On July 28, 1864, the Battle of Ezra Church was fought in Fulton County, Georgia during the Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War. By July 1864, Union troops under Major General William T. Sherman were quickly surrounding the city of Atlanta and were frantically trying to drive them off. The Confederate Commander General John Bell Hood attacked Sherman’s forces twice once on July 20 and again on July 22. On July 28 he tried again sending the Corps of Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee to attack Union troops under Major General Oliver O. Howard, who were positioned near Ezra Church. The rebels’ plan was to attack the Union flank, but instead they hit the Union center. There Howard’s men had formed a makeshift trench built partly of pews from Ezra Church. The Confederate attackers were devastated by Yankee fire. Attack after attack was launched by the rebels; all to no avail. The battle had been extremely costly for the Confederates, with their casualties totaling 3,000 men, as opposed to 630 for the Union. Ezra Church was critical blow to General Hood and his confederates around Atlanta and his capability to attack Sherman was effectively gone.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 18:21:00 +0000
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