HistoricSiteMarkers
Civil War

The Battles for Atlanta

Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia

Marker Inscription

The Battles for Atlanta. Between July and Sept. 1864, during the American Civil War, U.S. and Confederate armies struggled for control of Atlanta, the major manufacturing center and railroad hub of the Deep South. Four inconclusive battles occurred inside the present-day I-285 Perimeter: Peachtree Creek (July 20), Atlanta (July 22, fought in part in the area of this marker), Ezra Church (July 28); and Utoy Creek (August 6). Unwilling to attack the city's strong defenses, U.S. forces swept west and then south and at Jonesboro (Aug. 31- Sept. 1) cut the last railroad supplying Atlanta, forcing the Confederates to abandon the city. The fall of Atlanta on Sept. 2, 1864, assured the re-election of Abraham Lincoln and the final defeat of the Confederacy. 2010.5 Erected for the Civil War 150 Commemoration by the Georgia Historical Society, the Georgia Battlefields Association and the Georgia Department of Economic Development 51-8 Note: Although this marker is numbered "51" (which is the number for Effingham County), it is located in Atlanta (Fulton County); thus should be numbered "60"

Erected by Georgia Historical Society

The Story

Between July and September 1864, Union and Confederate armies fought for control of Atlanta, the Deep South's great manufacturing and railroad hub. Four inconclusive battles—Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Ezra Church, and Utoy Creek—raged around the city before Union forces swept south and, at Jonesboro, cut the last railroad supplying it. Atlanta fell on September 2, 1864.

Why it matters

The capture of Atlanta was a turning point of the Civil War, assuring Abraham Lincoln's reelection and setting the Confederacy on the road to final defeat.

The story behind this marker

AI context

The era

By the summer of 1864, the American Civil War had ground on for three exhausting years, and both sides knew that Atlanta had become one of its great prizes. The city was the major manufacturing center and railroad hub of the Deep South — a place where iron, supplies, and rail lines converged. Take Atlanta, and you struck at the Confederacy's ability to feed and move its armies.

The fighting for the city ranged across the very ground now enclosed by Atlanta's I-285 Perimeter, in a series of battles fought between July and September of 1864. This was no single engagement but a sustained campaign, with armies maneuvering around a fortified city and clashing repeatedly on its outskirts.

There was more than territory at stake. In the North, a war-weary public was heading toward a presidential election, and the question of whether the long, bloody effort was succeeding hung in the balance. What happened around Atlanta that summer would echo far beyond Georgia.

People & events

The struggle for Atlanta pitted Union forces under William T. Sherman against Confederate armies that, by mid-campaign, were commanded by John Bell Hood. Four hard, inconclusive battles were fought around the city: Peachtree Creek on July 20; the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, fought in part in the very area of this marker; Ezra Church on July 28; and Utoy Creek on August 6. Each was fierce, and none by itself broke the deadlock.

Unwilling to hurl his men against the city's strong defenses, Sherman changed his approach. Union forces swept west and then south, reaching for the lifelines that kept Atlanta alive — its railroads. It was a strategy aimed not at the walls but at the arteries.

The decisive blow came at Jonesboro on August 31 and September 1, where Union troops cut the last railroad supplying Atlanta. With the city's supply line severed, the Confederates had no choice but to abandon it. Atlanta fell on September 2, 1864.

Its place in the American story

The capture of Atlanta was one of the true turning points of the Civil War, and its consequences reached straight into the nation's politics. As the marker states, the fall of the city helped assure the re-election of Abraham Lincoln — a result that meant the war would be carried through to its conclusion rather than ended by a negotiated settlement.

In that sense, the fighting on this ground did as much to decide the war as any single victory of the conflict. A military success in Georgia translated into a political outcome in the North, and that outcome sealed the ultimate defeat of the Confederacy.

The marker carries a small human touch worth noting: it observes that it is numbered "51," the number assigned to Effingham County, even though it stands in Atlanta in Fulton County, and suggests it should be "60." It's a reminder that the work of memory and commemoration is done by people, with all their careful corrections — and that even a monument can wear an honest note about its own imperfections.

If you visit

You are standing in the middle of a modern city, and that is precisely what makes this marker striking. The battles it describes were fought across ground now covered by neighborhoods, highways, and the everyday bustle of Atlanta inside the I-285 Perimeter. The Battle of Atlanta on July 22, the marker notes, was fought in part right around here.

Let the layers overlap in your mind: beneath the streets and buildings lies a landscape that armies fought and died over in the summer of 1864. Reading the sequence — four battles, then the sweep south to Jonesboro, then the fall of the city — helps you see the campaign as a whole rather than a scattering of names.

This is a natural anchor point for exploring Civil War Atlanta, since so many of the campaign's sites lie within the same Perimeter. And do read to the very end of the inscription, where the marker good-naturedly flags its own misnumbering — a nice reminder that history is recorded by human hands, corrections and all.

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

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Related people

  • · William T. Sherman
  • · John Bell Hood
  • · Abraham Lincoln

Related events

  • · Atlanta Campaign
  • · Battle of Peachtree Creek
  • · Battle of Atlanta
  • · Battle of Ezra Church
  • · Battle of Jonesboro

Themes & tags

Civil WarBattlefield

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