Iowa Soldiers in Sherman's Atlanta Campaign

The Fifteenth Iowa marching south from Chattanooga

General William T. Sherman told his commanders the Atlanta campaign would be “continuous,” a contest of endurance rather than brilliance. “We must wear out the enemy,” he said, “by persistent fighting.” Sherman said the army would advance “step by step, feeling for the enemy and pressing him whenever found.” The Davenport Democrat warned readers this would be “not a dash, but a grind,” while the Burlington Hawk-Eye called it “war stripped of romance and fought by inches.”

The Iowa regiments were deeply woven into Sherman’s armies. The Second, Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Thirty-first, Thirty-second, and Thirty-third Iowa Infantry marched south with the Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio. Many were veterans, hardened by Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. Sherman said the western regiments had “learned to endure what would break others,” and Iowa officers understood this campaign would test that endurance daily. Private James H. Pierce of Company D, Twentieth Iowa, wrote home during the opening march that “we are feeling the enemy every day. There is no rest. We march, halt, throw up works, and fight, and then do it again.”

 

Colonel William W. Belknap of the Fifteenth Iowa said the work ahead would be “constant skirmishing, heavy labor with the spade, and frequent loss without decisive action.” The Dubuque Herald seized on the line, telling readers it was “a truer picture of the campaign than any glowing headline,” warning Iowa families the war had entered its most exhausting phase.

General John B. Hood

The movement opened around Dalton and Rocky Face Ridge, where Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston anchored his line along steep, wooded heights. Iowa skirmishers were pushed forward daily to probe narrow gaps and test enemy fire. Private Pierce said the work was “not battle as folks imagine it, but danger that never ends.”

 

The Twentieth Iowa climbed ridges so steep that men pulled themselves up by roots and brush, while the Seventh and Eleventh Iowa felt their way through timber choked with undergrowth. A soldier in the Twentieth said the ridges “rose like walls,” with bullets seeming to come “from the tops of the trees.” The Burlington Hawk-Eye reported the Iowa regiments were “engaged almost hourly,” learning every hill and ravine the hard way.

 

When Johnston fell back toward Resaca, the campaign erupted into a full on battle. On May 14 and 15, Iowa regiments advanced through tangled woods toward the Oostanaula River. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa were heavily engaged, supported by the Twentieth and Twenty-sixth. Confederate artillery ripped through the forest, shredding trees and scattering formations.

 

Corporal William H. Clayton of Company B, Sixteenth Iowa, said the timber was “cut to pieces,” and the air “hummed like a swarm of angry bees.” He “never knew before what heavy firing meant.” His regiment held its ground under severe fire, losing heavily but refusing to yield. Private Charles A. White of Company K, Fifteenth Iowa, said, “Men fell fast, yet no one thought of going back.” The Dubuque Times said the Iowa line “stood like seasoned troops, though many were seeing such fire for the first time.”

 

The assault on Kennesaw Mountain

Johnston retreated again, but the fighting followed close behind. Late May brought hard encounters at New Hope Church and Dallas, where Iowa regiments were ordered against entrenched Confederate lines hidden in thick woods and earthworks.

 

The Seventh, Eleventh, and Twenty-fourth Iowa advanced through thick woods into close-range musketry. The men fired until smoke filled the trees and commands dissolved into instinct. Private Henry K. Strong of Company F, Seventh Iowa, said, “The smoke hung in the woods like fog, and a man fired where he heard a voice or saw a flash.”

 

Another soldier said the firing was “so close a man could scarcely hear his own orders.” m Private John M. Laird of Company A, Twenty-fourth Iowa, said they loaded and fired until “the barrels burned the hand.” The woods were “full of wounded men calling for help.” The Iowa State Register called New Hope Church “one of the fiercest encounters yet fought,” warning that the campaign was now being paid for “yard by yard.”

 

Lines advanced, halted, entrenched, and advanced again as the armies moved south. Colonel Jacob G. Lauman of the Seventh Iowa said the men were “marching by night, fighting by day, and digging whenever we stop.” Private Pierce noted that a man “learns the shovel as fast as the musket or he does not last long.” The Muscatine Journal told readers that Iowa soldiers were “learning the pick and shovel as thoroughly as the musket.”

 

In June, the campaign reached Johnston’s strongest position at Kennesaw Mountain. Earthworks crowned the ridges, bristling with artillery. Sherman said the position was “admirably chosen” and difficult to turn.

 

Sherman ordered a direct assault on June 27. Iowa regiments were among those sent forward. The Second and Eleventh Iowa crossed open ground under crushing fire, struggling up slopes swept by artillery and musketry. Private George W. Scott of Company E, Second Iowa, said the hillside was “alive with lead. No men could live there long.”

 

Sergeant Samuel R. McConnell of Company H, Eleventh Iowa, compared the falling men to “wheat before the scythe. It was not fear that stopped us, but fire no man could cross.”

 

General John M. Corse at Allatoona Pass

Sherman admitted the assault was “a mistake.” A letter from an Iowa officer in the Des Moines Register said “No courage could carry works so strong.” The Muscatine Journal reminded readers the men had gone forward because they were ordered, not because they doubted the danger.

 

Soon after, Johnston was relieved and replaced by General John Bell Hood, and the nature of the fighting changed again. Hood attacked where Johnston had withdrawn.

 

The campaign grew bloodier but shorter. At Peachtree Creek on July 20, Confederate columns slammed into the Union line. The Thirty-second and Thirty-third Iowa shifted position under fire, helping to hold ground against repeated assaults. Private Ezra B. Hadley of Company C, Thirty-second Iowa, said the enemy came “yelling like demons,” but fell back leaving the ground “thick with gray.” The Burlington Hawk-Eye said the fight proved Iowa regiments could “hold as stubbornly as they advance.”

 

As the fighting closed in on Atlanta, Iowa regiments settled into siege warfare. Trenches crept closer. Artillery fire was constant. Hadley wrote home saying Atlanta “burns like a furnace after dark,” with shells arching through the sky “like falling stars.” Private Lewis M. Turner of Company G, Thirty-third Iowa, said, “The noise never stops. If it is not the guns, it is the digging.” The Keokuk Gate City reported Iowa men were close enough to hear church bells in the city and close enough to know the end was coming.

 

Atlanta fell on September 2, 1864. Church bells rang across Iowa. Newspapers printed extra editions. The Iowa City Republican called it “the heaviest blow yet struck at the rebellion,” reminding readers Iowa regiments had marched and fought every mile of the road. The Davenport Democrat said Atlanta was “not taken by chance, but worn down by steady blows.”

 

Thomas J. Reynolds of Company I, Twentieth Iowa, said the city “smells of smoke and ruin.” Victory felt “more tired than joyful. Atlanta cost us more than I ever thought a city could.” Another soldier said, “We have won, but the road here has taken more from us than words can say.”

 

The campaign wasn’t finished yet. In October, Confederate General Samuel French struck at Allatoona Pass, a critical supply point. The defense fell to Brigadier General John M. Corse of Iowa, formerly colonel of the Sixth Iowa Infantry. Outnumbered and surrounded, Corse refused to surrender. During the fight,he was shot through the face; the bullet tore through his cheek and ear. Officers urged him to leave the field. Corse refused. “I am short a cheekboneand one ear,” he said, “but am able to whip all hell yet.”

 

Sherman signaled, “Hold the fort; I am coming.” Corse held. When the battle ended, Allatoona Pass remained in Union hands. Private Andrew J. Miller of Company B, Sixth Iowa, said, “Seeing General Corse stay made every man stay.” Sherman called it “one of the most brilliant defensive fights of the war.” 

 

Iowa newspapers were jubilant. The Davenport Democrat said Corse’s stand showed “the stubborn courage of Iowa blood,” while the Burlington Hawk-Eye said the fight proved Iowa men “do not know how to quit.”

 

Sherman described the Atlanta Campaign as “a continuous battle,” fought across months and miles. Iowa had been present at every stage. Its regiments marched the roads, dug the trenches, charged the works, shifted under fire, and held when attacked. The Dubuque Herald summed it up simply, saying, “From Dalton to Atlanta, Iowa has been written on the field.”

 

Atlanta didn’t end the war, but it broke the Confederacy’s strength in the West and made the last march possible. For the Iowa men, it moved them one step closer to home.

Read more about Iowa troops in the Civil War.