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only one day; and on the 29th he threw his army forward to the
Macon road.
Schofield moved cautiously, because he was nearest
Atlanta, and reached the road at Rough and Ready Station, ten miles from that city.
Thomas struck it at
Couch's, and
Howard, crossing the
Flint River half a mile from
Jonesboroa, approached it at that point.
He encountered strong and entirely unexpected opposition, while
Schofield felt none.
The reason was that
Hood, on account of
Kilpatrick's raid, had divided his army, and sent one half of it to
Jonesboroa, under
Hardee, and with the remainder he held the defenses of
Atlanta, and was too weak to attempt to strike
Schofield under the vigilant eye of
Slocum.
Howard fought gallantly at the passage of the
Flint, and on the following morning
found himself in the presence of a very formidable antagonist.
Placing his army in battle order, with the Fifteenth (
Blair's) Corps in the center, and the Sixteenth and Seventeenth on its flanks, while the men, as usual, cast up rude breastworks in front, he awaited an expected attack.
It came very soon, for
Hardee, hoping to crush
Howard before he could receive re-enforcements, threw upon him, as quickly as possible, the weight of his own and
Lee's column.
He failed to effect his purpose.
The
Nationals thus attacked were veterans, and had faced equal danger on many a field.
For two hours there was a desperate strife for victory.
It was won by
Howard.
Hardee recoiled, and in his haste to escape destruction, left four hundred of his dead on the field, and three hundred of his badly wounded in
Jonesboroa.
Hardee's entire loss was estimated at twenty-five hundred men.
Howard's was about five hundred.
At the time of this encounter,
Sherman was at
Couch's, where
Thomas was destroying the railway.
The noise of battle, in the voices of great guns, caused the chief to order both
Thomas and
Schofield to the assistance of
Howard.
At the same time
Kilpatrick was sent down the west bank of the
Flint to strike the railway below
Jonesboroa, and
Garrard was left at
Couch's to scout the country in the direction of
Atlanta.
Davis's corps, of
Thomas's army, very soon touched the left of
Howard's forces, and relieved
Blair's (Fifteenth) corps, which was disposed so as to connect with
Kilpatrick's horsemen.
By four o'clock in the afternoon,
all was in readiness for an advance, when
Davis charged, and almost instantly carried the
Confederate line of works covering
Jonesboroa on the north, and captured
General Govan and a greater portion of his brigade, and a four-gun battery.
Stanley and
Schofield, who had been ordered forward, did not arrive until it was too late to make another charge that evening, owing to the peculiar character of the country.
In the morning there was no foe on their front.
Hardee had fled, and so ended the battle of
Jonesboroa.
At two o'clock in the morning
sounds like the low bellowing of distant thunder reached the ears of
Sherman from the north.
He was a little puzzled.
Surely
Slocum had not ventured to
