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The Battle of Peach Tree Creek: Hood's First Effort to Save Atlanta

Online ISBN:
9781469634210
Print ISBN:
9781469634197
Publisher:
University of North Carolina Press
Book

The Battle of Peach Tree Creek: Hood's First Effort to Save Atlanta

Published:
9 October 2017
Online ISBN:
9781469634210
Print ISBN:
9781469634197
Publisher:
University of North Carolina Press

Abstract

On July 20, 1864, the Civil War struggle for Atlanta reached a pivotal moment. As William T. Sherman's Union forces came ever nearer the city, Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced the defending Confederate Army of Tennessee's commander, Joseph E. Johnston, and elevated John Bell Hood to replace him. This decision stunned and demoralized Confederate troops just when Hood was compelled to take the offensive against the approaching Federals. Attacking northward from Atlanta's defences, Hood's men struck George H. Thomas's Army of the Cumberland just after it crossed Peach Tree Creek on July 20. Initially taken by surprise, the Federals fought back with spirit and nullified all the advantages the Confederates first enjoyed. As a result, the Federals achieved a remarkable defensive victory. This book offers new and definitive interpretations of the battle's place within the Atlanta campaign. It demonstrated that several Confederate regiments and brigades made a show of advancing but then stopped partway to the objective and took cover for the rest of the afternoon on July 20. Morale played an unusually important role in determining the outcome of the battle at Peach Tree Creek. A soured mood among the Confederates and overwhelming confidence among the Federals spelled disaster for one side and victory for the other.

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