1864 Timeline
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January 17, 1864 Dandridge January 26, 1864 Athens / Alabama January 27, 1864 Fair Garden 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 20, 1864 Olustee / Ocean Pond February 22, 1864 Okolona February 20 Olustee Florida In February, the commander of the Department of the South, Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, launched an expedition into Florida to secure Union enclaves, sever Rebel supply routes, and recruit black soldiers. Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour moved deep into the state, occupying, destroying, and liberating, meeting little resistance on February 20, he approached Brig. Gen. 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. February 22-27, 1864 Dalton I 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 Grant's Wilderness Campaign 
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 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 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 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 Gen. 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. Gen. 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 Roadaka Hatcher's Run, Burgess' Mill. Directed by Maj. Gen. 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 Maj. Gen. 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.
November 22, 1864 Griswoldville November 28, 1864 Buck Head Creek November 30, 1864 Honey Hill November 30 -- Honey Hill South Carolina. Leaving Hilton Head on November 28, a Union expeditionary force under Maj. Gen. 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 General George H. Thomas repulsed it 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 |
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