| THE ALABAMA 37TH REGIMENT OF VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA: A NARRATIVE HISTORY & CHRONOLOGY PART VIII: June - August 1864 June 2, 1864 - Lieutenant Colonel Greene writes in his official report, "The conduct of all my officers and almost all my men has been admirable in battle, and on the weary march, since the 7th of May. Total loss, 15 killed, 86 wounded, 8 missing." During the time for which he wrote, his men were engaged in operations variously at "Pumpkin Vine Creek," Allatoona and Dallas, as well as at New Hope Church and Pickett’s Mill. June 13 or 15, 1864 - Private Fred L. Sessions (Co F) dies of wounds while hospitalized at Marietta, Georgia (most likely received from the actions at Pickett’s Mill). June 15, 1864 - Noonday Creek is the flashpoint of the day. June 18-19, 1864 - During the night, General Joseph E. Johnston, fearing envelopment, moves his army to a new, previously-selected position astride Kennesaw Mountain, an entrenched arc-shaped line to the west of Marietta, Georgia, in order to protect his supply line: the Western & Atlantic Railroad. Encountering the entrenched Rebels on Kennesaw Mountain stretching southward, Sherman fixes them in front and extends his right wing to envelop their flank and menace the railroad. June 22, 1864 - "Uncle Joe" Johnston counters Sherman’s tactics by moving John Bell Hood’s Corps, including the 37th Alabama from his left flank to his extended right. Arriving in his new position at Mt. Zion Church (also called Kolb’s Farm), Hood decides, on his own, to attack. Warned of Hood’s intentions, Union Generals John Schofield and Joseph Hooker entrench. Union artillery and swampy terrain hamper Hood’s attack and force him to withdraw with costly casualties. Although the victor, Sherman’s attempts at envelopment have momentarily failed. The 37th Alabama is in the "Battle Mt. Zion Church" June 24, 1864 - Confederate Major General A. P. ("Old Straight") Stewart is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. He is given command of a corps formerly held by the late Bishop-General Polk, who was killed a few days earlier within sight of Johnston and Hood. Command of Stewart’s Division, which includes the men of the 37th Alabama now passes to Brigadier General Henry DeLamar Clayton. June 27, 1864 - Having defeated Hood’s troops at Mt. Zion Church, and inflicting heavy casualties, Sherman is sure that Joseph E. Johnston has stretched his line too thin and, therefore, decides on an attack of the Kennesaw Mountain position with diversions on the flanks. In the morning, Sherman sends his troops forward after an artillery bombardment. At first, they make some headway overrunning Confederate pickets south of the Burnt Hickory Road, but attacking the heavy fortifications proves futile. The fighting ends by noon. Sherman suffers high casualties. Sherman decides that Johnston is too strong to attack frontally. He adopts a plan to maneuver the Confederates out of their defenses. Sherman continually extends his lines to his right and forces Johnston to withdraw. The 37th Alabama is engaged at Kennesaw Mountain July 2-3, 1864 - General Joseph E. Johnston abandons his fortifications and withdraws from the Marietta, Georgia region. General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee steadily moves south throughout July. By July 20th, they take position south of Peachtree Creek, an east-to-west flowing stream, about three miles north of Atlanta. July 7, 1864 - Brigadier General Henry D. Clayton, commanding Stewart’s old division, now called "Stewart’s-Clayton’s Division," (still containing the 37th Alabama inside Baker’s Brigade) is promoted to Major General of the Confederate Army. July 14, 1864 - Pickets from Baker’s Brigade come under cannon fire and are hit by Union skirmishers. Private Francis A. Beatty (Co I) is killed at his post as a picket on the Chattahoochee River. First Lieutenant Robert L. Phipps (Co A) is also killed. Two other members of the regiment are among the dead elsewhere. Private Benjamin Frazer (Co E) dies of an unknown cause at Bragg Hospital on July 14, and Private Edwin Wyette (Co I) also dies from an unknown cause at Madison, Georgia. July 20, 1864 - The 37th Alabama is engaged in the "Battle of Peachtree Creek" Still pursuing Johnston, Sherman splits his army into three columns for an assault on Atlanta with George H. Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland moving from the north. Johnston decides to attack Thomas, but Confederate President Jefferson Davis abruptly relieves Joseph E. Johnston of command. Davis promotes one-legged Lieutenant General John Bell Hood to full General to take his place. Sherman is pleased upon hearing of the appointment of the reckless 33-year-old (who’d also lost the use of one arm) to command of the forces facing him. He is certain that Hood will make the mistakes that Johnston has thus far avoided. He is painfully correct. Hood impulsively attacks Thomas after his army crosses Peachtree Creek. The determined assault threatens to overrun the Union troops at various locations. Ultimately, though, the Yankees hold, and the Confederates must fall back. July 22, 1864 - Following the Battle of Peachtree Creek, Hood, who has grown tired of trench warfare, decides on a frontal attack of Major General James B. McPherson’s Union Army of the Tennessee. He withdraws his main army at night from Atlanta’s outer defensive line to an inner line, enticing Sherman to follow. In the meantime, he sends 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 is to operate farther out on Sherman’s supply line, and General Frank Cheatham’s corps is to attack the Union front. The 37TH ALABAMA is engaged in the "Battle of Atlanta" Having never commanded more than a Corps, and that for merely a few weeks, Hood miscalculates the time necessary to make the march. Hardee is completely unable to attack until the afternoon. Although Hood has outmaneuvered Sherman for the moment, McPherson grows concerned about his left flank and sends his reserves - an entire corps - to that location. Two of Hood’s divisions run into this reserve force and, outnumbered, are easily repulsed. The Rebel attack stalls on the Union rear but begins to roll up the left flank. Around the same time, a Confederate soldier shoots and kills McPherson as he rides out to observe the fighting. Determined attacks continue, but the Union forces hold. About 4:00 p.m., Cheatham’s Corps breaks through the Union front at the Hurt House, but Sherman masses 20 artillery pieces on a knoll near his headquarters to shell these Confederates and halts their drive. Major General John A. Logan’s XV Corps leads a counterattack that restores the Union line. The Union troops hold, and Hood suffers high casualties. It is an unfortunate precedent he will continue to follow. Among the dead is the beloved Lieutenant Colonel Alexander A. Greene - along with 39 other men from the 37th Alabama. Just weeks earlier, on the 15th of May, a member of another regiment serving alongside the 37th Alabama was struck by Greene’s public profession of faith following a speech by the Honorable J.L. Curry (member of Confederate Congress) who stated: "...This is neither the time nor place for a political speech. I feel that this is a solemn occasion in which the destiny of human souls for eternity is at stake." The soldier wrote in his diary, "Then he (Curry) gave a most stirring and earnest appeal for us all to become soldiers of the Cross, and closed by asking for volunteers to join the army of the Cross. About 100 came forward and gave their hands, among them was Col. Green of the 37 Ala. Reg. who was converted..."Captain T. J. Griffin (Co I) is left to assume command of the regiment, quite simply because the remainder of the officers: Captains James H. Johnson (Company B); Joel C. Kendrick (Co C - later promoted to Major); Joel G. Greene (Co E) and C. E. Evans (Co G) are all wounded in the fighting around Atlanta (Evans for the second time). Command of Evans’ Company G apparently falls to Burton Upchurch, a 2nd Lieutenant who transferred from the 42nd Alabama. Company B’s acting commander, 2nd Lieutenant John M. Trammell, who took over for the wounded Captain J.H. Johnson is taken prisoner leaving that company completely devoid of its officers. Even the cream of the non-commissioned officers Sergeant-Major W.F. Dickenson (Co D) is wounded and is hospitalized by July 24 at Montgomery, Alabama. Their brigade commander, Brigadier General Alpheus Baker, files his official report of the battle. In it he writes: "In this action the Thirty-Seventh Alabama Regiment lost 50 killed and wounded, among the latter their brave and skillful commander, Lt. Col. Greene. The conduct of officers and men in this trying ordeal, and officially of the Thirty-Seventh Alabama Regiment, who bore that so long is worthy of all honor and demonstrates how confidently they may be relied upon in any emergency." It is the single largest loss of life the 37th Alabama has ever encountered in combat. Known Regimental Dead from Actions at Atlanta on July 22: Although fewer of the reported 40 killed have been identified, many more than the 10 reported as wounded have surfaced, along with a great many POWs. Known and Suspected Wounded July 28, 1864 - Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal forces have previously approached Atlanta from the east and north. Hood has not defeated them, but he has kept them away from the city, and its supply lines. Sherman now decides to attack from the west. Sherman orders his Federal Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Major General O. O. Howard, to move from the left wing to the right and cut Hood’s last railroad supply line between East Point and Atlanta. Hood recognizes the maneuver and sends the two corps of Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee and Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart to intercept the Union force. On the afternoon of July 28, the Rebels assault Howard at Ezra Church180 (also called "Ezra Chapel"). The 37th Alabama is engaged in the "Battle of Ezra Church" Howard anticipated such a move and has entrenched one of his corps in the Confederate path, and repulses the attack, inflicting numerous casualties. The Confederate action is a success as the Federals fail to cut the vital railroad. During the fight at Ezra Church, Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee is wounded. Among the wounded is another officer who figures greatly in the future of the 37th Alabama, its brigade commander Brigadier General Alpheus Baker. August 5-7, 1864 - After failing to envelop Hood’s left at Ezra Church, Sherman still wants to extend his right flank to hit the railroad between East Point and Atlanta. He transfers John M. Schofield’s Army of the Ohio from his left to his right flank and sends him to the north bank of Utoy Creek. Although Schofield’s troops are at Utoy Creek on August 2, they, along with the XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, do not cross until the 4th. The 37th Alabama is engaged in the "Battle of Utoy Creek" Schofield’s force begins its move the morning of August 5th, and is initially successful. Schofield then regroups his forces, which takes the rest of the day. The delay allows the Rebels to strengthen their defenses with abatis (sharpened sticks and poles driven into the ground facing the enemy), which slows the Union attack when it restarts on the morning of August 6th. The Federals are repulsed with heavy losses by Bate’s Division, and fail in their attempt to break the railroad. On August 7th, the Union troops move toward the Confederate main line and entrench. Here they will remain until late August. Known Regimental Dead from Actions at Utoy Creek - August 5-7, 1864: August 25, 1864 - The Union army begins pulling out of its entrenched positions to hit the Macon & Western Railroad between Rough and Ready, and Jonesboro GA. The same day the 37th Alabama and the rest of Baker’s Brigade are ordered to leave Atlanta for Spanish Fort strategically overlooking Mobile Bay. NEXT: History - Part IX
37th Alabama Regiment of Volunteer Infantry CSA © Copyright 2007 C.C. (Chip) Culpepper
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