Background and Campaign

Dawn on July 23 exposed the price that Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood had paid for his near victory the previous day - piles of dead Confederates lay in and around the Union lines during the night. Fearful of another onslaught, the Yankees dug in and strengthened their entrenchments. However they were safe, as the Army of Tennessee was in no shape to try another battle on the scale of that of the 22°d. Hood withdrew, and, worried about a Federal strike toward the Macon railroad, moved Hardee's corps southeast to cover this vital link. Union commander Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman brooded over his next move. He was already thinking of moving the Army of the Tennessee, with its new commander Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, over to the west of Atlanta, in order to strike at the rail lines feeding the city from that direction.

Hood reshuffled his command structure after the disappointing results of recent battles. He dismissed his chief of staff Brig. Gen. William W. Mackall, as well as Brig. Gen. J. C. Brown, who unfortunately had to remain in charge of his division until his replacement arrived. Hood disbanded Walker's division and split its brigades between George Maney, Patrick Cleburne, and William Bate. He returned Maj. Gen. Benjamin Cheatham to his division and gave command of his corps to newcomer Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee, of Antietam artillery fame. Maj. Gen. William Hardee was by now desperate to get away from Hood, and Hood wanted to see him go, but for the time being, President Jefferson Davis and military adviser Braxton Bragg wanted Hardee to stay.

On July 27, Sherman was at last ready for his next move. Howard was to take his army northwards and behind the Federal line to the west of the city. Sherman was convinced that Hood has no fight left, but Howard thought differently, but kept quiet. At 4 a.m., Hood discovered that the Yankees were on the move. Later, he was informed that the Federals were making for the area around Lick Skillett Road. He promptly moved Hardee to cover Atlanta's eastern defenses, while the newly arrived S. D. Lee led Brown's and Henry Clayton's divisions to the Lick Skillet Road. Hood, yet again wanting to take the Federals in the flank, called a conference of his key commanders. He explained that Lee would block the Union advance, while Alexander Stewart will move Walthall and Loring's divisions from their works along Lick Skillett road beyond the Union flank, where another two divisions would reinforce them and attempt to roll up Howard's army. The attack would be on July 29.

Early on the 28th, as it extended its flanks, Howard's vanguard ran into stiffening Rebel resistance. Howard was convinced that something was up. However, a disbelieving Sherman rode off to see to the rest of his command. At around 12:30 p.m., Howard's fears were realized when his skirmishers ran to the rear and gray walls of infantry approached his right flank. Stephen Lee, an artillery officer who has never led a large force of infantry, was beginning his second battle as a commander. He had failed in his first.

Lee halted Brown's division once again halted in its tracks, then confused the situation by sending an aide to order forward Gibson's brigade of Clayton's division. Neither Gibson nor Clayton was aware of this fact. After regaining his composure, Gibson asked for help, Lee moved Baker's brigade forward in support. All Confederate attacks come to naught. However, Lee believed that Howard has been caught napping and ordered up his reserves, sending them forward. These men died trying to obey Lee, but they failed to breach the blue line.

It was now Sherman's turn to see an opportunity. If he could get more troops to Howard, they could actually turn the battle around and hit Lee in the flank and roll up the Rebels. Unfortunately, the commander of the division that Sherman needed, Gen. Jefferson Davis, unrelated to the Rebel president of the same name, was ill in bed. His second in command and this division were off somewhere in the Georgia wilderness heading south.

Stephen Lee had committed himself and Hood to a fight, but, by now, he had worn out his men in futile frontal attacks. While galloping around to no avail, Lee encountered General Stewart. After the war there will be some confusion about this meeting, but for the moment, Lee convinced Stewart that he must join him in attacking the Yankees. He even intimated that it was Hood's wish that Stewart attack. Stewart orders forward Edward Walthall's division, with promised support from Lee. On the Federal side, Howard remained extremely nervous about his right flank. He sends anything that can be spared from other parts of the line in that direction. Artillery, always a Union trump card, was set up to sweep anybody attempting to bypass Howard's main line.

Walthall's brave attempts came to nothing. With no support and no stomach for a slaughter, he sent word to Stewart that he must withdraw. Stewart agreed, but asked him to wait until Loring was up, as he cannot rely on Lee's reduced forces to cover the retreat. The battle was over. Howard could have counterattacked, but he wasn't the kind of commander for such an aggressive move. He was happy to have met the enemy and held his ground. The Rebels could be punished another day. Thus ended John Bell Hood's third sortie in order to save Atlanta.

Howard's army counted 632 men killed, wounded or missing. The Confederate price was too high, as Hood lost nearly 3,000 men at Ezra Church.

THE WARGAME

The action starts at 11:30 a.m. and continues until the onset of darkness at 7:15 p.m. Due to the small size of many regiments, I recommend merging units with 200 men or less. Although Federal artillery did eventually form a defensive barrier for Howard, it was after the main battle had been fought. Therefore, its effect was negligible. General Howard was later quoted as saying he had no guns during the battle, and the Confederates had only one battery. Consequently, there is only one battery available for the wargame. It is Confederate, and although I have deployed it with Stewart's division, it could very easily have been with one of the others. If a regiment is shown as having two types of weapons, i.e. RM/RR, then one company has the better of the two.

DEPLOYMENT

The forces of both sides are all on the table, where possible I have put regiments in their proper positions in the line of battle. Smith's Union brigade saw very little action during the battle and may send reinforcements to another part of the line, but it cannot swing out and deliberately flank the oncoming Confederates. The Federal front line must be maintained. There doesn't seem to have been a lot of Federal skirmishers in front of the line, which was unusual. However, the Union player may, if he wishes, use some regiments as skirmishers. Although I have shown the 53rd and 47th Ohio of Lightburn's brigade in line of battle, they may have been in skirmish formation. Reinforcements were called for as the Rebels assaulted the Union right, I have identified some of these regiments and included them in the OOB. They enter at point `A' as follows: Phillips at 1 pm, Cladek at 1:30 pm, and Belknap at 2 pm.

Hindman's (Brown's) division can attack at once. Stewart's (Clayton) can begin its assault at Noon. Walthall cannot attack until 12:30 p.m. However, he can continue to form his division for his intended attack as long as he does not go any further forward. He can, if he wishes, deploy to the right or left of his present position.

The Confederate timings above are based on the real event. For wargaming purposes, it may be better just to allow the Rebels to attack from turn one. I have also shown Loring's division in the OOB, Loring took no part in the assault, but could have been available if rushed into action. If you would like to try this option, then this division arrives on the Lick Skillet Road behind Walthall, initially in march column

TERRAIN

The ground is fairly simple, and is either open or covered with light woods. The Federals hadn't had enough time to dig in before the attack; therefore only two brigades are allowed `hasty works' along their front line. Choose these at random using dice or cards. No others can be built during the game.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

For the third time in just over a week, Hood was going for the Union flank. Therefore, the Confederates must take the high ground on the Federal right, or inflict so much damage on the Yankees that their whole position becomes untenable.

Hood at Atlanta 1864 Part 3: Battle of Ezra Church

Background and Campaign
Ezra Church Order of Battle: Union
Ezra Church Order of Battle: Confederate
Ezra Church Map (121K)