I will make a more specific report as soon as I can get the requisite returns from the different commands.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, O. O. HOWARD, Major-General.


You can see the battle lines and Union reinforcement.

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HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, In the Field, near Atlanta, Ga., July 28, 1864.
General SCHOFIELD:

General Howard's conduct today had an excellent effect on his command. After the firing has ceased he walked the line, and the men gathered about him in the most affectionable manner, and he at once gained their hearts and confidence. I deem this a perfect restoration to confidence in themselves and leader of that army.

W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General, Commanding.

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 Ezra Church then and now. Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. 




Yankees at the present day Battlefields.

Today's GNW Gals come from the Ezra to Easy Rider film reference.


The Skinny Dip Gals.


The girls at the diner.


Karen Black.


Toni Basil.

Dang, not much room for any Atlanta history tangents, these Civil War post are full.