BATTLE OF JONESBORO

The American Civil War came to Jonesboro on August 31 and September 1, 1864. The war had been raging for 3 years, leaving many dead and families torn apart. The Battle of Jonesboro was the last phase of the Atlanta campaign.

Federal forces had been unable to take Atlanta by direct attack; heavy concentrations of Confederate troops around the northern rim of the city were being fed by the southern railroad supply lines which ran directly down Main Street, Jonesboro. The Atlanta railroad hub was the key to victory: destroy it, and the defense of the South would be shattered. The taking of Atlanta was the goal of the Union.

Unable to gain Atlanta by siege from the north, General Sherman’s Union troops rounded the city and attacked from the south. They crossed the Flint River into Jonesboro in a front formation six miles long; the Confederates were massively outnumbered. However, they managed to hold the railroad lines free until the evacuation of the doomed Armies was complete. Local legend says that trains ran all night on August 31st, right down the middle of Jonesboro while soldiers from both sides looked the other way.