Kenesaw Mountain, Battle of

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KENESAW MOUNTAIN, BATTLE OF

KENESAW MOUNTAIN, BATTLE OF (27 June 1864). As Union general William Tecumseh Sherman advanced southward from Chattanooga, Tennessee, in his campaign to Atlanta, he used flanking movements to avoid a protracted confrontation with his opponent, General J. E. Johnston. As he neared Atlanta, Sherman came upon the Confederate army, drawn up with its center occupying the crest of Kenesaw Mountain. His frontal attack was repulsed with heavy losses. Several days later, he resumed his flanking movements, forcing Johnston southward to the line of the Chattahoochee River. The unnecessary assault on Kenesaw Mountain was one of Sherman's few serious errors in the campaign.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fellman, Michael. Citizen Sherman: A Life of William Tecumseh Sherman. New York: Random House, 1995.

McDonough, James L. "War So Terrible": Sherman and Atlanta. New York: Norton, 1987.

Royster, Charles. The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans. New York: Knopf, 1991.

Thomas RobsonHay/a. r.

See alsoAtlanta Campaign ; Sherman's March to the Sea .