Battle of Griswoldville

Battle of Griswoldville
Part of the American Civil War
Date November 22, 1864 Location Griswoldville, Georgia in Jones County, Georgia 32°52′00″N 83°28′10″W / 32.866756°N 83.469486°W / 32.866756; -83.469486Coordinates: 32°52′00″N 83°28′10″W / 32.866756°N 83.469486°W / 32.866756; -83.469486 Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Charles C. Walcutt Charles R. Woods	Joseph Wheeler Pleasant J. Philips
Strength
1,500	4,500
Casualties and losses
94 total, 13 dead, 79 wounded, 2 captured	~1,123 total, 51 dead, 472 wounded, ~600 captured

The Battle of Griswoldville was the first battle of Sherman's March to the Sea, fought November 22, 1864, during the American Civil War. A Union Army brigade under Brig. Gen. Charles C. Walcutt fought three brigades of Georgia militia under Brig. Gen. Pleasant J. Philips, at Griswoldville, near Macon, Georgia, and continued its march toward Savannah.

Background

Sherman, victorious in the lengthy Atlanta Campaign, had refitted his army and recently departed from Atlanta on a march designed to reach the Atlantic Coast at Savannah. The right wing of Sherman's force was the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Maj. Gen. 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.

Battle

Map of Griswoldville Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program.

Early on November 22, a detachment of Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler attacked the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry on the Gordon Road, killing one man, wounding two, and capturing eighteen. The 9th then charged the Confederates 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 a battery of artillery was also brought up. About 2 p.m., three brigades of Georgia militia under the command of Brig. Gen. Pleasant J. Philips attacked. The Georgia Militia had been ordered from Macon to Augusta, thinking the latter was Sherman’s next objective, and only accidentally collided with Walcutt’s force.

The militia advanced in three compact lines, but were met by a shower of 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 militia 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. General Walcutt was wounded early in the engagement, and brigade command fell to Col. Robert F. Catterson of the 97th Regiment Indiana Infantry.

Aftermath

The Union losses were 13 killed, 79 wounded, and 2 missing. Confederate losses are estimated at 51 dead, 472 wounded, and about 600 captured. General William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea continued.^[1]

After the Civil War, this industrial community of Griswoldville—a source for Confederate military supplies during the war—was not rebuilt. (see: Jones County, Georgia)

Notes

References

• National Park Service battle description
• Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5.

Further reading

• 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. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing, 1997. First published 1908 by Federal Publishing Company.

External links

• Griswoldville Battlefield State Historical Site
• Griswoldville, Georgia - Industry and War in the Old South

Georgia in the American Civil War
Pre-War	History of slavery in Georgia
1861	Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1861 Georgia Militia
1862	Great Locomotive Chase Siege of Fort Pulaski
1863	Battle of Fort McAllister (1863) Battle of Chickamauga Battle of Davis' Cross Roads Battle of Ringgold Gap
1864	Army of the Tennessee Army of Georgia Battle of Rocky Face Ridge Battle of Resaca First Battle of Dalton Battle of Adairsville Battle of New Hope Church Battle of Dallas Battle of Pickett's Mill Battle of Marietta Battle of Kolb's Farm Battle of Pace's Ferry Battle of Brown's Mill Battle of Peachtree Creek Battle of Kennesaw Mountain Battle of Atlanta Battle of Ezra Church Battle of Utoy Creek Second Battle of Dalton Battle of Lovejoy's Station Battle of Jonesborough Battle of Allatoona Battle of Griswoldville Battle of Buck Head Creek Battle of Fort McAllister (1864) Battle of Altamaha Bridge
1865	Battle of West Point Battle of Columbus