Earthworks, Command Disputes, and the Siege of Southwest Atlanta

Introduction: The Strategic Pivot

In the late summer of 1864, the dense, undulating woodlands of Southwest Atlanta became the focal point of the American Civil War. Following a series of bloody, inconclusive engagements north and east of the city, Major General William T. Sherman recognized that frontal assaults against Atlanta’s heavily fortified perimeter were futile. To force the evacuation of the city, Sherman shifted his strategy toward a war of maneuver, aiming to sever the Confederate supply lines, specifically the Macon and Western Railroad at East Point.^[1]

This strategic pivot brought the full weight of the Federal army into the Utoy Creek watershed, a rugged, heavily timbered area bounded by Lick Skillet Road [now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive] to the north and the Sandtown Road [now Cascade Road] to the south.^[2] What was intended to be a swift flanking maneuver devolved into a grueling, multi-day siege. The Battle of Utoy Creek, fought primarily between August 4 and August 7, 1864, was characterized by bitter internal command disputes among Union generals, the construction of massive earthworks by enslaved laborers, and a devastating defeat for the Federal army. By analyzing military correspondence, postwar tactical studies, and the firsthand accounts of the civilians trapped in the crossfire, a comprehensive history of the battle emerges. It is the story of a bloody engagement that permanently scarred the physical landscape of the Cascade corridor.

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Chapter 1: The Civilian Toll and the Subterranean Siege

Long before the armies arrived, the area surrounding Utoy Creek was a quiet agrarian community anchored by the Sandtown Trail and early pioneer families. As Sherman’s forces pushed westward and southward, the war arrived directly on the doorsteps of these civilians.

The most harrowing civilian account of the battle centers on the Willis plantation, which encompassed 3,000 acres along the upper reaches of present-day Willis Mill Road, stretching southward to Campbellton Road.^[3] Joseph Willis operated a local grist mill and resided in a stucco-covered brick home built around 1840.^[4], ^[5] As the artillery barrages commenced, twenty-six men, women, and children from the neighboring Willis, White, and Huff families sought refuge underground. They survived the siege by huddling in a fifteen-by-six-foot subterranean bombproof shelter, dug five feet deep just behind the Willis house and kitchen. The shelter was covered with a roof of heavy timbers and piled with several feet of dirt. Among those trapped in the dark enclosure for three weeks was baby Elizabeth Willis (later Mrs. Herron).^[6] The psychological toll of the siege was compounded by natural phenomena; during their time in the shelter, the families witnessed a lunar eclipse from their veranda, an event that initially terrified them amidst the wartime stress.^[7], ^[8]

The surface of the plantation was entirely commandeered by the military. The 1840 Willis House was seized and utilized as the headquarters for Union Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox, commander of the 3rd Division of the 23rd Army Corps. Cox’s troops held the upper half of the Union line crossing the Willis property, while General Milo S. Hascall’s division anchored the extreme right of Sherman’s army near Campbellton Road.^[9] The grounds were simultaneously converted into a Federal field hospital to treat the mounting casualties. Serving as a surgeon at this specific hospital site was Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who would later become the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor.^[10]

Nearby, General Sherman himself stayed at the residence of Judge William A. Wilson, which stood on Fairburn Road, to direct the maneuvers.^[11] While many structures were destroyed, a few antebellum homes in the Cascade area miraculously survived the siege and stood as silent witnesses to the battle. These include the pioneer log cabin built in 1839 at 1000 Fairburn Road SW, as well as the historic homes located at 1409 Cascade Avenue SW and 1609 Cascade Avenue SW.^[12]

The spiritual anchors of the community, however, were devastated. The historic Utoy Church, the oldest church in Fulton County, was utilized as a hospital facility during the bloodshed. According to the historical recollections of Sarah Huff, the church was reduced to a “pile of ashes” following the battle, though it was uniquely the only outlying church in the area to be rebuilt by its congregation after the war.^[13], ^[14]

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Chapter 2: The Command Dispute and the Earthworks

The immense bloodshed of the Battle of Utoy Creek was largely the result of a catastrophic breakdown in the Union chain of command. Between August 1 and August 3, 1864, Union troops began crossing Utoy Creek at Herring’s Mill, positioning themselves for an assault.^[15] On August 4, Sherman ordered General Schofield’s 23rd Corps (the Army of the Ohio) and Major General John M. Palmer’s 14th Corps to cross South Utoy Creek and push toward the railroad. However, Palmer, believing his commission predated Schofield’s, stubbornly refused to take orders from a man he considered his junior in rank.^[16]

This bitter dispute paralyzed the Federal advance. While Sherman and Palmer argued by telegraph over dates of rank, the Union columns sat idle. As the Weekly National Intelligencer reported, “In consequence of some unfortunate misunderstanding regarding precedence of rank, co-operation was not rendered by Palmer, and therefore the assault was not made.”^[17] For the common soldier, the delay was agonizing. Members of the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, attached to Schofield’s 23rd Corps, waited anxiously “formed under the crest of a hill, five lines deep.” Expecting to charge the enemy at any moment, the men instead languished as their commanders bickered.^[18]

This delay provided the Confederate Army of Tennessee with the exact commodity it needed: time. Confederate General John Bell Hood utilized the lull to rush reinforcements, specifically the division of Major General William B. Bate, to the threatened sector along the Sandtown Road and Utoy Creek to anchor the newly formed “East Point Line.”^[19]

The Confederates immediately began fortifying the high ground. The resulting defenses were formidable, forming part of a massive sixteen-mile trench network dug largely by enslaved laborers to defend against the Union advance.^[20] Digging in the Georgia Piedmont was difficult; the yellow-red clay was sticky and yielding when wet, but dried to become as hard and smooth as a cemented cellar floor.^[21] The Confederate troops, including the 42nd Georgia Infantry, dug extensive rifle pits and constructed heavy parapets topped with head-logs and traverses to protect against enfilading fire.^[22] Federal artillery attempted to dislodge them; fifteen booming cannons occupied a hill in present-day Westview Cemetery, raining shells down upon the Confederate positions.^[23]

Crucially, the Confederates engineered a massive, nearly impenetrable obstruction field in front of their trenches. They felled trees and created deep belts of “abatis”, sharpened branches interlaced and staked to the ground, which some troops referred to as “tangle foot.” In front of these, they planted rows of slanted, sharpened stakes poised to strike a man above the waist, which observant Union soldiers dubbed “haver-sack stealers.”^[24] By the time the Union command dispute was resolved, resulting in Palmer’s resignation on August 6 and his replacement by Brigadier General Richard W. Johnson, the Confederate positions were virtually unassailable.^[25]

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Chapter 3: The Slaughter in the Abatis (August 6)

The decisive and most violent phase of the battle occurred on the afternoon of August 6, 1864. Ordered to finally push forward, the Union forces launched a series of disjointed frontal assaults against the entrenched Confederate positions.

General Cox’s division of the 23rd Corps was tasked with breaking Bate’s Confederate line. Cox sent the 1st Brigade, including the 100th Ohio, 8th Tennessee, and 112th Illinois, forward into the valley, just east of where the waters of the Willis millpond sparkled in the August sun.^[26] The Federal troops immediately became entangled in the dense abatis. As they struggled through the waist-deep brush and sharpened branches, the Confederates unleashed a devastating volley. A frontline correspondent for The Sun described the scene as a “perfect storm of bullets,” noting that the rebel fire was highly destructive and drove the Union forces back pell-mell.^[27]

The 23rd Corps suffered severely in the failed assault. Colonel James W. Reilly’s brigade alone sustained 306 casualties, while the 1st Brigade lost nearly 500 men.^[28] The 100th Ohio alone lost nearly 150 men, with its commander, Colonel Slevin, severely wounded. The 8th Tennessee, 18th Kentucky, and 112th Illinois also suffered heavily. The chaos of the defeat was absolute: Lieutenant Tracy of General Reilly’s staff was severely wounded, and Colonel Thirtemann of the 16th dismounted Illinois cavalry was thrown from his horse, breaking his leg.^[29]

Adding insult to the devastating injury, the Confederates captured the regimental colors of the 8th Tennessee right at the enemy’s works. They also seized the colors of the 100th Ohio, a beautiful banner that had been proudly presented to the regiment by the ladies of Toledo.^[30]

To prevent a complete rout, Colonel John S. Casement’s brigade, including the 103rd Ohio, advanced across the valley under heavy fire. The Ohioans hurriedly built breastworks barely one hundred yards from the Confederate line to cover the withdrawal of Reilly’s shattered troops. Even in this supporting role, the 103rd suffered seven wounded and one killed, Private Frank Towner of Company H, who died instantly from a shot through the heart, casting a heavy gloom over his company.^[31] As night came on, a tremendous thunder and rain storm prevailed, bringing the day’s bitter combat to a miserable close.^[32]

From the Confederate perspective, the defense was a resounding success. William Thomas Huff, a young soldier in the 42nd Georgia Infantry, wrote to his parents on August 11 from a “Camp near Utoy Creek,” describing the “very hard fight” where his regiment successfully repulsed the Union charge, capturing prisoners and arms while suffering minimal losses.^[33] The 42nd Georgia Infantry was noted by veterans as being “in the thickest of the fight at the battle of Utoy Creek, and suffered heavily.”^[34]

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Chapter 4: The Regulars and the 11th Michigan

Simultaneously, the 14th Corps launched its own assault further along the line. Following the command shakeup that saw General Palmer resign, Major John Edie of the 15th Infantry took command of the 2nd Brigade, which included the Regular Army battalions (the 15th, 16th, 18th, and 19th U.S. Infantry) and the volunteer 11th Michigan. Edie deployed the entire 18th Infantry as a heavy skirmish line, placed the 15th Infantry on the left and the 11th Michigan on the right, and held the 16th and 19th U.S. in reserve. At 1:00 p.m., the brigade advanced against the Confederate brigade of Brigadier General Marcellus A. Stovall.^[35] The intensity of the Confederate fire was immediate; Captain James Curtis, commanding the 1st Battalion of the 15th U.S., was shot in the mouth before the movement even began.^[36]

“Men, you have always done well. For almost three years you have stood nobly at your posts… Yonder are the rebels. You are again called on to meet them in battle. The regulars on your left have already gone and there they are, nobly struggling with the foe. Do you see that gap to their right? Do as well as they are doing; go as far as they have gone. Aye, and go farther. Let not a man shirk from duty!”
— Colonel Melvin Mudge, rallying the 11th Michigan Infantry^[37]

The Regulars and the Michigan troops pushed through the intense fire and successfully overran the first line of Confederate rifle pits, capturing 125 of Stovall’s men. William Bisbee, an officer in the 18th Infantry, was unimpressed with the captives, noting that they “seemed more inclined to surrender than fight longer… I shall never forget how meek and unwarlike many of them looked in giving up when they could easily have joined their commands with diminished danger. Evidently they preferred a Northern prison to the rebel ranks on short rations.”^[38]

However, the momentum stalled before the main Confederate entrenchments. Exhausted and lacking support, the Regulars were forced to halt and dig in. Major Edie brought forward the 16th and 19th U.S. from the reserve to help consolidate the position, transforming the captured rifle pits into their own defensive line under the cover of darkness. The grim reality of this work was captured by Lieutenant Arthur Carpenter of the 19th Infantry, who recalled: “There were several dead rebels lying in the pits, and in building our works we threw the dirt over them without any ceremony, such is the lot of those who fight against their country.”^[39]

The assault was devastating to the brigade. The 15th and 18th U.S. Infantry lost 149 troops, with fully 25 percent of the 18th Infantry killed, wounded, or captured. In the 11th Michigan, 15 of the short-timers missed their final muster-out by being killed, and another 15 were wounded.^[40]

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Chapter 5: The Flanking Maneuver and the Political Cover-Up

Recognizing that frontal assaults were suicidal, General Schofield finally executed a successful flanking maneuver late on the afternoon of August 6. He sent Brigadier General Milo S. Hascall’s division on a wide sweep to the west and south of the Utoy Post Office. Hascall’s troops picked their way across the creek and drove in the Confederate cavalry screen, positioning themselves to completely outflank Bate’s infantry line.^[41]

Upon learning that their left flank had been turned, Confederate commanders Stephen D. Lee and William Bate agreed that the position was no longer tenable. On the morning of August 7, the Confederates evacuated their heavily fortified lines along the Sandtown Road and fell back to defend the railroad at the East Point Line.^[42], ^[43] The Federals had finally won control of the Utoy Creek valley, but at a staggering cost.

The casualty disparity of the battle was extreme. Union forces suffered over 1,000 casualties during the assaults, while the entrenched Confederates lost between 20 and 35 men.^[44], ^[45] This lopsided defeat presented a severe political liability for the Federal government. Because 1864 was a presidential election year, President Abraham Lincoln was facing a fierce challenge from George McClellan, who was campaigning on a peace platform.^[46]

Historical Context: The Political Cover-Up
Fearing that news of a bloody Union setback at Utoy Creek would damage Lincoln’s reelection chances and bolster the anti-war movement, a government-sponsored cover-up was initiated. Orders were handed down to suppress any reports unfavorable to the Union cause. General Schofield, who later rose to the position of Secretary of War, ensured that the unflattering details of his tactical failures and the high casualty counts at Utoy Creek were permanently obscured from the official public narrative.^[47]

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Chapter 6: The Scars on the Modern Landscape

While the political establishment attempted to bury the memory of the battle, the physical evidence remained permanently carved into the topography of Southwest Atlanta. As the city expanded in the twentieth century, residential developers frequently encountered the remnants of the siege.

For modern residents of the Cascade area, the history is literally in their backyards. Sharon C. Keene, a resident living on Willis Mill Road in the late 1970s, noted that her property sat directly on the remnants of the slave-made trenches used during the Battle of Utoy Creek.^[48] In the Beecher Hills neighborhood, residents in the 1940s noted that their yards were crisscrossed with recognizable Confederate trenches.^[49]

The 16-mile trench network dug by enslaved laborers is still visible in sections of John A. White Park.^[50] The most pristine remnants of the battlefield are preserved within the 135-acre Cascade Springs Nature Preserve. This property was originally owned by Dr. William Gilbert, Fulton County’s first physician. When the Confederates fell back on August 7, Union General John Schofield took over Gilbert’s home as his headquarters. Today, the Confederate rifle pits that repulsed the Union advance still overlook the creek valley within the preserve.^[51]

The human toll of the battle is also memorialized in the soil and artifacts of the area. The historic Utoy Cemetery, located near the intersection of Venetian Drive and Cahaba Drive in the Venetian Hills neighborhood, serves as the final resting place for thirty-five Confederate soldiers who were killed during the engagement.^[52] Decades after the war, veterans still carried pieces of the battlefield with them; Colonel L.P. Thomas famously wore a United States infantry button as a watch charm, a relic he personally found on the site of the Utoy Creek battle.^[53] Today, the Battle of Utoy Creek stands as a poignant reminder of the devastating intersection of military strategy, political maneuvering, and civilian endurance in the heart of Southwest Atlanta.

Related Reading:

• Sandtown Village and Trail: The Ancient Crossroads
• Cascade Springs: The Healing Waters
• Venetian Hills: The Midcentury Bridge on Ancient Ground

Footnotes & Citations (Click to Expand)

Citations:

1. Earl J. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta: Tactics, Terrain, and Trenches in the Civil War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018), 205. ↑
2. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 205-206. ↑
3. “Sherman Didn’t Get Them All: Southwest Atlanta Homes Survived War,” The Atlanta Constitution, March 1, 1979, 25. ↑
4. Actor Cordell, “Near Civil War trenches, dreams for the future,” The Atlanta Constitution, March 1, 1979. ↑
5. Wilbur G. Kurtz, “Dugout Home in Atlanta,” The Atlanta Journal, July 10, 1932, 47. ↑
6. Kurtz, “Dugout Home in Atlanta,” 47. ↑
7. “STRANGE AS IT SEEMS,” The Atlanta Journal, July 10, 1932, 71. ↑
8. William Thomas Huff, Letter to Parents, August 11, 1864, published in “Boy Confederate’s War Letters,” The Atlanta Journal Magazine, August 29, 1937, 77. ↑
9. Kurtz, “Dugout Home in Atlanta,” 47. ↑
10. Southwest Atlanta Heritage Trust, “Southwest Atlanta Included In Tour Of Historic Sites,” Atlanta Daily World, February 8, 1979, 6. ↑
11. Southwest Atlanta Heritage Trust, “Southwest Atlanta Included In Tour Of Historic Sites,” 6. ↑
12. “Sherman Didn’t Get Them All,” 25. ↑
13. Sarah Huff, “My 80 Years in Atlanta,” The Atlanta Journal, July 12, 1936, 76. ↑
14. Sarah Huff, “Marathon Prayer At Old Salem,” The Atlanta Journal, September 9, 1934, 60. ↑
15. Southwest Atlanta Heritage Trust, “Southwest Atlanta Included In Tour Of Historic Sites,” 6. ↑
16. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 206. ↑
17. “Operations of Gen. Grant: The Army of Gen. Sheridan,” Weekly National Intelligencer, August 25, 1864, 2. ↑
18. William C. Stark, “History of the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1862-1865” (M.A. thesis, Cleveland State University, 1986), 328. ↑
19. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 205, 208. ↑
20. Southwest Atlanta Heritage Trust, “Southwest Atlanta Included In Tour Of Historic Sites,” 6. ↑
21. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 229. ↑
22. Huff, “Boy Confederate’s War Letters,” 77. ↑
23. Southwest Atlanta Heritage Trust, “Southwest Atlanta Included In Tour Of Historic Sites,” 6. ↑
24. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 228. ↑
25. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 215. ↑
26. Kurtz, “Dugout Home in Atlanta,” 47. ↑
27. “From ATLANTA, GA.: Battle of Utoy Creek, August 6, Desperate Fighting, Severe Loss,” The Sun, August 18, 1864, 1. ↑
28. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 209. ↑
29. “BATTLE OF UTOY CREEK – DESPERATE FIGHT,” Daily National Intelligencer, August 19, 1864, 3. ↑
30. “From ATLANTA, GA.: Battle of Utoy Creek,” 1. ↑
31. Stark, “History of the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment,” 331-332. ↑
32. “From ATLANTA, GA.: Battle of Utoy Creek,” 1. ↑
33. Huff, “Boy Confederate’s War Letters,” 77. ↑
34. “Forty-Second Georgia Will Hold Reunion,” The Atlanta Journal, July 21, 1905, 2. ↑
35. Mark W. Johnson, “The Brigade of Regulars: The Civil War Campaigns of the 15th, 16th, 18th, and 19th U.S. Infantry Regiments, Regular Army” (M.A. thesis, University of Wyoming, 1998), 205. ↑
36. Johnson, “The Brigade of Regulars,” 207. ↑
37. Johnson, “The Brigade of Regulars,” 206. ↑
38. Johnson, “The Brigade of Regulars,” 207. ↑
39. Johnson, “The Brigade of Regulars,” 207. ↑
40. Johnson, “The Brigade of Regulars,” 207. ↑
41. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 210. ↑
42. Richard Bone, “Urban forest a natural: ‘Footprints of history’ abound in city’s new 135-acre preserve,” The Atlanta Journal, December 22, 1993, 226. ↑
43. Hess, Fighting for Atlanta, 210. ↑
44. Bone, “Urban forest a natural,” 226. ↑
45. “Resurrecting history, family legacy at Utoy Cemetery,” SaportaReport, May 26, 2014. ↑
46. Lt. Col. L. Perry Bennett, “Battle of Utoy Creek Historical Marker Dedication,” Army Reserve, August 17, 2016. ↑
47. Bennett, “Battle of Utoy Creek Historical Marker Dedication.” ↑
48. Cordell, “Near Civil War trenches, dreams for the future.” ↑
49. Katherine Barnwell, “Preserve Scars of Atlanta Battle, Urges Student of War of Sixties,” The Atlanta Constitution, December 20, 1949. ↑
50. Southwest Atlanta Heritage Trust, “Southwest Atlanta Included In Tour Of Historic Sites,” 6. ↑
51. Bone, “Urban forest a natural,” 226. ↑
52. “Resurrecting history, family legacy at Utoy Cemetery,” SaportaReport, May 26, 2014. ↑
53. “Confederate Soldier Wears Federal Button,” The Atlanta Constitution, July 23, 1905, 5. ↑

Comprehensive Bibliography (Click to Expand)

• Bennett, Lt. Col. L. Perry. “Battle of Utoy Creek Historical Marker Dedication.” Army Reserve, August 17, 2016.
• Bone, Richard. “Urban forest a natural: ‘Footprints of history’ abound in city’s new 135-acre preserve.” The Atlanta Journal, December 22, 1993.
• Cordell, Actor. “Near Civil War trenches, dreams for the future.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 1, 1979.
• Daily National Intelligencer. “BATTLE OF UTOY CREEK – DESPERATE FIGHT.” August 19, 1864.
• Hess, Earl J. Fighting for Atlanta: Tactics, Terrain, and Trenches in the Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018.
• Huff, Sarah. “Marathon Prayer At Old Salem.” The Atlanta Journal, September 9, 1934.
• Huff, Sarah. “My 80 Years in Atlanta.” The Atlanta Journal, July 12, 1936.
• Huff, William Thomas. “Boy Confederate’s War Letters.” The Atlanta Journal Magazine, August 29, 1937.
• Johnson, Mark W. “The Brigade of Regulars: The Civil War Campaigns of the 15th, 16th, 18th, and 19th U.S. Infantry Regiments, Regular Army.” M.A. thesis, University of Wyoming, 1998.
• Kurtz, Wilbur G. “Dugout Home in Atlanta.” The Atlanta Journal, July 10, 1932.
• SaportaReport. “Resurrecting history, family legacy at Utoy Cemetery.” May 26, 2014.
• Southwest Atlanta Heritage Trust. “Southwest Atlanta Included In Tour Of Historic Sites.” Atlanta Daily World, February 8, 1979.
• Stark, William C. “History of the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1862-1865.” M.A. thesis, Cleveland State University, 1986.
• The Atlanta Constitution. “Confederate Soldier Wears Federal Button.” July 23, 1905.
• The Atlanta Constitution. “Preserve Scars of Atlanta Battle, Urges Student of War of Sixties.” December 20, 1949.
• The Atlanta Constitution. “Sherman Didn’t Get Them All: Southwest Atlanta Homes Survived War.” March 1, 1979.
• The Atlanta Journal. “Forty-Second Georgia Will Hold Reunion.” July 21, 1905.
• The Sun. “From ATLANTA, GA.: Battle of Utoy Creek, August 6, Desperate Fighting, Severe Loss.” August 18, 1864.
• Weekly National Intelligencer. “Operations of Gen. Grant: The Army of Gen. Sheridan.” August 25, 1864.