. •· ' TIMES HE CAME AS A LIBERATOR-HE LEFT AS A PRISONER The Union General Lost In By William Harris Bragg STONEMAN RIDES AGAINST MACON IN 1864

he orders came from Union General his own force. He was, however, emphatic on William T. Sherman's headquarters. Is­ one point: the rescue mission was to be under­ T sued on July 25, 1864, they were clear taken only after Atlanta's last rail artery had been enough. Yankee cavalrymen, striking out from severed. either flank of the Union host investing Atlanta, While accepting its risks, Sherman consid­ Georgia, would circle toward each other and ered Stoneman's raid a "rash adventure," a meet on the night of July 28, thirty miles below scheme calling fo~ more than he could probably the city. There they would wreck up to five miles accomplish. The expedition plan demanded hard of the Macon railroad, Atlanta's only supply line. marching over hundreds of miles of hostile ter­ As they did this, Sherman's Army of the Ten­ ritory, heavy fighting, and the rough work of nessee would move against the same railway railroad destruction, as well as the reduction of six miles below the city. The results were "ex­ a sizeable town and the capture of a fortified pected to be decisive": Atlanta's defender, Con­ prison camp-all during the energy-sapping days federate General -denied com­ of a hot Georgia July. Were Stoneman and his munications, supplies, and reinforcements - men equal to the task? Their records suggested would be pressed to abandon his complex for­ not. tifications and confront Sherman's superior force "I can vouch for my little command," Stone­ in the field. man assured Sherman. He was mistaken. But These orders worried one of Sherman's his well-armed 2,050-man corps appeared cavalry commanders. Union Major General impressive. It was comprised of three brigades: George Stoneman was preoccupied with a James Biddle's Indiana brigade, Colonel scheme of his own, freeing Federal captives from Silas Adams' brigade, and Colonel the prison pens of central Georgia. One hun­ Horace Capron's force-made up of lliinois and dred miles south, at Macon, 1,400 Unio,n officers Michigan regiments, plus McLaughlin's Squad­ were confined in the Camp Oglethorpe stockade. ron of 's "Sherman Brigade." Along with And sixty miles farther south, at Andersonville, a two-gun battery section, the force boasted the rough palisades of Camp Sumter held over picked men and mounts; all "not able to go 29,000 Yankee soldiers. There, men perished by through fire and water" had been culled. And the the hundreds each month. Suppose Sherman's men were motivated for the rescue attempt; plan succeeded? Atlanta's evacuation would all units had members imprisoned at Anderson­ place Hood's Rebel army squarely between the ville. Federal forces and the suffering prisoners. If a But most of Stoneman's regiments had only prisoner rescue was not attempted before Hood begun campaigning the previous year. They moved, it would not succeed. were not thoroughly battle-tested. Some of the Stoneman presented Sherman with a pro­ veteran units were less than reliable, particularly posal of his own. After riding against the Macon the notorious 1st Kentucky. Although inarguably railway, why not strike south to release the cap­ brave fighters, its members were strangers to tives? Sherman, deluged with letters decrying the discipline and stragglers without peer. Over all, prisoners' plight, was taken with the idea and Stoneman needed a more experienced, better gave his permission for Stoneman to try it with disciplined command to help him earn victory. 16 USAMHI

George Stoneman (seated, with legs crossed) was a brigadier general when this photo was taken with his staff near Rich­ mond, , after the June 1862 Battle of Seven Pines. Two years later, Stoneman, then a major general, would be "the highest ranking Yankee officer ever captured by the Confederates."

17 And the force needed a steadier commander. born, an 1846 graduate of West Point, forty-four-year-old Stoneman had served in during the Mexican War and in with the illustrious 2d U.S. Cavalry prior to the secession crisis. His rise 1. in the had been rapid, his early service praiseworthy. But the 1863 Chancellorsville Campaign ·.·1 in Virginia had brought his compe­ tence into question. Accused of dis­ regarding orders, he was soon re­ placed as the Union Army of the Potomac's cavalry commander. In early 1864, Stoneman, a man Lieu­ tenant General U.S. Grant called "an officer who had failed," was .I, "exiled to the West." Stoneman "in exile," an officer I with a reputation to refurbish, a man with something to prove, was in­ clined to be over-ambitious, to ig­ nore daunting obstacles. And, not­ withstanding his genuine concern for the prisoners of war, he was aware this raid offered him glory as Below: Confederate Colonel W. C.P. Map by Mark H. Pfoutz Breckinridge. Under orders from Briga­ STONEMAN'S RAID INTO CENTRAL GEORGIA dier General Alfred Iverson, he led a JULY 1864 brigade of Kentuckians in pursuit of Fed­ eral cavalry. On August 3, he "almost well as redemption. As Sherman ex­ man's main force continued to push annihilated" the remains of a Union pressed it, the liberator of Ander­ south. Nightfall found the Federals brigade at Jug Tavern, Georgia. sonville would be entitled to the in Monticello, practically equidistant "love and admiration of the whole from Macon and McDonough. This country." was not as Sherman ordered. Bugles sounded "Boots and Sad­ A staff officer later claimed dles" at 3:00 a.m. on July 27 in Stone­ Stoneman expected the river to man's camp just east of Atlanta. The be bridged near Monticello; dis­ day had come for the general to raise appointed, he was obliged to aban­ himself up before "the whole coun­ don McCook and thrust into central try." As Union batteries boomed to Georgia. More than likely, however, cover their departure, his raiders Stoneman had planned an indepen­ . moved eastward, ostensibly circling dent operation all along and looked "' around to the town of McDonough, only for an excuse to launch it. He then to the railway beyond. Off to had skirted the Ocmulgee's narrow their right rode Union Brigadier headwaters and marched over thirty General Kenner Garrard's 3,500-man miles from his immediate objective. reserve force. These troopers, bound He would ignore the railway and for Flat Rock, ten miles down the press on to the prisons. McDonough road, were to attract Stoneman directed his command and delay any Rebel pursuers. to proceed southward from Monti­ After almost continuous march­ cello early on the 29th. No explan­ ing, Stoneman's men rested briefly ation could be offered. He clearly the morning of the 28th near Cov­ violated his orders. But given his ington, having covered almost forty raid's success so far, there could be miles. Upon leaving the village little quibbling about disobedience. (where many 1st Kentuckians had Continued success depended only become riotously drunk), Stoneman upon rapid movement and surprise. sent Adams' brigade along the Oc­ mulgee River's east bank in search of a crossing to McDonough. There, Stoneman, however, was slow. His that night his command was to raiders, delighted by the "astonish­ gather and communicate with Union ing abundance" which surrounded Major General E.M. McCook's 3,000- them, lost time foraging in orchards man cavalry force before their joint and fields. Wrote one, they "gath­ attack on the rail line. But Stone- ered up large numbers of fine horses and mules and contrabands to lead he left to keep watch on the unagres­ Macon. Then, lastly, and most im­ them." Some troopers plundered sive Garrard. Then, before riding portant, Stoneman directed US homes and farms, leading one offi­ west to challenge McCook, Wheeler men under Major F.M. Davidson to cer to worry that "thieving expedi­ ordered three brigades to chase strike Gordon, a junction of the tions never thrive." Assuredly, theft, Stoneman and "attack him wherever Savannah railroad and its rail spur I and the vandalism and casual arson found." to Milledgeville, Georgia's capital. 'f that marked thei,r track, would not Leading the 1,300-man pursuit of Major damage to this railway would speed the Yankees to their target. Stoneman was Wheeler's fellow eliminate Federal fears Hood would As for surprise, there was none. Georgian, Brigadier General Alfred be reinforced by troops from Vir­ Confederate Major General Joseph Iverson. Unsure of Stoneman's ex­ ginia. Wheeler's cavalry, alert to threats act location, Iverson sent Colonel against Atlanta's supply line, had dis­ W.C.P. Breckinridge's Kentucky covered Stoneman's movements al­ brigade to scout the west bank of the On the evening of the 29th, while most immediately. A small mounted Ocmulgee, then cross back on ferry Capron and Biddle bivouacked and force soon tracked the Federals. Be­ flats above Macon to join the main Adams skirmished with Cobb's tiny fore sunset on the day of Stoneman's force. The balance of the command­ band of Reserve cavalry, Davidson departure, Confederate authorities Iverson's Georgia brigade and Brig­ hit Gordon. Unhampered by any at Macon and Andersonville, knew adier General William W. Allen's Confederate resistance, the Yankees raiders were at large. Both town and Alabama brigade-headed toward destroyed several buildings and a prison braced for attack. At Ander­ Covington. half-mile of track, as well as 11 loco­ sonville, which Hood considered Dust-powdered and sweat­ motives and 140 cars-most filled extremely vulnerable, the comman­ streaked, the Federal raiders reached with supplies or machinery. They dant had slaves constructing addi­ the courthouse town of Clinton, fif­ then rode east, burning depots, tional defenses. In Macon, Major teen miles northeast of Macon, be­ water tanks, and trestles, and finally General Howell Cobb, commander fore noon on July 29. Had they de­ torching the massive railroad bridge of the Confederate Reserve Force, scended on Macon then, they would spanning the Oconee River. Turn­ gathered troops and artillery. have found Cobb not fully prepared ing north, they feinted toward Mil­ Macon, not just a prison town, but to meet them. But Stoneman gave ledgeville before heading back for an important military-industrial other orders. He sent his Kentuck­ Atlanta. complex and the site of numerous ians directly toward Macon, and Early on the morning of July 30, Confederate hospitals, could not be Biddle's and Capron's men south­ prior to the attack on Macon, Stone­ lost. west toward the Macon-Milledge­ man launched another attack on the What was lost was time. Hood fo­ ville road. Next morning all three Savannah railroad. Between Macon 1 cused on Sherman's infantry move­ brigades were to converge on and nearby Griswoldville, Capron's ments, apparently considering the cavalry activity diversionary. His horse soldiers, instead of pursuing, manned trenches east of Atlanta. Not until after nightfall on July 27, did he grant Wheeler's request to pursue Stoneman. But finally al­ Til tlf lllN~ DI MlfON. ·trn~ . lowed to follow in force, Wheeler and his men sped south, happily abandoning trench warfare. 1 HEAD QUARTERS. As Stoneman hoped, Wheeler took the road toward Flat Rock. But J The ene111 '" , •1lnt•o11~ J111y ao, 1884. . when the Confederates hit Gar­ ~ ho11ses . W J is no1v In sJgJu of rard's force on the 28th, the Federal \ to eve;y : foree. - J commander-a reluctant participant j 81 0 '°c~J~f apt::. in the raid-failed to hold them. Yanks taken prisoner soon revealed Who ltas, a gtt~ r~f ::n or. Ref11gee,­ \ that Garrard was screening Stone­ •et one, to repert at ty kind, or .can man's men, somewhere farther south. Then came dispatches from .-lth,1!'4' Jeast PoSsf hie ~e tonrt Honse . Hood alerting Wheeler to McCook' s , . e ·thrown '. Into . e ay, that 7 fj movements. The awesome scope of ,~ .d __ -- In the def~n Companies an the Yankee threat took form in the Rebel cavalry general's mind. ,l!ro111pt respons~ s~ of the etv• .. ~ .. It seemed Wheeler could offer expe.ct~ little resistance to this "stupendous ~~~ry pa,rfot. . ; · frotM/ cavalry operation." His disposable ,,' . . JOSEPH . . force probably numbered no more than 4,000 battle-weary effectives, fjr Jlepwt te Col. Oar W . E. BROWN"·.~ most mounted on weakened, mal­ !t...... Df.zatfen .,. raptl., -~ Styleli, Who Wfll ~'- '' nourished horses. Nevertheless, the . ...•• le. . ' - young cavalry leader acted rapidly to counter the three commanders Federal cavalry raided Newnan, Macon, and Clinton on July- 30, and Georgia arrayed against him. One brigade Governor Joseph E. Brown issued this plea to citizens. 19 railroad bridge and a flimsy pontoon bridge nearby. At about 7:00 a.m. the Federals swept · forward across the stream, scattering Confederate pickets along the creek bottom. Rushing up the slopes beyond, tqey took the high ground on Captain Sam Dunlap's f farm, left of the road. There, in the farmhouse yard, Stoneman's artil­ lerists unlimbered while other troops erected breastworks with the lum­ ber from a dismantled stable. To their right front, two blockhouses projected above the skyline. They marked Fort Hawkins, an old fron­ tier fortification on "a commanding eminence near the river." Along a low ridge to their immediate front, astride the road, was a long line of ,.. :l'l; -.zl infantry, part of the hastily gathered ,, ', ' ;~~.....,,.... "army" commanded by Cobb. .~ . .~~~ti • ' Neither Stoneman nor Sherman had ·~:.~~~~-JI anticipated such opposition. - The soldiers facing Stoneman be­ longed to two regiments of Atlanta­ bound Georgia militia on loan from Governor Joseph E. Brown. (The governor was in Macon organizing state forces for transfer to Hood's regular Confederate command.) To the militiamen's left at Fort Hawkins, protected by abatis, was one battery. Another battery, supported by a 600-man Confederate battalion and more militia, commanded the Clin­ ton road, blocking Adams' brigade. .. Squads of Cobb's Reserves bridged the gap between the two batteries, Macon, Georgia, and vicinity, circa while a reserve force of local defense 1864. A detail of a previously unpub­ lished city area map, it highlights the Dunlap Farm_, Fort Hawkins, Walnut On "a commanding eminence" Creek, the railroad bridge, and Confed­ near the Ocmulgee River, the erate Camp Oglethorpe (with adjoining southeast blockhouse of old Fort graveyard) . Hawkins. This is an immediate postwar era photograph. men tore up several miles of track, 0 then burned both a passenger train E "E packed with refugees' belongings t: and a fully-loaded livestock train. "'a. 0" Finding Griswoldville defended, the ·~"' raiders rolled blazing cars into a train g parked in the village. And before CJ leaving, they sent a locomotive hurt­ ling backward at full throttle into the flaming wreckage. Following the tracks, Capron's men then joined Stoneman on the Milledgeville road near Macon. Two miles east of the town wound Walnut Creek, where its banks rose gently to overlook suburban East Macon. Just beyond, the Ocmulgee barred the way to Macon. Having learned that the broad city bridge had collapsed during a recent freshet, Stoneman realized his men would have to seize the planked 20 companies and citizen volunteers Ordering Adams to fall back, Stone­ came so heavy Stoneman's com­ stationed itself near the bridgehead. man led the remaining brigades mand halted for the night, certain Cobb himself was on the field, across the creek. He left behind an overwhelming force blocked their along with a celebrated guest, late eighteen dead raiders and a relieved retreat. In the darkness random fir­ commander of the Army of Ten­ and joyous town. Casualties had ing continued as opposing pickets nessee General Joseph E. Johnston. been relatively light. They totaled exchanged shots. Jaded blue-coated Johnston accompanied the Reserve about seventy on each side. Cobb, troopers dropped to rest in the corn commander as advisor. Both men chafing because he lacked horses to fields bordering the road; they had l knew that the fighting ability of the pursue Stoneman, was later praised not covered half the distance to 2,500-man defensive force was un­ for his "gallant defense." The Re­ Hillsborough during their hellish known. Most had little or no train­ serve commander, General Johnston night march. ing; they had never been under fire, later wrote, repelled the raiders by nor had they ever before seen their "his own courage and judicious dis­ officers, mainly convalescents from position and the excellent conduct Sunday dawned, as hot and Macon's hospitals. of his troops, who heard hostile shot As sultry as previous days, the weary As the battle began in earnest, then for the first time." Federals found themselves at a rural billowing black smoke announced Bewildered by events, Stoneman meeting-house called Sunshine Federal success at the railroad bridge pursued a course of indecision and over Walnut Creek. The noise from Church. Many Union officers and delay. Alarmed at false reports that most of the men were in an almost the raiders' carbine volleys and the Confederate cavalry had entered howling of 3-inch shells from their mutinous mood, balking at Stone­ Macon, he directed his men first man's "infatuation" with cutting Rodman guns, quickly created con­ south, then east. He abruptly can­ back the way he had come. Instead fusion and fright in the militia's celed these orders on hearing they argued for moving right to ranks. But by example and threats rumors that enemy forces lay in avoid the enemy. But to argue with their officers eventually rallied most those directions. of them. Stoneman was fruitless. He con­ After waivering, Stoneman can­ A mile and a half northeast, fronted a classic dilemma: no prob­ celed his Andersonville mission. Adams' Kentuckians were more lem is "more difficult for a cavalry Then came a report that "but a small easily discouraged. Their sole at­ leader than that of attacking an force was on the Covington road." enemy drawn up for an engagement, tempt at charging up the steep hill Eager to return north, the general unless it be withdrawing tired in to the Rebel position was pushed determined to strike out for Hills­ the face of a fresh and superior foe." back decisively by a Confederate borough, fifteen miles above Clin­ Capron's men received orders to t countercharge. Adams then merely ton, "where he could take choice of held his ground, awaiting orders. reconnoiter in force. Soon hitting tl:!.!"ee roads at daylight." And hav­ Meanwhile, Federals south of him a line of barricades, they 9roke ing chosen this course, he was to hoped vainly he would move to through them, pushing the enemy hold to it with obsessive intensity. silence the Fort Hawkins battery. back. Pursuing the Confederate Nearing Clinton, the Federals dis­ troopers, the Yankees suddenly en­ As the day wore on, these Confed­ covered Confederate cavalrymen countered enfilading rifle and can­ erate guns often scattered Yankee within the town. Union skirmishers, non fire and retreated hastily. Iver­ troopers, particularly after a Rebel rushing in on separate roads, drove son and his Confederates had finally batteryman climbed a blockhouse out about fifty Rebel horsemen, and tower to call down shots on Stone­ bagged their quarry. released from jail thirty-five com­ man's line. Hearing the unwelcome sound rades captured earlier while forag­ of artillery, Stoneman rode to the ing. Then, as darkness fell, the front. Heavy pine growth prevented raiders torched the jail and began him from forming a clear picture The Federal gunners, unsuccessful their march, lighted for a distance by of the enemy's deployments. But it in dispersing Cobb's infantry, were the burning building. seemed a Confederate battery was also unable to effectively engage the Capron's brigade rode out in ad­ positioned in the road's center, on a fort's elevated battery. Instead, they vance. The elderly, white-haired rise strongly fortified with logs and settled for a "brisk shelling" of the colonel considered Stoneman's fence rails. From the battery, stout town. Miraculously, there was little choice of route a "fatal error" and barricades curved outward like wait­ damage and no personal injury. One worried that somewhere ahead, as ing arms. shell exploded harmlessly outside had been rumored in Clinton, thou­ Stoneman, undaunted, decided a hospital; another crashed into a sands of enemy troopers waited. As to break the Southern line by hav­ home without detonating. his men clashed with increasing ing dismounted men charge it. He The day dragged on in stalemate. numbers of Confederate pickets, sent the horses to the rear with a Federals made a belated attempt to crushed more and more Southern quarter of his force, then prepared rush left along the tracks and take barricades, and skirmishing intensi­ his lines for the assault. He would the bridges and were turned back. fied, Capron's fear grew. lead the charge personally. By 3:00, unable either to gain ground He was right to be afraid. Several The decision to fight on foot shat­ or check the fire from the fort, miles ahead in the darkness, on tered his men's morale. Troopers Stoneman determined to withdraw. carefully chosen ground, Iverson's watched grimly as their horses were Disheartening news underscored his main force lay in wait, resting after led away. One noted, a "cavalry­ decision: Camp Oglethorpe had its mad dash from Flat Rock. Iver­ man without a horse is like a fish been emptied at his approach, its son' s outlying pickets continued to out of water." Without their mounts inmates shipped to Savannah and fall back, drawing the Federals they believed their carbines inade­ Charleston, South Carolina. deeper into a deadly trap. quate, their sabers useless. Iverson's The Battle of East Macon ended. After midnight, skirmishing be- Confederates believed differently. 21 'I I ,I They had served unmounted for "yawned the sepulchre of Ander­ to the right of the road. His 200-man several weeks in Atlanta's trenches. sonville," a place on the minds of force included Biddle, part of his ,:j Their muzzleloaders, cumbersome many of Stoneman's men. brigade, and other loyalists, as well ,I on horseback, were ideal for the Anxiety increased as Confederate as the battery, which kept up a I 1 coming flight, cavalry attacked Capron's exposed steady cannonade. After sending At about 10:00 the Federal line flank. And alarm filtered through word that he would try to cover his \. formed. The unionist Kentuckians the Federal ranks as captured Rebels men's escape, Stoneman was en­ were to the left, Capron's brigade on described their force as devastat­ circled by the enemy. He insisted on the right; one field piece held the ingly superior. When small parties fighting until overwhelmed. But, center, Biddle's brigade, with the of Southern troopers harried Stone­ after a time, the Federals' ammuni­ other gun, was held in reserve. The_ man's rear guard, the raiders became tion supply was almost exhausted. "Negro Brigade," a large band of certain the Rebel force from Macon Stoneman's officers brought him to former slaves driving stolen stock was preparing to pound them from reason, pleading further resistance stood uneasily in the rear, near the behind, crushing them "between the was futile. pack train and led horses. upper and nether millstone." Presently, Confederate skirmishers I "Nerved with the energy of des­ down the hill saw a Federal officer pair," the Yankees crossed the approaching, waving a white cloth. rough, gully-slashed terrain toward Soon Confederate Colonel Crews /i about 4:00 a war council was the Confederate barricades. A break­ At and the Union general met. Stone­ called. The Union officers present through seemed likely at first, but urged immediate withdrawal, dis­ man pointlessly protested the in­ the Kentuckians faltered and fell liking any talk of surrender. Despite dignity of surrendering to an officer back before the "destructive sheet misgivings, Stoneman finally bowed of Crews' inferior rank. The colonel of fire" that met them. Confeder­ to the inevitable. He ordered the soon held the sword of the highest ates immediately sprang from their officers to prepare to break out to ranking Yankee officer ever captured works to strike the crumbling flank, the right. But before the officers by the Confederates. Stoneman, ap­ forcing Stoneman's entire line to could return and ready their men parently broken by fatigue and grief, fall back. for the movement, a Rebel charge collapsed onto a log and wept. Iverson, ill, waiting in the rear, began, backed by well-aimed artil­ In addition to Stoneman'sfaithful ordered his field commander, Colo­ lery fire. Withdrawal became rout. band, the Confederates snared nel Charles C. Crews, to press the Shelled into disorder, the Ken­ enough fleeing Federals to bring the enemy. Fresh parties of Rebel tuckians sprinted toward their total captured to 500. An abundance troopers advanced past their bar­ mounts. This created a gap in the of Yankee killed and wounded-as ricades and formed a forward line to Union line. Confederate troopers many as 250 dead by one report­ engage Stoneman's men. scampered through this hole and lay among the pines. Surveying the i For several hours the fighting rushed toward the led horses. Chaos spoils, the Confederates found two waivered; opposing forces alter­ spread. The already disorganized cannon, 1,000 rifles, and as many nately took and gave ground. For Federal line disintegrated. Only horses. They also rounded up Negro t periods the action would suddenly Colonel Adams, quickly getting his Brigade members to be sent back to cease as the fighters crouched in men mounted and moving, led his their owners, with the exception of I the underbrush among smells of force safely through the thickets one. He had guided the raiders and I blood, sweat, gunpowder, honey­ to freedom. Capron's men were not so was summarily hanged on the suckle, and pine. By early afternoon, so lucky. As one recalled, some battlefield. Iverson's and Crew's vic­ Federal exhaustion and discourage­ "were cut down in the act of mount­ tory had cost fewer than fifty Con­ ment, and the "loss of many valu­ ing, while some of the horses were federate casualties. And as a cha­ able officers and men, broke the captured by rebel soldiers·, who grined Stoneman noted, the ragged Federals' will." They lost faith in mounted them and turned them Southern force had been smaller their commander. One described upon our forces." Numerous horses than his own. Stoneman as "seeming almost mad." had broken loose. And "frightened The following afternoon a "hag­ The dispirited cavalrymen became negroes rushed frantically about, gard and dejected" Stoneman finally harder to align, more difficult to adding considerably to the confu­ crossed the river into Macon, ac­ rally. Adams' men, usually auda­ sion." companied by several captured of­ cious, turned almost timid. Their Many of Capron's men found ficers. Surrounded by their captors, enlistments would be up within themselves caught in a stampede. they were followed to the stockade weeks. The 1st Kentuckians disliked The horses, catching the contagion by an exultant, heckling throng. taking risks against long odds. And of fear, pressed into each other, Brought in shortly afterward, his men of the 11th Kentucky, many of eyes rolling, quivering with frenzy. men were soon closed up in box­ them former-Confederates, guessed Clots of horsemen and riderless cars for their trip to Andersonville, correctly that Rebel Kentuckians horses dashed about in confusion. a journey from which many would were among their adversaries. They They became a panicked herd that not return. were certain defeat or surrender knew no obstacles. One ravine was Meanwhile, near Atlanta, where would put them "in the hands of bridged with the carcasses of horses the Federal infantry movement had the executioner." In these circum­ and the bodies of their riders. Bar­ resulted in the indecisive July 28 stances, the Kentucky brigade felt it ricades and fences were beaten into Battle of Ezra Church, an anxious was time to retire from the contest. splintered fragments by terrified Sherman awaited news from his Capron and his men also lost their horses; expanses of undergrowth raiding parties. By July 30 he had will to fight. The colonel himself were trampled into rough roadways. been reduced to sending scouts to grew concerned for his teenaged Alone in maintaining some order, question citizens about his cavalry's son, a private. Before this boy Stoneman made his stand on a hill whereabouts. Upon hearing Stone- 22 Right: Colonel Horace Capron . His Union bri­ gade, of which his son was also a member, bore the brunt of the Confederate counterattack on July 31. Chased all the way to Jug Tavern, Capron eventually returned to Union lines, with his boy, on August 8.

Left: Colonel James Bid~ I die. A Union brigade com­ mander held in reserve on July 31, late that afternoon j he surrendered to the Con­ federates with General sonal as well as military disappoint­ Stoneman. ment. "I don't think I ever set my heart so strongly on any one thing as I did in attempting to rescue those man had deserted McCook and In sum, the promise of neither the prisoners," Sherman later admitted. headed for Macon, he exhibited a cavalry expeditions nor the infantry Stoneman could not have agreed curious lack of surprise and irrita-. push had been fulfilled. Confederate more. He was imprisoned only tion. rail service to Macon resumed almost briefly in Macon. From there he Only during the first few days of immediately, and Andersonville's sent Sherman a vague, overwrought August, as survivors limped back teeming population had been in­ message, the closest he ever came into the Yankee lines, did the full creased, not freed. Of course, some to an official report of his foray. Soon extent of the disaster begin to take damage had been done, the most transferred to a Charleston, South shape. Garrard's men returned first, serious by Davidson's men at the Carolina, prison, he wrote Union having slowly retreated after trifling Oconee bridge. But Stoneman had President Abraham Lincoln urging casualties. Then some of McCook's lost his freedom and over half his renewal of prisoner exchanges, at­ men arrived to report that after hav­ force, and McCook had fared little tempting to accomplish through ing done minor damage to the rail­ better. Cavalry operations had "ter­ persuasion what he had been unable road, their force had been cut up minated somewhat unsuccessfully," to effect by force. Exchanged in by Wheeler at Newnan on the 30th. wrote Sherman. The truth was much September (for Confederate Brig­ Soon afterward, the Kentucky Bri­ worse. Decisive and resourceful, adier General D.C. Govan), he was gade arrived, relatively unscathed, Wheeler had thoroughly wrecked raiding again by December. By war's reporting both the fiasco near Hills­ the "three-pronged raid," reducing end, Stoneman had somewhat re­ borough and a subsequent disaster the Federal cavalry by almost half. stored his damaged reputation. northeast of Atlanta at a spot called The raiders' failure convinced Sher­ The 20th anniversary of the Battle Jug Tavern. There the remnant of man infantry would have to break of Sunshine Church found Stone­ Capron's brigade had been almost the railroad. Consequently, the man embarked on his admirably annihilated by Colonel Breckin­ Federal conquest of Atlanta awaited progressive governorship of Cali­ ridge' s men, the troops Iverson had weeks of siege. fornia. But when he died a decade sent in pursuit. Many Federals were Left looking uncharacteristically later, full of years and honors, the killed, others captured. Among the foolish, Sherman wrote Chief of Staff controversy surrounding his dis­ latter was the redoubtable Major Henry W. Halleck and attempted to astrous Macon raid did not die with Davidson, whose force had rejoined defend his misjudgments-Stone­ him. Memoirists and regimental his­ Capron's command. The colonel man's case in particular. If not the torians continued for years to dis­ himself, hatless and on foot, but absolute nadir of the Atlanta Cam­ pute, often bitterly, what had ac­ accompanied by his son, finally re­ paign for Sherman, Stoneman' s tually happened during those muggy turned on August 8. debacle came close, for it was a per- July days in 1864. ~ 23