Skirmish at Pace's Ferry
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Era | Date not recorded (no reliable year in Wikidata) | derived from year |
|---|---|---|
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 33.8590, -84.4544 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Skirmish at Pace's Ferry was an engagement fought on July 5, 1864, near Pace's Ferry, Atlanta, Georgia, during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War. Union troops of Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard seized a key pontoon bridge over the Chattahoochee River, enabling Federal troops to continue their offensive to capture the important rail and supply center of Atlanta.
Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's army had steadily advanced towards Atlanta in the spring and summer of 1864, fighting a series of battles against the Confederate Army of Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman continually flanked the Confederate positions and slipped ever closer to his goal. Howard's IV Corps pursued the retreating Confederates along the Western & Atlantic Railroad, with General Thomas J. Wood's division in the lead. They encountered very little resistance until the head of column reached Vining's Station. From that point, a road led to the east toward Atlanta, crossing the Chattahoochee River at Pace's Ferry, where the Confederates had constructed a pontoon bridge over the deep and swift flowing river. Wood's skirmishers encountered a brigade of dismounted cavalry, which had its front covered by rail barricades along a ridge at right angles to the road, a quarter mile from the railroad station.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Skirmish at Pace's Ferry (revision 1370747438), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the American Civil War
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All 498 battles of the American Civil War →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · Date not recorded battles