•· ' TIMES HE CAME AS A LIBERATOR-HE LEFT AS A PRISONER The Union General Lost In Georgia By William Harris Bragg STONEMAN RIDES AGAINST MACON IN 1864 he orders came from Union Major 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 John Bell Hood-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 cavalry corps appeared cavalry commanders. Union Major General impressive. It was comprised of three brigades: George Stoneman was preoccupied with a Colonel James Biddle's Indiana brigade, Colonel scheme of his own, freeing Federal captives from Silas Adams' Kentucky 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 Ohio'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, Virginia, 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. New York born, an 1846 graduate of West Point, forty-four-year-old Stoneman had served in California during the Mexican War and in Texas with the illustrious 2d U.S. Cavalry prior to the secession crisis. His rise 1. in the Union army 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.