Helena, Arkansas

Other Names: None

Location: Phillips County

Campaign: Grant’s Operations against Vicksburg (1863)

Date(s): July 4, 1863

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Benjamin Prentiss [US]; Lt. Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes [CS]

Forces Engaged: District of Eastern Arkansas [US]; District of Arkansas [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 1,842 total (US 206; CS 1,636)

Description: Lt. Gen. Theophilus Holmes’s troops attacked Helena in an attempt to relieve pressure on Vicksburg. Although the Rebels had more troops and did initially capture some of the fortifications, the Union forces repelled them. Thus, Helena continued as an important Union enclave in the Trans-Mississippi theater and served as a base for the expedition that captured Little Rock.

Result(s): Union victory

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Atlanta, Georgia

Other Names: None

Location: Fulton County

Campaign: Atlanta Campaign (1864)

Date(s): July 22, 1864

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman [US]; Gen. John Bell Hood [CS]

Forces Engaged: Military Division of the Mississippi [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 12,140 total (US 3,641; CS 8,499)

Description: Following the Battle of Peachtree Creek, Hood determined to attack Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee. He withdrew his main army at night from Atlanta’ s outer line to the inner line, enticing Sherman to follow. In the meantime, he sent William J. Hardee with his corps on a fifteen-mile march to hit the unprotected Union left and rear, east of the city. Wheeler’s cavalry was to operate farther out on Sherman’s supply line, and Gen. Frank Cheatham’s corps were to attack the Union front. Hood, however, miscalculated the time necessary to make the march, and Hardee was unable to attack until afternoon. Although Hood had outmaneuvered Sherman for the time being, McPherson was concerned about his left flank and sent his reserves—Grenville Dodge’s XVI Army Corps—to that location. Two of Hood’s divisions ran into this reserve force and were repulsed. The Rebel attack stalled on the Union rear but began to roll up the left flank. Around the same time, a Confederate soldier shot and killed McPherson when he rode out to observe the fighting. Determined attacks continued, but the Union forces held. About 4:00 pm, Cheatham’s corps broke through the Union front at the Hurt House, but Sherman massed twenty artillery pieces on a knoll near his headquarters to shell these Confederates and halt their drive. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan’ s XV Army Corps then led a counterattack that restored the Union line. The Union troops held, and Hood suffered high casualties.

Result(s): Union victory

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Allatoona, Georgia

Other Names: None

Location: Bartow County

Campaign: Franklin-Nashville Campaign (1864)

Date(s): October 5, 1864

Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. John M. Corse [US]; Maj. Gen. Samuel G. French [CS]

Forces Engaged: One brigade (1,944 men) [US]; one division (approx. 2,000 men) [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 1,505 total (US 706; CS 799)

Description: After the fall of Atlanta, Hood moved northward to threaten the Western & Atlantic Railroad, Sherman’s supply line. He attacked a number of minor garrisons and damaged track during October 2-4. Sherman sent reinforcements—John M. Corse’s brigade—to Allatoona just before the Rebels attacked there. Maj. Gen. Samuel G. French’s Confederate division arrived near Allatoona at sunrise on the 5th. After demanding a surrender and receiving a negative reply, French attacked. The Union outer line survived a sustained two and a half hour attack, but then fell back and regrouped in an earthen “Star” fort of Allatoona Pass. French repeatedly attacked, but the fort held. The Rebels began to run out of ammunition, and reports of arriving Union reinforcements influenced them to move off and rejoin Hood’s force.

Result(s): Union victory

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