Chapter 1: The Battle of Cassville
Catastrophe at Cassville! (Civil War TL)
Catastrophe at Cassville! (Civil War TL)
Chapter 1: The Battle of Cassville, May 19, 1864
Chapter 1: The Battle of Cassville, May 19, 1864
After Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to general-in-chief of all Union armies, he left his favorite subordinate from his time in command of the Western Theater, William T. Sherman, in charge of the Western armies. Grant's strategy was to apply pressure against the Confederacy in several coordinated offensives. While he, George G. Meade, Benjamin Butler, Franz Sigel, George Crook, and William W. Averell advanced in Virginia against Robert E. Lee, and Nathaniel Banks attempted to capture Mobile, Alabama, Sherman was assigned the mission of defeating Johnston's army, capturing Atlanta, and striking through Georgia and the Confederate heartland.
At the start of the campaign, Sherman's Military Division of the Mississippi consisted of three armies: James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee (Sherman's old army under Grant), John M. Schofield's Army of the Ohio, and George H. Thomas's Army of the Cumberland. Opposing him was the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman initially outnumbered Johnston 113,000 to 70,000.
Following the Battle of Resaca, May 13–15, Joseph E. Johnston's army retreated southward while Sherman pursued. Failing to find a good defensive position south of Calhoun, Georgia, Johnston continued to Adairsville, while the Confederate cavalry fought a skillful rearguard action and kept Sherman away from Atlanta.
When the Southerners abandoned Adairsville during the night of May 17–18, Johnston sent Lieutenant General William J. Hardee's Corps to Kingston, while he fell back toward Cassville with the rest of his army. He hoped that Sherman would believe most of the Southerners to be in Kingston and concentrate the bulk of his forces there. Hardee would then hold off the Northerners at Kingston while Johnston, with Lieutenant Generals Leonidas Polk and John Bell Hood as well as Major General William H. Jackson’s Cavalry Division, destroyed the smaller Federal column at Cassville.
Sherman reacted as Johnston hoped, ordering James B. McPherson and the bulk of George Henry Thomas's Army of the Cumberland toward Kingston while sending only Major General John Schofield’s 10,000-strong Army of the Ohio and one corps of Thomas' army, Major General Hooker’s, along the road to Cassville. On the morning of May 19, Johnston ordered Hood to march along a country road a mile or so east of the Adairsville-Cassville Road and form his corps for battle facing west. While Polk attacked the head of the Federal column, Hood was to assail its left flank.
Some 41,000 Confederates now awaited the arrival of fewer than 27,000 Northerners to spring the trap.
Mistaking Polk’s Corps of 15,000 men for a paltry Confederate cavalry force, Schofield launched an attack to disperse them. In turn, the Yankees were driven back. Schofield then established a makeshift defensive line and called for reinforcements. To the north of him, the 17,000 troops of Major General Joseph Hooker’s XX Corps neared the field in column formation.
Meantime, Johnston’s army arrayed itself to deal a decisive blow to the Federals. It took the Confederates the better part of the day to bring their offensive to life. After 3 p.m., the Rebel line surged forward. Leonidas Polk’s Corps attacked the right of Schofield’s line, driving back Schofield‘s men and overrunning the Union XXIII Corps field hospital.
While on the Union left, the 21,000-strong corps under the command of John Bell Hood crashed into the weak Federal line consisting of Brigadier General Alvin P. Hovey’s First Division, overlapping the Northerner’s line massively.
Hovey's men were taken completely by surprise and within minutes almost the entire division was taken prisoner. Only marginally slowed by this, Hood pressed on unflinchingly to maintain the momentum. While his most numerous division continued to advance west and Brigadier General Henry M. Judah's flank rolled up (Schofield's Second Division), he sent the two remaining divisions against Hooker. Joseph Hooker may have been a pompous show-off, but he had guts. With his corps strung out along the road and out of position, he nevertheless managed to form his First Division into something like an order of battle.
The blue-clad men unleashed such a sharp volley that Hood's troops momentarily paused in their advance. This success, however, was short-lived. Looking north, Hooker could detect a cloud of dust. At Johnston's command, Hicks Jackson's 4,600 horsemen came trotting down the road to put the cork on the bottle.
The corps commander knew it was over. He issued unmistakable orders to Butterfield's and Geary's divisions to withdraw to the west and make contact with Sherman's main army, while he himself, at the head of Williams' division, would buy enough time for the others to withdraw.
While the heaviest loss Schofield's army inflicted on the Southerners was the fatal wounding of Leonidas Polk, Hooker's men sold their lives at a much higher price. Only when they were literally surrounded by Hood and Jackson did Hooker raise the white flag and hand over his officer's sword to John Bell Hood, who thereafter paid him his sincere respects. By this time the remnants of the Army of the Ohio had ceased all resistance.
It was the most one-sided battle of the entire war and Joseph Johnston’s masterpiece. While the Confederates suffered 3,000 dead and wounded, the Northerners' losses in these categories amounted to 2,000. Much heavier, however, were the nearly 20,000 prisoners of war who were taken away in a southerly direction. In one fell swoop, Schofield's Army of the Ohio ceased to exist, while less than a third of Hooker's XX Corps did find their way back to Sherman's main column.
At the start of the campaign, Sherman's Military Division of the Mississippi consisted of three armies: James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee (Sherman's old army under Grant), John M. Schofield's Army of the Ohio, and George H. Thomas's Army of the Cumberland. Opposing him was the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman initially outnumbered Johnston 113,000 to 70,000.
Following the Battle of Resaca, May 13–15, Joseph E. Johnston's army retreated southward while Sherman pursued. Failing to find a good defensive position south of Calhoun, Georgia, Johnston continued to Adairsville, while the Confederate cavalry fought a skillful rearguard action and kept Sherman away from Atlanta.
When the Southerners abandoned Adairsville during the night of May 17–18, Johnston sent Lieutenant General William J. Hardee's Corps to Kingston, while he fell back toward Cassville with the rest of his army. He hoped that Sherman would believe most of the Southerners to be in Kingston and concentrate the bulk of his forces there. Hardee would then hold off the Northerners at Kingston while Johnston, with Lieutenant Generals Leonidas Polk and John Bell Hood as well as Major General William H. Jackson’s Cavalry Division, destroyed the smaller Federal column at Cassville.
Sherman reacted as Johnston hoped, ordering James B. McPherson and the bulk of George Henry Thomas's Army of the Cumberland toward Kingston while sending only Major General John Schofield’s 10,000-strong Army of the Ohio and one corps of Thomas' army, Major General Hooker’s, along the road to Cassville. On the morning of May 19, Johnston ordered Hood to march along a country road a mile or so east of the Adairsville-Cassville Road and form his corps for battle facing west. While Polk attacked the head of the Federal column, Hood was to assail its left flank.
Some 41,000 Confederates now awaited the arrival of fewer than 27,000 Northerners to spring the trap.
Mistaking Polk’s Corps of 15,000 men for a paltry Confederate cavalry force, Schofield launched an attack to disperse them. In turn, the Yankees were driven back. Schofield then established a makeshift defensive line and called for reinforcements. To the north of him, the 17,000 troops of Major General Joseph Hooker’s XX Corps neared the field in column formation.
Meantime, Johnston’s army arrayed itself to deal a decisive blow to the Federals. It took the Confederates the better part of the day to bring their offensive to life. After 3 p.m., the Rebel line surged forward. Leonidas Polk’s Corps attacked the right of Schofield’s line, driving back Schofield‘s men and overrunning the Union XXIII Corps field hospital.
While on the Union left, the 21,000-strong corps under the command of John Bell Hood crashed into the weak Federal line consisting of Brigadier General Alvin P. Hovey’s First Division, overlapping the Northerner’s line massively.
Hovey's men were taken completely by surprise and within minutes almost the entire division was taken prisoner. Only marginally slowed by this, Hood pressed on unflinchingly to maintain the momentum. While his most numerous division continued to advance west and Brigadier General Henry M. Judah's flank rolled up (Schofield's Second Division), he sent the two remaining divisions against Hooker. Joseph Hooker may have been a pompous show-off, but he had guts. With his corps strung out along the road and out of position, he nevertheless managed to form his First Division into something like an order of battle.
The blue-clad men unleashed such a sharp volley that Hood's troops momentarily paused in their advance. This success, however, was short-lived. Looking north, Hooker could detect a cloud of dust. At Johnston's command, Hicks Jackson's 4,600 horsemen came trotting down the road to put the cork on the bottle.
The corps commander knew it was over. He issued unmistakable orders to Butterfield's and Geary's divisions to withdraw to the west and make contact with Sherman's main army, while he himself, at the head of Williams' division, would buy enough time for the others to withdraw.
While the heaviest loss Schofield's army inflicted on the Southerners was the fatal wounding of Leonidas Polk, Hooker's men sold their lives at a much higher price. Only when they were literally surrounded by Hood and Jackson did Hooker raise the white flag and hand over his officer's sword to John Bell Hood, who thereafter paid him his sincere respects. By this time the remnants of the Army of the Ohio had ceased all resistance.
It was the most one-sided battle of the entire war and Joseph Johnston’s masterpiece. While the Confederates suffered 3,000 dead and wounded, the Northerners' losses in these categories amounted to 2,000. Much heavier, however, were the nearly 20,000 prisoners of war who were taken away in a southerly direction. In one fell swoop, Schofield's Army of the Ohio ceased to exist, while less than a third of Hooker's XX Corps did find their way back to Sherman's main column.
