The Battle of Honey Hill was the third battle of

Sherman's March to the Sea Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, major ...

, fought November 30, 1864, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. It did not involve

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

's main force, marching from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, but was a failed

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

expedition under Brig. Gen. John P. Hatch that attempted to cut off the

Charleston and Savannah Railroad The Charleston and Savannah Railway was a 19th-century American railroad serving the coastal states of South Carolina and Georgia and running through part of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Its name varied slightly over time: * Charleston and Sav ...

in support of Sherman's projected arrival in Savannah.

Engagement

Hatch's expeditionary force left

Hilton Head, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is n ...

, for Boyd’s Neck (above Beaufort) on November 28. It consisted of 5,000 men—two brigades of the Coast Division of the Department of the South, one naval brigade, and portions of three batteries of light artillery. They steamed up the Broad River in transports to cut the Charleston and Savannah Railroad near

Pocotaligo Pocotaligo is an unincorporated community located in northeastern Jasper County, South Carolina, United States, close to the border of Beaufort County. The community takes its name from the Pocotaligo River, a small tidal creek that separates J ...

. Due to a heavy fog the troops were not disembarked from the transports until late the following afternoon, and Hatch immediately started forward to cut the railroad near Grahamville. However, the expedition maps and guides proved worthless and Hatch was unable to proceed on the right road until the morning of November 30. At Honey Hill, a few miles from Grahamville, he encountered a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

force of regulars and militia, under Col. Charles J. Colcock, with a battery of seven guns across the road. Determined attacks were launched by U.S. Colored Troops including a brigade led by

Alfred S. Hartwell Alfred Stedman Hartwell (June 11, 1836 – August 30, 1912) was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier, who then had another career as cabinet minister and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Early life Alfred Stedman Hartwell was born June 11, 18 ...

that included the 54th Massachusetts and 55th Massachusetts. The position of the Federal force was such that only one section of artillery could be used at a time, and the Confederates were too well entrenched to be dislodged. Fighting kept up until dark when Hatch, realizing the impossibility of successfully attacking or turning the flank of the enemy, withdrew to his transports at Boyd’s Neck, having lost 89 men killed, 629 wounded, and 28 missing. The Confederate casualties amounted to eight killed and 39 wounded. Captains George E. Gouraud and Thomas F. Ellsworth as well as First Lt. Orson W. Bennett were awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

. In 2001 another medal was awarded posthumously to then Corporal Andrew J. Smith.

Union order of battle

BG John P. Hatch

Confederate order of battle

Gustavus W. Smith Gustavus Woodson Smith (November 30, 1821 – June 24, 1896), more commonly known as G.W. Smith, was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Mexican–American War, a civil engineer, and a Major General (CSA), major general in ...

Robertson, p. 242
Col Charles J. Colcock Chief of Artillery: Col

Ambrosio José Gonzales Ambrosio José Gonzales (October 3, 1818 – July 31, 1893) was a Cuban revolutionary general who became a colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Gonzales, as a revolutionary, wanted the United States to annex Cuba. Durin ...

Casualties

In a report of Hatch December 1864 summarized the Union losses:Official Records Series 1 Volume 44 Chap LVI .p. 425 * 1st Brigade: casualties of 2 officers and 54 men killed;28 officers and 409 men wounded; 1 officer and 14 men missing. * 2nd Brigade: casualties of 3 officers and 28 men killed;10 officers and 160 men wounded; 1 officer and 8 men missing. * Naval Brigade: casualties of 1 man killed; 7 men wounded; 4 men missing * Artillery Brigade: casualties of 1 officer killed; 2 officers and 12 men wounded * Cavalry: casualties of 1 man wounded The Confederate losses were reported by Lt Col C.C. Jones in his ''Siege of Savannah'' as 4 killed and 40 wounded. The ''Savannah Republican'' newspaper on Dec 1, 1864 reported "between eighty and one hundred killed and wounded"

Notes

References

*
Roster of the Twenty Fifth Ohio Infantry Regiment
*

* Eicher, David J., ''The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War'', Simon & Schuster, 2001, . * ''The Union Army; A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861–65—Records of the Regiments in the Union Army—Cyclopedia of Battles—Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers'', Federal Publishing Company (Madison, Wisconsin), 1908 (reprinted by Broadfoot Publishing, 1997).
CWSAC Report Update

External links

Official records of Civil War search engine

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honey Hill, Battle Of 1864 in South Carolina African Americans in the American Civil War Battles of the Western Theater of the American Civil War Confederate victories of the American Civil War Conflicts in 1864 Jasper County, South Carolina Sherman's March to the Sea Battles of the American Civil War in South Carolina United States Marine Corps in the 18th and 19th centuries November 1864 events