Observations by a Son of the Occupied Confederate South: The Battle of Pickett's Mill, Georgia--A Battle Sherman Wanted To Forget

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Battle of Pickett's Mill, Georgia--A Battle Sherman Wanted To Forget

From Confederate Digest:

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Pickett's Mill: A Battle Sherman wanted to Forget

Four weeks into his Atlanta Campaign, during the War to Prevent Southern Independence, General William T. Sherman ordered an attack on Confederate defenders in the environs of Dallas, Georgia, northwest if Atlanta, Yet, although Sherman instigated what became known as the Battle of Pickett's Mill, he omitted any mention of it in his memoirs. Perhaps Sherman wanted to forget Pickett's Mill - a humiliating defeat and a setback in Abraham Lincoln's War of Northern Aggression.

Sherman's omission in recording this battle is just another example of how northern generals and state historians have worked to slant and shape history in ways that cast the Union in the most favorable light possible - historical accuracy be damned.

On May 24, 1864, the Federal invaders were already stinging, having been stopped in their advance on Atlanta two days earlier by the Battle of New Hope Church. Now, under Sherman's orders, some 14,000 Federal troops, led by General Oliver Howard, marched on Pickett's Mill. There, a smaller contingency of 10,000 Confederate troops were assembled under the command of General Patrick Cleburne.

The Yankee assault at Pickett's Mill began at 5 p.m. and continued into the night. When the sun rose the next morning the outnumbered, but not outfought, Confederates were still in possession of the field. The Yankee invaders had lost 1,600 men compared to the Confederate loss of 500.

This Confederate victory resulted in a one-week delay for Sherman and his invading hoard as they killed, burned, raped and plundered their way across Georgia.

Today Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Historic Site is one of the best preserved battlefields of the War Between the States. On a recent visit there I contemplated the battle as I walked on the same roads used by both Federal and Confederate troops, saw earthworks constructed by these men, and explored the peaceful ravine through which Little Pumpkinvine Creek flows, where hundreds of men died, all to satisfy Sherman's insanity and Abraham Lincoln's lust for money and power.