Jonesboro Battle Plaque

The battle of Jonesboro ... Where Atlanta Fell ... Aug. 31st/Sept.1st 1864

The first sounds of battle came to Jonesboro in mid-August when the Union Cavalry burned the railroad depot, the courthouse and other buildings thought to have military significance.  Then they went to work pulling up and burning the railroad ties and rails.  But, this did not stop supplies getting through to Jonesboro and so they set about destroying the rail line completely.  In the last days of August 1864 approximately 100,000 Union troops began a march that would converge on the 1600 residents of Jonesboro.

On August 31st, 1864 the Confederates attacked a force of Union Infantry to the West of town but were repulsed with losses in the thousands, compared to a few hundred for the Union.  General  Hardee withdrew his command to the center of town, where the soldiers began 'digging themselves in' between the rail line and the rapidly advancing Union troops.  As they did so, General Hood in Atlanta sent an order withdrawing General Stephen Lee and command from North of the city, leaving Jonesboro to be defended by fewer than 12.000 men 

At 4.00 p.m. September 1st 1864, approximately 60,000 Union soldiers attacked the Confederate lines.  The 30th Georgia, Company E, fighting in their own hometown, were aligned near the present day depot, fighting 'with their faces toward the enemy and their backs toward home'.

The battle would end when it became too dark to fight.  The Confederates, though still holding the line they dug near the train tracks, would retreat under cover of darkness, joining General Hood and the remainder of the Confederate forces, who, upon learning of the battle in Jonesboro, had withdrawn from Atlanta.

The capture of Jonesboro and fall of Atlanta brought Abraham Lincoln back as President and led to the fall of the Confederacy less than a year later.