General Osterhaus – War Was Here

November 23rd, 1864

Nov. 23rd, 1864:

The Left Wing of Sherman’s army moves into and occupies the Georgia State Capital of Milledgeville. At one point, soldiers occupy the state house building and hold a mock session of the legislature. They have speeches and vote to repeal secession. General Sherman takes the Governor’s Mansion as his headquarters. The Governor had taken all the furnishings with him to Macon leaving the mansion empty. Sherman slept in his bedroll on the floor.

The Right Wing reaches the Oconee River north east of Macon. After passing through McIntyre and Toombsboro they are delayed at Ball’s Ferry by stiff Confederate resistance.

_dsc0491-bw — The Georgia’s old Capital building in Milledgeville, was built in 1804 with the first meeting of the legislature happening in 1807. It was here that Federal troops of Sherman’s Left Wing held a mock congress.

_dsc0475-bw — The old State Capital Building is now part of Georgia Military College. It houses offices, classrooms and the Old Capital Museum.

_dsc0500-bw — This was the Governor’s Mansion in Milledgeville. When the Governor escaped from Milledgeville prior to the arrival of the Federals, he made sure to pack everything, including the furniture for his escape. General Sherman slept here while the Federals were in town.

_dsc0178-bw — The Oconee River at Ball’s Ferry. The Federals of the Right Wing arrived here on the 23rd and found the Ferry on the east(right side) bank of the river under a Confederate Guard. The Federals attempted to cross the river up stream and were able to push the Confederates back for a short time. The Confederates were reinforced and were then able to drive the Federals back across the river. By the 25th, the main Federal columns of the Right Wing reached Ball’s Ferry. They were able to attack the Confederates from the front while another Federal force crossed the river upstream and attacked the Confederate flank forcing a retreat.

_dsc0195-bw — This high ground on the east side of the Oconee River at Ball’s Ferry was once occupied by Confederate forces defending the river crossing.

150 Years Ago Today: November 14th, 1864

November 14th, 1864
     General Sherman and his staff moved south from Marietta, towards Atlanta. Along the way the roads were nearly impassable due to the numbers of soldiers marching south to the city. The railroad had been completely destroyed. They pulled up the rails and then made fires with the cross ties. The rails were placed onto of the fires and the rails were heated red hot and then bent or twisted into an unusable shape. Sherman and his staff crossed the Chattahoochee River on a wagon bridge near the railroad bridge that had been destroyed earlier in the day. When General Sherman reached Atlanta, he established his headquarters at the Lyons House.
     By the end of the day, nearly all of Sherman’s army was in or on the outskirts of Atlanta. They had been organized into two different wings. The Left Wing and the Right Wing. The Right Wing was commanded by Major General O.O. Howard and was composed of the 15th Corps, commanded by Major General P.J. Osterhaus, and the 17th Corps, commanded by Major General F. P. Blair. The left wing was under the command of Major General H. W. Slocum and was composed of the 14th Corps, commanded by Major General Jefferson C. Davis (not to be confused with Confederate President Jefferson Davis) and the 20th Corps under the command of Brigadier General A. S. Williams. Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick was in command of a Cavalry Division that was to operate as a separate unit operating independently and in support of the two wings.
     Having sent all the sick and injured, as well as nearly all the non combatants. Sherman fielded and army that consisted of 55,329 infantry, 5,063 Cavalry, 1,812 Artillery. A total of 62,204 soldiers. They carried all they needed with them and were to forage off the surrounding country side. This is such an impressive number of men and material to move in coordination with each other, on foot, horseback and by wagon. Many accounts exist of how well fed everyone was during most of the march due to the region being fairly untouched by the war until now. Some accounts report that by the end of the march in December, that their livestock was in better condition than when they started out from Atlanta.