HistoricSiteMarkers
Civil War

Battle of Jonesboro: The Second Day

Jonesboro, Clayton County, Georgia

Marker Inscription

Battle of Jonesboro The Second Day. Sept. 1, 1864. The area bounded by the McPeak house (N.), the Warren house (S.), the R. R. (E.), & U.S. 41 (W.), was the scene of the final pitched battle of the Atlanta Campaign (begun May 7, '64). Hardee's A. C. [CS], posted in a salient angle at the Warren house, was attacked by Carlin's 1st, Morgan's 2d, & Baird's 3d divs. of Davis' 14th A. C. Moving S. E. from the Fayetteville Rd. (at Riverdale), they went into action at 5 P. M.; the battle ended with nightfall & withdrawal of Hardee's forces southward to Lovejoy's Station. Davis' troops were aided on the left by Stanley's 4th Corps which marched down the railroad. 031-24 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1958

Erected by Georgia Historical Commission

The Story

On September 1, 1864, the final pitched battle of the Atlanta Campaign was fought around Jonesboro. Hardee's Confederate corps, posted in a salient near the Warren house, was assaulted late in the day by three divisions of Davis's 14th Corps, aided by Stanley's 4th Corps advancing down the railroad. With nightfall Hardee withdrew south to Lovejoy's Station.

Why it matters

The Union victory here cut Atlanta's last rail lifeline, compelling the Confederates to abandon the city and clearing the way for Sherman's march and Lincoln's reelection.

The story behind this marker

AI context

The era

By the late summer of 1864, the American Civil War had ground into its fourth exhausting year, and the fighting in north Georgia had a rhythm all its own. Since early May, Union armies under William T. Sherman had been pressing steadily southeast from the mountains toward Atlanta, one of the Confederacy's most important cities. Atlanta was not a capital, but it was something arguably more valuable: a railroad hub where lines from several directions met, feeding men and supplies to Confederate armies across the region.

The country around Jonesboro, south of Atlanta, was rolling farmland stitched together by wagon roads, a rail line, and scattered homesteads. It was the kind of quiet agricultural landscape that only becomes a battlefield because of what runs through it. In the summer of 1864, what ran through it was the railroad that kept Atlanta alive.

Nationally, the stakes reached far beyond Georgia. It was a presidential election year in the North, and war weariness was deep. Union victories in the field were doing more than moving lines on a map; they were shaping whether the Northern public still believed the war could be won. A place like Jonesboro, obscure a year earlier, was about to matter enormously.

People & events

On September 1, 1864, the fighting here reached its climax. Confederate forces under William J. Hardee held a bent, exposed portion of their line — a salient — anchored near the Warren house, with the railroad on one side and a nearby road on the other. A salient is a difficult thing to defend: it juts outward, so attackers can strike it from more than one angle at once.

Late in the afternoon, around five o'clock, the assault came. Three divisions of the Union Fourteenth Corps, led by Jefferson C. Davis, advanced from the northwest and drove into Hardee's position. Pressing the attack on the flank were troops of David S. Stanley's Fourth Corps, moving down along the railroad itself. The timing mattered: an assault that begins so late leaves only a few hours of daylight to force a decision.

And a decision came. As darkness fell, the fighting subsided, and Hardee pulled his forces southward toward Lovejoy's Station. This was the last full-scale, stand-up battle of the long campaign that had begun back in May — the final pitched fight before the campaign's central prize changed hands.

Its place in the American story

The importance of what happened at Jonesboro lies underground and along the rails. Atlanta depended on its railroads, and by the time of this fight the line running through Jonesboro was the city's last open lifeline. When that lifeline was cut, holding Atlanta became impossible; supplies and reinforcements simply could no longer reach the defenders in the way a besieged city requires.

The result rippled outward almost immediately. The fall of Atlanta was one of the most electrifying pieces of news the Union received that year, and it arrived at a moment when Northern confidence in the war effort had been badly shaken. A major, tangible victory changed the mood of the home front and strengthened President Lincoln's political standing as the election approached.

It also cleared the path for what came next. With Atlanta secured, Union forces were positioned for the campaign that would carry the war deep into Georgia later that year. In that sense, a late-afternoon assault on a farmhouse salient near a small Georgia town helped bend the trajectory of the entire war.

If you visit

Stand here and the first thing to notice is how ordinary the ground looks — gentle rises, roads, a rail corridor. That ordinariness is the point. Battles in this campaign were fought over exactly this kind of terrain, because control of roads and railroads was control of everything.

Use the landmarks named on the marker to orient yourself: the direction of the railroad, the line of the highway, the positions where the houses once stood. Try to picture the geometry of a salient — a line bent outward under pressure from more than one side — and imagine an attack launched with the sun already sinking. The lateness of the hour shaped how the day ended.

Jonesboro sits an easy drive south of Atlanta, and it pairs naturally with other Atlanta Campaign sites for a day of following the armies' route. Bring a good map, take your time reading the ground against the marker's description, and let yourself feel how a peaceful farming community became, for one September afternoon, the hinge on which a city turned.

Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.

Plan your visit

Nearby

Make a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.

Museums & culture

  • Art-Haus
    13.7 mi away · 332 Ormond Street Southeast, Atlanta, GA

Attractions

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Related people

  • · William J. Hardee
  • · Jefferson C. Davis
  • · David S. Stanley

Related events

  • · Battle of Jonesboro
  • · Atlanta Campaign

Themes & tags

Civil WarBattlefield

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