Battle of Peachtree Creek

"Few battlefields of the war have been strewn so thickly with dead and wounded as they lay that evening around Collier's Mill." (Union Major Gen. J.D. Cox)

Date	July 20, 1864 (1864-07-20)
Location	Fulton County, Georgia
Result	Union victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

George H. Thomas

John B. Hood

Units involved

Army of the Cumberland

Army of Tennessee

Strength

21,655

20,250

Casualties and losses

1,900

2,500

The Battle of Peachtree Creek was fought in Georgia on July 20, 1864, as part of the Atlanta Campaign in the American Civil War. It was the first major attack by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood since taking command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. The attack was against Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Union army which was perched on the doorstep of Atlanta. The main armies in the conflict were the Union Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas, and two corps of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Lt. Gen. John B. Hood. The battle of Peachtree Creek was the first battle fought by Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee.

Sherman had launched his grand offensive against the Army of Tennessee in early May. For more than two months, Sherman's forces, consisting of the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio, sparred with the Confederate Army of Tennessee, then under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston. Although the Southerners gained tactical successes at the Battle of New Hope Church, the Battle of Pickett's Mill, and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, they were unable to counter Sherman's superior numbers. Gradually, the Union forces flanked the Confederates out of every defensive position they attempted to hold. On July 8, Union forces crossed the Chattahoochee River, the last major natural barrier between Sherman and Atlanta.

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