The Battles for Buckhead Creek and Waynesborough
By John C. Rigdon
The Confederate and Yankee accounts of the final battles in Georgia are as different as night and day. They can't both be true...
"That morning Kilpatrick's men advanced, driving the Rebel skirmishers in front of them. The Union force then came up against a defensive line of barricades which they eventually overran. As the Union advance continued, they met more barricades which required time to overcome. Finally, the Confederates fell back to a final line of barricades within the town. After furious fighting, the Union troops broke through and Wheeler's force ran."
"Learning that Kilpatrick had started out toward Augusta, Wheeler left Iverson before the Federal infantry, and overtaking Kilpatrick at midnight, drove him from the main Augusta road. Pushing on rapidly he struck the enemy several times during the early morning, capturing prisoners. The way was lighted with the barns and houses, cotton gins, and corn-cribs fired by the Federals. Kilpatrick was forced to turn off by way of Waynesboro, where he destroyed the bridge and set fire to the town, but Wheeler arrived in time to extinguish the flames. Beyond Waynesboro, Kilpatrick hastily barricaded a line which Wheeler assailed with great spirit, Humes and Anderson attacking on the flank. The enemy was routed, losing a large number in killed, wounded and prisoners, General Kilpatrick himself escaping with the loss of his hat. In a swamp the fight was renewed, and the enemy again stampeded with the loss of about 200. Retreating over Buckhead creek, Kilpatrick fired the bridge but could not hold his ground long enough to see it burned, and Wheeler repaired the structure and crossed in pursuit. His worn-out troopers had now been riding and fighting a night and a day, but before night again arrived he attacked the Federal line behind their barricades and again sent them flying. "During the night," Wheeler reported, "Kilpatrick sought the protection of his infantry, which he did not venture to forsake again during the campaign."
Judge for yourself. Examine the original accounts and you will see in Joseph Wheeler and his Cavalry a truly magnificent army who held their own and indeed carried the day while outnumbered ten to one.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Turtle on a Fence Post
Confederate Officers
Union Officers
TimeLine
Maps
Camp Lawton
Battles of Buckhead Creek and Waynesborough
A Confederate View
The Yankee Perspective
The Horrid Affair at Ebenezer
Excerpts:
The Siege of Savannah
Across Sherman's Trail
Tales My Mother Told Me
Confederate Forces
Federal Forces
Casualties
Bibliography
The DVD contains the full text of the book in PDF format and also includes the following bonus material to aid in your research.
The Official Records of the American Civil War Volume XLIV. 1893. (Vol. 44, Chap. 56) Chapter LVI - Operations in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. November 14-December 31, 1864. (2248 pgs.)
The Wartime Journal of a Georgia Girl by Eliza Frances Andrews (340 pgs.)
The Siege of Savannah by Charles Colcock Jones (199 pgs.)
Memoirs of General William Tecumseh Sherman (473 pgs.)
The March to the Sea by Maj. Gen. Joseph D. Cox, LL. D. (320 pgs.)
Rosters: The following rosters are included in EXCEL (xls) format:
3rd Confederate Cavalry
8th Confederate Cavalry
10th Confederate Cavalry
5th Georgia Cavalry
1st Georgia Cavalry
2nd Georgia Cavalry
6th Georgia Cavalry