Battle of Peachtree Creek The Battle of Peachtree Creek was fought in Georgia on July 20 , 1864 , as part of the Atlanta Campaign in the American Civil War . It was the first major attack by Lt . Gen . John B . Hood since taking command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee . The attack was against Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s Union army which was perched on the doorstep of Atlanta . The main armies in the conflict were the Union Army of the Cumberland , commanded by Maj . Gen . George Henry Thomas , and the Confederate Army of Tennessee , commanded by Lt . Gen . John B . Hood . Peachtree Creek was the first battle fought by Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee . Prelude . Sherman had launched his grand offensive against the Army of Tennessee early May . For more than two months , Sherman ' s forces , which consisted of the Army of the Cumberland , the Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio sparred with the Confederate Army of Tennessee , then under the command of General Joseph E . Johnston . Although the Southerners gained tactical successes at the Battle of New Hope Church , the Battle of Pickett ' s Mill , and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain , they were unable to counter Sherman ' s superior numbers . Gradually , the Union forces flanked the Confederates out of every defensive position they attempted to hold . On July 8 , Union forces crossed the Chattahoochee River , the last major natural barrier between Sherman and Atlanta . Retreating from Sherman ' s advancing armies , General Johnston withdrew across Peachtree Creek , just north of Atlanta , and laid plans for an attack on part of the Army of the Cumberland as it crossed Peachtree Creek . On July 17 , he received a telegram from Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieving him from command . The political leadership of the Confederacy was unhappy with Johnston ' s lack of aggressiveness and replaced him with Hood . In contrast to Johnston ' s conservative tactics and conservation of manpower , Hood had a reputation for aggressive tactics and personal bravery on the battlefield ( he had already been maimed in battle twice ) . Hood took command and launched the attempted counter - offensive . On July 19 , Hood learned that Sherman had split his army ; Thomas ' s Army of the Cumberland was to advance directly towards Atlanta , while the Army of the Ohio ( under the command of Major General John M . Schofield ) and the Army of the Tennessee ( under the command of Major General James B . McPherson ) moved several miles east , apparently an early premonition of Sherman ' s general strategy of cutting Confederate supply lines by destroying railroads to the east . Thomas would have to cross Peachtree Creek at several locations and would be vulnerable both while crossing and immediately after , before they could construct breastworks . Hood hoped to attack Thomas while his army was still in the process of crossing Peachtree Creek . By so doing , the Southerners hoped to fight with rough numerical parity and catch the Northern forces by surprise . Hood thus hoped to drive Thomas west , further and further away from Schofield and McPherson . This would force Sherman to divert his forces away from Atlanta . Battle . Throughout the morning of July 20 , the Army of the Cumberland crossed Peachtree Creek and began taking up defensive positions . The XIV Corps , commanded by Major General John M . Palmer , took position on the right . The XX Corps , commanded by Major General Joseph Hooker ( the former commander of the Army of the Potomac who had lost the Battle of Chancellorsville ) took position in the center . The left was held by a single division ( John Newton ' s ) of the IV Corps , as the rest of that corps had been sent to reinforce Schofield and McPherson on the east side of Atlanta . The Union forces began preparing defensive positions , but had only partially completed them by the time the Confederate attack began . The few hours between the Union crossing and their completion of defensive earthworks were a moment of opportunity for the Confederates . Hood committed two of his three corps to the attack : Hardee ’ s corps would attack on the right , while the corps of General Alexander P . Stewart would attack on the left . Meanwhile , the corps of General Benjamin Cheatham would keep an eye on the Union forces to the east of Atlanta . Hood had wanted the attack launched at one o ' clock , but confusion and miscommunication between Hardee and Hood prevented this from happening . Hood instructed Hardee to ensure that his right flank maintained contact with Cheatham ' s corps , but Cheatham began moving his forces slightly eastward . Hardee too began side - stepping to the east to maintain contact with Cheatham , while Stewart began sliding eastward as well in order to maintain contact with Hardee . It was not only three o ' clock that this movement ceased . The Confederate attack was finally mounted at around four o ’ clock in the afternoon . On the Confederate right , Hardee ’ s men ran into fierce opposition and were unable to make much headway , with the Southerners suffering heavy losses . The failure of the attack was largely due to faulty execution and a lack of pre - battle reconnaissance . On the Confederate left , Stewart ’ s attack was more successful . Two Union brigades were forced to retreat , and most of the 33rd New Jersey Infantry Regiment ( along with its battle flag ) were captured by the Rebels , as was a 4 - gun Union artillery battery . Union forces counter attacked , however , and after a bloody struggle , successfully blunted the Confederate offensive . Artillery helped stop the Confederate attack on Thomas ' left flank . A few hours into the battle , Hardee was preparing the send in his reserve , the division of General Patrick Cleburne , which he hoped would get the attack moving again and allow him to break through the Union lines . An urgent message from Hood , however , forced him to cancel the attack and dispatch Cleburne to reinforce Cheatham , who was being threatened by a Union attack and in need of reinforcements . The Union lines had bent but not broken under the weight of the Confederate attack , and by the end of the day the Rebels had failed to break through anywhere along the line . Estimated casualties were 4 , 400 in total : 1 , 900 on the Union side and at least 2 , 500 on the Confederate . Appraisal . Many historians have criticized the Confederacy ' s tactics and execution , especially Hood ' s and Hardee ' s . Johnston , although fighting defensively , had already determined to counterattack at Peachtree Creek ; in fact , the plan for striking the Army of the Cumberland as it began to cross Peachtree Creek has been attributed to him . His long rear - guard retreat from Kennesaw is understandable , as Sherman used his numerical superiority in constant large - scale flanking movements . Moreover , although he had lost an enormous amount of ground , Johnston had whittled Sherman ' s numerical superiority from 2 : 1 down to 8 : 5 . Replacing him with the brash Hood , practically on the eve of battle , has generally been regarded as a mistake . ( In fact Hood himself , as well as several other generals , sent a telegram to Davis seeking a remand of the order , advising Davis that it would be " dangerous to change the commander of this army at this particular time . " ) Additionally , although Hood ' s general plan was plausible , the federal forces being divided , the failure of the units to be formed and positioned prior to the Union ' s crossing the river , Hardee ' s failure to commit his troops fully , and Hood ' s decision to continue the attack when he discovered he had lost his advantage , resulted in a severe and predictable defeat . Adjutant Claudius V . H . Davis of the 22nd Mississippi regiment was awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Battle of Peachtree Creek by the Sons of Confederate Veterans . He was killed while carrying the colors and went down waving the flag . First Lieutenant Frank D . Baldwin , Company D , 19th Michigan Infantry , was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Peachtree Creek , Georgia , July 12 , 1864 . Under a galling fire ahead of his own men , and singly entered the enemy ' s line , capturing and bringing back two commissioned officers , fully armed , besides a guidon of a Georgia regiment . Captain Baldwin later received a second Medal of Honor for action at McClellan ' s Creek , Texas , November 8 , 1874 . Citation : Rescued , with 2 companies , 2 white girls by a voluntary attack upon Indians whose superior numbers and strong position would have warranted delay for reinforcements , but which delay would have permitted the Indians to escape and kill their captives . ( http : / / www . cmohs . org / recipient - detail / 54 / baldwin - frank - d . php ) ( http : / / en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Frank _ Baldwin ) Battlefield today . The battlefield is now largely lost to urban development . Tanyard Creek Park occupies what was near the center of the battle and contains several memorial markers . Peachtree Battle Avenue commemorates the battle . All are located in the western part of Buckhead , the northern section of the city which was annexed in 1952 . The play " Peachtree Battle " is a comedy about life in the upscale area . In fiction . The plot of the alternate history novel " Shattered Nation : An Alternate History Novel of the American Civil War " , by Jeffrey Evan Brooks , centers around the Battle of Peachtree Creek . In the novel , the Army of Tennessee fights the battle with Johnston , rather than Hood , in command .