Augusta railroad, to destroy two important bridges in that vicinity. During Garrard's absence, Wheeler had attempted to destroy the wagon trains of the Army of the Tennessee, left behind at Decatur; but they were protected and safely withdrawn, by the management of Col. (afterward Gen.) Sprague, and the three regiments under his command. On the 23d, Garrard returned, having fully accomplished his purpose, and bringing in a number of prisoners and horses, with the lcss of but two men.

The Rebel commander was now reduced to the Macon railroad exclusively, for the transportation of his supplies. To reach this road, therefore, became an important object to Gen. Sherman. Two expeditionary forces of cavalry were accordingly organized for this purpose-one numbering not less than 5,000, placed under the command of Gen. Stoneman, and the other numbering about 4,000, under Gen McCook; the former to move by the left beyond Atlanta, to McDonough, and the latter by the right to Fayetteville-the, two bodies acting in concert, to meet at a given time and place on the Macon railroad. This joint expedition, which seemed to promise complete success, and was to have been followed by an attempt to release the Union prisoners at Andersonville, resulted in disaster, Gen. Stoneman himself having been taken prisoner, with 700 of his men, near Macon. It appears that he had attempted a sudden descent on Andersonville, before completing the contemplated work in conjunction with McCook. The latter officer proceeded at the same time to execute his part of the plan of operations, crossing the Chattahoochee near Rivertown, and moving rapidly to the West Point railroad, near Palmetto Station, where he broke up the road; and thence to Fayetteville, destroying 500 wagons and various supplies for the army found there. He then struck the Macon Railroad at Lovejoy's, on the night of the 29th of July, as appointed. Failing to hear from Stoneman, and being heavily pressed, he withdrew to New. man, on the West Point road, where he fell in with a consid. erable infantry force, moving from Mississippi to Atlanta, which had been stopped there by the break which McCook had just previously made at Palmetto. He was speedily hemmed in and

forced to give battle. He succeeded in cutting his way out, with a loss of about 500 men, and reached Marietta without further interruption. The serious losses from this raid were not compensated by any material advantages—the slight damage done to the railroads beyond East Point being easily repaired by the enemy.

Gen. Sherman had determined to withdraw the Army of the Tennessee from its position on the left, and move it around, by the rear of Schofield and Thomas, to the right, extending the Union lines below Proctor's Creek, while Schofield extended his forces to the Augusta railroad. This change was commenced on the night of the 26th of July, and the Army of the Tennessee (Gen. O. O. Howard having now succeeded to the command), was in its new position on the 28th, and speedily threw up the temporary covering works which our troops had accustomed themselves to construct. The enemy, hoping to find Howard's troops still in motion and unprepared to receive an attack, repeated the attempt which had cost him so heavily on the 20th and 22d. A series of assaults (on some points as many as seven), were made, chiefly on Logan's corps, and each time repulsed, with comparatively little loss on the Union side. The Rebel loss in killed and wounded was not less than 5,000. Of Rebel dead left on the field, 642 were counted by our men, who buried them. The aggregate Union loss was reported at less than 500. This battle, so disastrous to the assailants, terminated Hood's efforts of this sort, the three actions fought within little more than a week having cost him over 20,000 men, without profit, and with only a proportionately very small reduction of the strength of our armies. Henceforward the enemy remained on the defensive, and endeavored, by strong works, to prevent a further extension of Sherman's lines southward toward the railroad below East Point.

Gen. Schofield's army was subsequently transferred to the right of Howard, and also Gen. Palmer's corps, of the Army of the Cumberland. The latter corps moved into position below Utoy Creek, on the 1st of August, and Schofield, going still farther to the right, extended the line to a location near East Point. These changes were made without interruption

from Hood. The extension of the right was continued by Gen. Sherman, with demonstrations along the whole line, until the 5th.

On the promotion of Gen. Howard to the command of the Army of the Tennessee, Maj.-Gen. D. S Stanley succeeded him as commander of the Fourth Corps. Gen. J. C. Davis, nearly at the same time, was appointed to the command of the Fourteenth Corps, in place of Gen. Palmer, resigned. Gen. Hooker, dissatisfied at not being appointed to succeed Gen. McPherson, asked to be relieved from the command of the Twentieth Corps, and was succeeded by Gen. H. W. Slocum, as soon as the latter could arrive from Vicksburg, where he had been in command.

It appears that the Rebel general had now received large accessions of militia, and other reënforcements, so that he was able to maintain a defensive line stretching from near Decatur to a point below East Point, a distance of about fifteen miles. An attempt was made by a brigade of Gen. Cox's division of Schofield's army to break through the hostile lines at a point below Utoy Creek, on the 5th of August, but the assault failed, with a loss of 400 men. On the 6th, this position was turned by Gen. Hascall, but without succeeding in reaching the Macon railroad, or that to West Point. To cut these roads, and particularly that to Macon--the failure of Stoneman and McCook being now known-was a necessary work which the main army must somehow perform. Sherman ordered four heavy siege guns from Chattanooga, which were put in position on the 10th, and were kept constantly at work, night and day, for some time, doing considerable damage in the city, without affecting the pertinacity with which the enemy maintained his defensive lines. Gen. Sherman consequently decided on a new movement to get possession of the Macon road, and to compel the evacuation of Atlanta. So quietly had it been planned, that his own men were puzzled, and the enemy mystified when its execution was actually commenced. This was nothing less than a withdrawal from the works before the city, and an ultimate movement of the army by the right flank, crossing the

West Point railroad, and striking the Macon road some distance south of Atlanta.

As the movement was about to have begun on the 18th of August, information was received that Hood had dispatched a cavalry expedition, numbering from 6,000 to 10,000 men, under Wheeler, to cut Gen. Sherman's communications by the single railroad northward to Chattanooga. This force had struck Adairsville, capturing 900 beef cattle, and had torn up the railroad track near Calhoun. Nothing could have happened more opportunely for Sherman's purpose. Gen. Kilpatrick, with 5,000 cavalry, advanced to the right on the night of the 18th, thoroughly broke the West Point railroad, near Fairborn, and then struck the Macon road near Jonesboro, engaging and defeating a cavalry force under Ross, and holding the road for five hours, doing such damage to it as he was able. He was, however, compelled to retire—an overwhelming force of infantry and cavalry assailing him—and, making a circuit, again came upon the railroad near Lovejoy's Station, but was again so heavily menaced that, after a charge upon the Rebel cavalry, capturing a number of prisoners, and four guns, he withdrew to Decatur, arriving on the 22d of August. Gen. Sherman, hoping that Kilpatrick's raid would accomplish his purpose, without the aid of the main army, had postponed the general movement ordered for the 18th. It now became manifest that the Macon road had not been sufficiently broken to interrupt the trains for many days, and the original plan of "taking the field with our main force, and using it against the communications of Atlanta, instead of against its intrenchments," was resumed.

On the night of the 25th, the Fourth Corps (Stanley's) withdrew from the extreme left, and marched below Proctor's Creek, on the right. The Twentieth Corps (temporarily commanded by Gen. Williams) at the same time moved back to the Chattahoochee river. On the night of the 26th, the armies of the Tennessee and the Cumberland drew out of their lines and moved on to the right, the former army advancing circui tously, and approaching Sandtown. The next move brought Howard's army upon the West Point railroad, above Fairborn

and Thomas's army near Red Oak-Schofield, who had hitherto remained in his former position, now bringing up the rear. The entire day was spent, on the 28th, in destroying the West Point railroad, more than twelve miles of the track being thoroughly broken up. On the 29th, the armies moved eastward by several roads, Howard advancing, on the right, toward Jonesboro, Thomas, in the center, by Shoal Creek Church to Couch's, and Schofield, on the left, toward Morrow's Mills. The position thus aimed at was deemed so decidedly advantageous, that Gen. Sherman was anxious to secure it at the earliest moment. Thomas reached his assigned place early in the afternoon, without much opposition. Schofield moved in a circuit around East Point, which the enemy still tenaciously held, and came into the position intended, toward Rough-and-Ready Station. Gen. Howard had the greatest distance to move, and was more or less delayed by skirmishing with cavalry of the enemy, supported by artillery, at different points on the way. He continued his march, however, until within half a mile of Jonesboro, when darkness prevented his further advance, and he encamped for the night. In the morning (August 31st) he found a heavy Rebel force in his front, and made his dispositions accordingly. Gen. Sherman, who was with the center, immediately gave directions for strengthening both Howard and Schofield, and ordered the latter at once to strike the Macon railroad near Rough-and-Ready.

Meanwhile, the

enemy came out from his works at Jonesboro, and attacked Howard's forces, which were now in a good situation to receive their assailants. The assault was made by Hardee's and Lee's corps. The conflict lasted for more than two hours, when the enemy withdrew, leaving over 400 dead on the field, and having about 2,500 wounded. The Union losses were comparatively light. The movements ordered on the left and center were entirely successful, and the work of destruction was soon going on with vigor, all along the line. The troops were ordered, in the afternoon, to concentrate around Jonesboro, while Kilpatrick's cavalry was sent to attack or menace the railroad below that place. The various corps having closed in as ordered, Davis attacked the enemy's lines about 4 o'clock in