Pickett's Mill Battle Reports

[rickvox79]

Hey everyone,

I was looking for some Battle Reports from the Battle of Pickett's Mill. I was hoping to make a trip there in March or April and had relatives on both sides so I wanted to have those to study over and take with me. On the Confederate side I needed the 33rd Alabama (Cleburne's Division, Lowrey's Brigade) and the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers (Kelly's Division Cavalry Corps, Hannon's Brigade) if there is one for them.

For the Union side I need the 6th Indiana (Howard's 4th Corp, Wood's 3rd Division, Hazen's 2nd Brigade) and lastly the 78th Pennsylvania (14th Corp, Johnson's 1st Division, Scribner's 3rd Brigade).

Thanks ahead of time!

 

[1stMN]

Official reports? You might be able to track some correspondences down from this website:

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/m/moawar/waro.html

This also comes in book form and a CD/DVD...I opted for the disc as I didn't fancy breaking my bookshelves

More specifically, here are the Atlanta Campaign entries:

Volume XXXVIII - in Five Parts. 1891. (Vol. 38, Chap. 50)
Chapter L - The Atlanta, Ga., Campaign. May 1-September 8, 1864.

There are links on the webpage to the reports.

 

[1stMN]

The Civil War Trust also does a nice job with their summaries:

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/pickettsmill.html?tab=facts

 

[DR_Hanna]

I stumbled across this archive.org book

The Battle of Pickett's Mill - "Foredoomed to Oblivion" by Morton R. McInvale

It is a joint effort by the state of GA and the Federal Government from 1977. It has detailed accounts of the battle, the area, with nice maps and photographic references of places referred to in the narrative. Still reading it but a first skim thru it looks like a keeper. I'll be heading back up Sherman's trail when it warms up.

 

[rickvox79]

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll definitely check it out. I got this book a few years ago:

Reading it for the second time now to get ready for the trip. Doesn't look like Blue and Gray Magazine has a specific magazine based on Pickett's Mill but the above book is a good one on the battle.

 

[AUG]

Here's Cleburne's battle report:
http://gastateparks.org/info/121726?ran=398730759

And you've probably seen it already, but Brad Butkovich, author of the above book, also created this online virtual tour of Pickett's Mill: http://www.civilwarvirtualtours.com/pickettsmill/pickettsmill.html

 

[rickvox79]

Here's Cleburne's battle report:
http://gastateparks.org/info/121726?ran=398730759

And you've probably seen it already, but Brad Butkovich, author of the above book, also created this online virtual tour of Pickett's Mill: http://www.civilwarvirtualtours.com/pickettsmill/pickettsmill.html

Yeah, it's a good site on the battle with maps etc. Thanks for Cleburne's report.

 

[lelliott19]

@rickvox79 You gotta read this account by Ambrose Bierce staff officer to Brig Gen Hazen (Hazen's Brigade Thomas J Wood's Division, of the IV Corps commanded by Maj Gen Oliver O Howard) http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/picketts-mill/the-crime-at-picketts-mill.html

"It is seldom, indeed, that a subordinate officer knows anything about the disposition of the enemy's forces—except that it is unaimable—or precisely whom he is fighting. As to the rank and file, they can know nothing more of the matter than the arms they carry. They hardly know what troops are upon their own right or left the length of a regiment away. If it is a cloudy day they are ignorant even of the points of the compass. It may be said, generally, that a soldier's knowledge of what is going on about him is coterminous with his official relation to it and his personal connection with it; what is going on in front of him he does not know at all until he learns it afterward....

...But after a march of less than a mile an hour and a further delay of three hours at the end of it to acquaint the enemy of our intention to surprise him, our single shrunken brigade of fifteen hundred men was sent forward without support to double up the army of General Johnston. "We will put in Hazen and see what success he has." In these words of General Wood to General Howard we were first apprised of the true nature of the distinction about to be conferred upon us."

 

[Chattahooch33]

Hey everyone,

I was looking for some Battle Reports from the Battle of Pickett's Mill. I was hoping to make a trip there in March or April and had relatives on both sides so I wanted to have those to study over and take with me. On the Confederate side I needed the 33rd Alabama (Cleburne's Division, Lowrey's Brigade) and the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers (Kelly's Division Cavalry Corps, Hannon's Brigade) if there is one for them.

For the Union side I need the 6th Indiana (Howard's 4th Corp, Wood's 3rd Division, Hazen's 2nd Brigade) and lastly the 78th Pennsylvania (14th Corp, Johnson's 1st Division, Scribner's 3rd Brigade).

Thanks ahead of time!

Here is an excellent site on PM: http://civilwarvirtualtours.com/pickettsmill/maps/700am.html

Also I recommend downloading the app Maprika on you smart phone if you have one. I have uploaded some of these maps to it and you can track yourself with GPS using them.

You can see the 33rd where they spent most of the battle holding the Cornfield and exchanging fire with the 5th KY.



Who was your ancestor in the 33rd AL? I had a cousin, Pvt. Henry Goolsby of Co. K.

 

[rickvox79]

Here is an excellent site on PM: http://civilwarvirtualtours.com/pickettsmill/maps/700am.html

Also I recommend downloading the app Maprika on you smart phone if you have one. I have uploaded some of these maps to it and you can track yourself with GPS using them.

View attachment 90492
You can see the 33rd where they spent most of the battle holding the Cornfield and exchanging fire with the 5th KY.



Who was your ancestor in the 33rd AL? I had a cousin, Pvt. Henry Goolsby of Co. K.

Yeah I have saved several of those maps from that site that were related to my family. This one below is probably the one that means the most to me in terms of ancestry:

You can see Kelly's skirmishers in front of the cornfield in the map above. The 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers under Colonel Moses Hannon (Kelly's Cavalry Division) were in front of the field as skirmishers along with the 24th Alabama. My third gen great grandfather was in the 53rd along with 7 of my uncles and 4 first cousins. The 6th Indiana is being shown attacking those skirmishers along with the 5th Kentucky. I had 3 third generation uncles and 1 first cousin in the 6th Indiana. In the map you posted you can see the 78th Pennsylvania attacking the same skirmishers or the ones that hadn't been driven back yet. I had 5 second cousins in the 78th Penn and then 1 uncle and 3 distant cousins in the 33rd Alabama.

So I definitely want to go to that cornfield. My closest relative in the 33rd was my third gen great uncle William T Davis in company A. Three of my distant cousins from the Donaldson family were also in company A.

 

[C. Cash]

A Volcano of Fire: Rediscovering Ashby’s Tennessee Cavalry Brigade At Pickett’s Mill

The Battle of Pickett's Mill, fought on May 27, 1864, was particularly horrific in it's ferocity and carnage; made worse by the heavily wooded and tangled terrain the men struggled through. The actions of Granbury’s Texans to stem the waves of Union Infantry attacking through the ravine are well...

www.westerntheatercivilwar.com

 

[C. Cash]

What is not currently shown in modern depictions of Pickett's Mill is that the dismounted Cavalry under Kelly(350 men) and a portion of Humes(Ashby's Brigade with abt. 700 men), fighting on the right of Granbury, played a much greater role in the Confederate victory on 27 May. These troopers held Hazen's left for about an hour before Cleburne sent in Govan(Baucum) and Lowrey's Brigade. This was the place, as Johnston put it, where "the foremost" of the Federals of Howard's troops tried to flank Granbury's right. Johnston wrote:
The Fourth (Howard's) Corp came on in deep order, and assailed the Texans with
great vigor, receiving their close and accurate fire with the fortitude always exhibited by General Sherman's troops in the actions of this campaign. They had also to endure the fire of Govan's right, including two pieces of artillery, on their right flank. At the same time, Kelly's and a part of Humes's troops, directed by General Wheeler, met the Federal left, which was following the movement of the main body, and drove back the leading brigade, taking thirty or forty prisoners. The united force continued to press forward, however, but was so much delayed by the resistance of Wheeler's troops as to give time for the arrival, on that part of the field, of the Eighth and Ninth[Nineteenth] Arkansas regiments under Colonel Baucum, detached by General Govan to the assistance of the cavalry. This little body met the foremost of the Federal troops as they were reaching the prolongation of Granbury's line, and charging gallantly, drove them back, and preserved the Texans from an attack in flank which must have been fatal." (8)

 

[C. Cash]

Yeah I have saved several of those maps from that site that were related to my family. This one below is probably the one that means the most to me in terms of ancestry:

View attachment 90502

You can see Kelly's skirmishers in front of the cornfield in the map above. The 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers under Colonel Moses Hannon (Kelly's Cavalry Division) were in front of the field as skirmishers along with the 24th Alabama. My third gen great grandfather was in the 53rd along with 7 of my uncles and 4 first cousins. The 6th Indiana is being shown attacking those skirmishers along with the 5th Kentucky. I had 3 third generation uncles and 1 first cousin in the 6th Indiana. In the map you posted you can see the 78th Pennsylvania attacking the same skirmishers or the ones that hadn't been driven back yet. I had 5 second cousins in the 78th Penn and then 1 uncle and 3 distant cousins in the 33rd Alabama.

So I definitely want to go to that cornfield. My closest relative in the 33rd was my third gen great uncle William T Davis in company A. Three of my distant cousins from the Donaldson family were also in company A.

All of Kelly's men report pulling back through Granbury and holding that line until Granbury was fully in place. Upon Granbury's his arrival, some reportedly were put in place across the PM Road along the ridgeline on the western and southern ends of the cornfield where Ashby's Brigade, led by Col. JT Wheeler was coming into place. These dismounted cav. would suffer over 231 casualties holding Hazen's left for about an hour until Cleburne sent in his Infantry to reinforce them. The Cavalry to the right of Wildcat Branch were more of Humes and Martin's Division of Cavalry. These latter held Scribner in place and harrassed Knefler with an enfilade fire but this was more of a skirmish action and casualties light. These two distinct Cavalry actions, one a severe Infantry fight and one a skirmish are often confused. The position marked as Kelly's Skirmishers on your map was near the ending position for portions of Kelly Div. and Ashby Brigade(Humes Div). Just a bit left of what is depicted. They had pushed Hazen's left off of the ridge that overlooks the cornfield/ravine to the western fence of the cornfield when Cleburbe's men caught up with the cavalry and helped them push them back through the cornfield. There, both sides blazed away at each other until nightfall.