January 26 Confederate force fails in its attempt to take Athens, Alabama. Confederate cavalry, numbering about 600 men, attacked Athens, held by about 100 Union troops, around 4:00 am on the morning of January 26, 1864. After a two-hour battle, the Confederates retreated. Union forces, although greatly outnumbered and without fortifications, repulsed the attackers.
February 6-7 Morton's Ford / Rapidan River
February 13, 1864 Middle Boggy Depot
February 14-20, 1864 Meridian
February 17 Confederate Submarine Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic
February 20, 1864 Olustee / Ocean Pond
February 22, 1864 Okolona
February 20 Olustee Florida
In February, the commander of the Department of the South, Major General Quincy A. Gillmore, launched an expedition into Florida to secure Union enclaves, sever Rebel supply routes, and recruit black soldiers. Brig.
General Truman Seymour moved deep into the state, occupying, destroying, and liberating, meeting little resistance on February 20, he approached Brig. General Joseph Finegan's 5,000 Confederates entrenched near Olustee. One infantry brigade pushed out to meet Seymour's advance units. The Union forces attacked but were repulsed. The battle raged, and as Finegan committed the last of his reserves,
the Union line broke and began to retreat. Finegan did not exploit the retreat, allowing most of the fleeing Union forces to reach Jacksonville.
March 2 Walkerton / Mantapike Hill
March 14, 1864 Fort DeRussy
March 25, 1864 Paducah
April 3-4, 1864 Elkin's Ferry Okolona
April 8, 1864 Mansfield /
Sabine Cross-Roads / Pleasant Grove
April 9, 1864 Pleasant Hill
April 9-13, 1864 Prairie D'Ane / Gum Grove / Moscow
April 12, 1864 Fort Pillow
April 12-13, 1864 Blair's Landing / Pleasant Hill Landing
April 17-20, 1864 Plymouth
April 18, 1864 Poison Spring
April 23, 1864 Monett's Ferry / Cane
River Crossing
April 25, 1864 Marks' Mills
April 30, 1864 Jenkins' Ferry
May The Battle of Spotsylvania.
General Grant continued to attack Lee. At Spotsylvania Court House, he fought for five days, vowing to fight all summer if necessary.
May 4, 1864 Day's Gap / Sand Mountain / Alabama
May 5, 1864 Albemarle Sound
May 5-7 Wilderness / Furnaces / Todd's Tavern
May 6-7 Port Walthall Junction
May 7-13, 1864
Rocky Face Ridge / Mill Creek / Dug Gap
May 8-21 Spotsylvania Court House / Corbin's Bridge
May 9 Cloyd's Mountain
May 9 Swift Creek / Arrowfield Church
May 10 Chester Station
May 10 Cove Mountain
May 11 Yellow Tavern
May 12-16 Proctor's Creek / Drewry's Bluff, / Fort
Darling
May 13-15, 1864 Resaca
May 15 New Market
May 16, 1864 Mansura / Smith's Place / Marksville
May 17, 1864 Adairsville
May 18, 1864
Yellow Bayou / Norwood's Plantation
May 20 Ware Bottom Church
May 20 Ware Bottom Church
Confederate forces under General P.G.T. Beauregard attacked Butler's Bermuda Hundred line near Ware Bottom Church. About 10,000 troops were involved in this action. After driving back Butler's advanced pickets, the
Confederates constructed the Howlett Line, effectively bottling up the Federals at Bermuda Hundred. Confederate victories at Proctor's Creek and Ware Bottom Church enabled Beauregard to detach strong reinforcements for Lee's army in time for the fighting at Cold Harbor.
May 23-26 North Anna / Jericho Mill / Hanover Junction
May 24 Wilson's Wharf / Fort Pocahontas
May 25-26, 1864 New Hope Church
May 26-June 1, 1864 Dallas / Pumpkinvine Creek
May 27, 1864
Pickett's Mills / New Hope
May 28 Haw's Shop / Enon Church
May 28-30 Totopotomoy Creek / Shady Grove Road
May 30 Old Church / Matadequin Creek
May 31-June 12 Second Cold Harbor
June The Battle of Cold Harbor.
Grant again attacked Confederate forces at Cold Harbor, losing over 7,000 men in twenty minutes. Although Lee suffered fewer casualties, his army never recovered from Grant's continual attacks. This was Lee's last
clear victory of the war.
June 1864 -- The Siege of Petersburg.
Grant hoped to take Petersburg, below Richmond, and then approach the Confederate capital from the south. The attempt failed, resulting in a ten month siege and the loss of thousands of lives on both sides, Grant
won by steadily extending his lines westward.
June 5-6 Piedmont
June 6, 1864 Old River Lake / Ditch Bayou / Lake Chicot
June 9-July 3, 1864 Marietta / Pine Hill / Ruff's Mill
June 9 Petersburg
June 10, 1864 Brices
Cross Roads / Tishomingo Creek
June 11-12 Trevilian Station
June 11-12, 1864 Cynthiana / Kellar's Bridge
June 15-18 Assault on Petersburg
June 17-18 Lynchburg
June 21-24 Jerusalem Plank Road / First Battle of Weldon
June 22, 1864 Kolb's Farm
June 24
Saint Mary's Church / Nance's Shop
June 25 Staunton River / Blacks and Whites
June 27, 1864 Kennesaw Mountain
June 28 Sappony Church / Stony Creek Depot
June 29 Ream's Station
July -- Confederate Troops Approach Washington, D.C.
Confederate General Jubal Early led his forces into Maryland to relieve the pressure on Lee's army. Early got within five miles of Washington, D.C., but on July 13, he was driven back to
Virginia.
July 9, 1864 Monocacy
July 14-15, 1864 Tupelo / Harrisburg
July 17-18 Cool Spring / Island Ford / Parkers Ford
July 20, 1864 Peachtree Creek
July 20
Rutherford's Farm
July 22, 1864 Atlanta
July 24 Kernstown Second
July 27-29 Deep Bottom I / Strawberry Plains / Gravel Hill
July 28, 1864 Ezra Church / Battle of the Poor House
July 28-29, 1864 Killdeer Mountain / Tahkahokuty Mountain
July 30 Crater / The Mine
August 1,
1864 Folck's Mill / Cumberland
August 2-23 -- Mobile Bay / Fort Morgan / Fort Gaines Alabama.
A combined Union force initiated operations to close Mobile Bay to blockade running. Some Union forces landed on
Dauphin Island and laid siege to Fort Gaines. On August 5, Farragut's Union fleet of eighteen ships entered Mobile Bay and received devastating a fire from Forts Gaines and Morgan and other points. After passing the forts, Farragut forced the Confederate naval forces, under Adm. Franklin Buchanan, to surrender, which effectively closed Mobile Bay. By August 23, Fort Morgan, the last big holdout,
fell, shutting down the port. The city, however, remained uncaptured.
August 1864 -- General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.
Union General William T. Sherman departed Chattanooga, and was soon met by Confederate General Joseph Johnston. Skillful strategy enabled Johnston to hold off Sherman's force -- almost twice the size
of Johnston's. However, Johnston's tactics caused his superiors to replace him with General John Bell Hood, who was soon defeated. Hood surrendered Atlanta, Georgia, on September 1; Sherman occupied the city the next day. The fall of Atlanta greatly boosted Northern morale.
August 5-7, 1864 Utoy Creek
August 7, 1864 Moorefield / Oldfields
August 13-20 Deep Bottom II / Fussell's Mill / Bailey's Creek
August 14-15, 1864 Dalton II
August 16 Guard Hill / Front Royal / Cedarville
August 18-21 Globe Tavern / Yellow Tavern / Blick's Station
August 20, 1864 Lovejoy's Station
August 21, 1864 Summit Point / Flowing Springs / Cameron's Depot
August 21, 1864 Memphis
August 25 Ream's Station
August 25-29, 1864 Smithfield Crossing
August 31–September 1, 1864 Jonesborough
September-November -- Sherman in Atlanta
After three and a half months of incessant maneuvering and much hard fighting, Sherman forced Hood to abandon Atlanta, the munitions center of the Confederacy. Sherman remained there, resting his war-worn men
and accumulating supplies, for nearly two-and-a-half months.
September 3-4 Berryville
September 10-11, 1864 Davis' Cross Roads / Dug Gap
September 19 Opequon / Third Winchester
September 21-22 Fisher's Hill
September 27, 1864 Fort
Davidson / Pilot Knob
September 29-30 Chaffin's Farm / New Market Heights
September 30 Peebles' Farm / Poplar Springs
Church
October 2 Saltville
October 5, 1864 Allatoona
October 7
Darbytown / New Market Roads / Fourmile Creek
October 9 Tom's Brook / Woodstock Races
October 13 Darbytown Road / Alms House
October 15, 1864 Glasgow
October 19, 1864 Lexington
October 19 Cedar Creek
October 21, 1864 Little Blue River / Westport
October 22, 1864
Independence
October 22-23, 1864 Byram's Ford / Big Blue River
October 23, 1864 Westport
October 25, 1864 Marmiton River / Shiloh Creek / Charlot's Farm
October 25, 1864 Mine Creek / Battle of the Osage
October 25, 1864 Marais des Cygnes / Battle of Trading Post
October 26-29, 1864 Decatur Alabama
October 28, 1864 Newtonia
October 26-29-- Franklin-Nashville Campaign General John B. Hood's Army of Tennessee, in an attempt to cross the Tennessee River at Decatur, Alabama encountered Union forces under the command of Brig. General Robert S. Granger for most of the battle, numbered only about 5,000 men, but successfully prevented the much larger Confederate force from crossing the river.
October 27-28 Fair Oaks / Darbytown Road / Second Fair Oaks
October 27-28-- Boydton Plank Road aka Hatcher's Run, Burgess' Mill. Directed by Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, divisions from three Union corps (II, V, and IX) and Gregg's cavalry division, numbering more than 30,000 men, withdrew from the Petersburg lines and marched west to operate against the Boydton Plank Road and Southside Railroad. The initial Union advance on October 27 gained the Boydton Plank Road, a major campaign objective. But that afternoon, a counterattack near Burgess' Mill spearheaded by Major General Henry Heth's division and Wade Hampton's cavalry isolated the II Corps and forced a retreat. The Confederates retained control of the Boydton Plank Road for the rest of the winter.
November 4-5, 1864 Johnsonville
November 11-13, 1864 Bull's Gap
November 24-29, 1864 Columbia
November 29, 1864 Spring Hill
November 30, 1864 Franklin
November 1864 -- Sherman's March to the Sea.
General Sherman continued his march through Georgia to the sea. In the course of the march, he cut himself off from his source of supplies, planning for his troops to live off the land. His men cut a path
300 miles in length and 60 miles wide as they passed through Georgia, destroying factories, bridges, railroads, and public buildings.
November 22, 1864 Griswoldville
November 28, 1864 Buck Head Creek
November 30 -- Honey Hill South Carolina.
Leaving Hilton Head on November 28, a Union expeditionary force under Major General John P. Hatch, steamed up the Broad River in transports to cut the Charleston & Savannah Railroad near Pocotaligo. Hatch
disembarked at Boyd's Landing and marched inland. On November 30, Hatch encountered a Confederate force of regulars and militia under Col. Charles J. Colcock at Honey Hill. Determined attacks by U.S. Colored Troops (including the 54th Massachusetts) failed to capture the Confederate entrenchments or cut the railroad. Hatch retired after dark, withdrawing to his transports at Boyd's
Neck
November 1864 -- Abraham Lincoln Is Re-Elected.
The Republican party nominated President Abraham Lincoln as its presidential candidate, and Andrew Johnson for vice-president. The Democratic party chose General George B. McClellan for president, and
George Pendleton for vice-president. At one point, widespread war-weariness in the North made a victory for Lincoln seem doubtful. In addition, Lincoln's veto of the Wade-Davis Bill -- requiring the majority of the electorate in each Confederate state to swear past and future loyalty to the Union before the state could officially be restored -- lost him the support of Radical Republicans who
thought Lincoln too lenient. However, Sherman's victory in Atlanta boosted Lincoln's popularity and helped him win re-election by a wide margin.
November 29-30, 1864 Sand Creek / Chivington Massacre
December 4, 1864 Waynesborough
December 5-7, 1864 Murfreesboro / Wilkinson Pike / Cedars
December 7-27, 1864 Fort Fisher
December 13, 1864 Fort McAllister II
December 1864 -- Sherman at the Sea
After marching through Georgia for a month, Sherman stormed Fort McAllister on December 13, 1864, and captured Savannah itself eight days later.
December -- Hood before Nashville
Continuing his policy of taking the offensive at any cost, General John B. Hood brought his reduced army before the defenses of Nashville, where it was repulsed by General George H. Thomas on December 15-16, in the
most complete victory of the war.
December 15-16, 1864 Nashville
December 17-18 Marion
December
20-21 Saltville
