Battle of Griswoldville
Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAT : Battle of Griswoldville
| Savannah Campaign |
|---|
| Griswoldville – Buck Head Creek – Honey Hill – Waynesboro – Fort McAllister |
The right wing of Sherman's force was the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Major General Oliver O. Howard. It encountered the first resistance to its march in Griswoldville. Walcutt was ordered to make a demonstration with his brigade (2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XV Corps) of six infantry regiments and one artillery battery (Battery B, 1st Michigan), toward Macon to ascertain the disposition of enemy troops in that direction. Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick had struck Griswoldville on November 21, capturing a train of 13 cars loaded with military supplies, and burning the station and some factory buildings.
Early on November 22, a detachment of Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler attacked the pickets of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry on the Gordon road, killing one man, wounding two, and capturing 18. The 9th charged and drove them back nearly a mile across a creek, where the enemy was found in force, posted in order of battle. The Confederates advanced and drove in the Union skirmishers, but the 9th Pennsylvania and 5th Kentucky Cavalry made a saber charge that forced the Confederates to retire to their works. At this point, Walcutt's infantry brigade and artillery battery joined the cavalry.
Walcutt threw out a strong skirmish line that drove the Confederates back through Griswoldville, after which, by orders of division commander Brig. Gen. Charles R. Woods, he fell back to the Duncan farm and took up a position on the edge of the woods, with an open field in his front and his flanks protected by a swamp. Here he threw up a barricade of rails and logs and about 2 p.m. was attacked by Wheeler's entire cavalry corps and three brigades of Georgia militia, with four guns. The Confederates advanced in three compact lines, but were met by a shower of grape and canister. They succeeded, however, in reaching a ravine about 75 yards from Walcutt's works, where they reformed their lines and from which they made three desperate charges on the Federal position, all repulsed with heavy losses. The Confederates then tried to turn the Federal flanks, but finding these well protected by cavalry, retired to the ravine, remained there until dark, and then withdrew from the field. Gen. Walcutt was wounded early in the engagement and brigade command fell to Col. R. F. Catterson of the 97th Indiana Infantry.
The Union losses were 13 killed, 79 wounded, and 2 missing. Confederate losses are estimated from 600 to 1,100 (of which 600 were captured).
References
- [National Park Service battle description]
- Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
- The Union Army; A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861–65 — Records of the Regiments in the Union Army — Cyclopedia of Battles — Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers, Federal Publishing Company (Madison, Wisconsin), 1908 (reprinted by Broadfoot Publishing, 1997).
External links
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- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
- * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Microsoft Virtual Earth]
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