Sherman's Command Post

At dawn on June 27, 1864, 8000 Federals quietly assembled for battle in the fields and woods around Signal Hill. At his command post under a large hickory tree on Signal Hill, 1/4 mile to the left, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman had set up communication lines with his subordinate officers through telegraph lines, signal flags, and horseback couriers. Artillery fire at 8:00 a.m. signaled the beginning of the Union assault. Throughout the morning Sherman received discouraging reports of Union setbacks at Pigeon Hill and Cheatham Hill. After news of Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield's Union successes south of the Confederate lines reached Sherman in the afternoon, he decided to return to his strategy of flanking maneuvers.

Georgia · United States