Reference Entry
BATTLE OF EZRA CHURCH
Fast-forward to the summer of the Civil War, and the terrain shifts to the outskirts of Atlanta. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman had pushed his three Union armies close to the rail lines that kept the Confederate stronghold supplied. Newly appointed Confederate commander John Bell Hood tried to break that grip with a series of aggressive counterattacks. At Ezra Church, west of the city, Union troops under Oliver O.
Dated Historical Context
A RECORDED MOMENT IN HISTORY
Battle of Ezra Church
Fast-forward to the summer of the Civil War, and the terrain shifts to the outskirts of Atlanta. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman had pushed his three Union armies close to the rail lines that kept the Confederate stronghold supplied. Newly appointed Confederate commander John Bell Hood tried to break that grip with a series of aggressive counterattacks. At Ezra Church, west of the city, Union troops under Oliver O. Howard dug in along a low ridge as Hood’s men launched repeated frontal assaults. The fighting was brutal but one-sided, with Confederate brigades thrown back again and again against prepared rifle pits and artillery. Although the battle did not produce a dramatic breakthrough, it further eroded Hood’s army and tightened the noose around Atlanta. The costly failure at Ezra Church underscored how hard it was for the Confederacy to regain the initiative once Union forces seized key transportation hubs.
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