Battle of Altamaha Bridge

Military engagement in the American Civil War

Part of the American Civil War

Historical marker

Date	December 19, 1864 (1864-12-19)
Location	Doctortown, Georgia
Result	Confederate victory

Belligerents

United States

Confederate States

Commanders and leaders

Colonel Smith D. Atkins

Gen. Henry Kent McCay

Strength

2,000 ^[1]

1,000 ^[2]

Casualties and losses

Unknown

Sherman's March to the Sea
Savannah Campaign

Griswoldville
Buck Head Creek
Honey Hill
Waynesboro
Tulifinny
Fort McAllister
Altamaha Bridge

The Battle of Altamaha Bridge, also known as the Battle for the Doctortown Railroad Trestle, was an American Civil War engagement fought December 19, 1864, in Wayne County, Georgia, during Sherman's March to the Sea. The Confederate victory prevented Federal forces from destroying a vital railroad bridge during Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's siege of Savannah, keeping open Confederate supply lines to the city.

On December 1, 1864, the Fourth Brigade Georgia Militia under Brig. Gen. Henry Kent McCay arrived in Wayne County to prepare a defense of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad bridge over the Altamaha River. The Confederates built earthworks on the north bank of Morgan's Lake, which was bisected by the railroad and located just north of the river. On the southern side of the river, two 32-pounder rifled guns were mounted at Doctortown (also spelled Doctor Town), to sweep the bridge if attacked. A light gun mounted on an engine supported two companies of Confederate militia at Morgan's Lake.

On December 16, General Sherman, stalled outside Savannah, sent Union troops to destroy the railroad from the Ogeechee River all the way to the bridge. A brigade of Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry under Col. Smith D. Atkins attacked the bridge and destroyed a trestlework past Morgan's Lake, but was unable to capture the bridge or seize the Confederate battery at Doctortown on December 19. The Federals withdrew to the Ogeechee River.

References

^ "December 17, Colonel Atkins, with upward of 2,000 men of my command, moved, in conjunction with a division of infantry under General Mower, to destroy a portion of the Gulf railroad, and, if possible, the railroad bridge over the Altamaha." Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 44, page 366.
^ "About 1,000 men, composed of Colonel Hood's cavalry and a portion of the militia, under General McKay, were at the Altamaha bridge, on the Savannah and Gulf Railroad, at my last advices, on the 19th instant." Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 44, page 989.

U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

v t e Georgia in the American Civil War
1861	Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1861
1862	Great Locomotive Chase Siege of Fort Pulaski
1863	First Battle of Fort McAllister Battle of Chickamauga Battle of Davis' Cross Roads Battle of Ringgold Gap
1864	First Battle of Dalton Atlanta campaign Battle of Rocky Face Ridge Battle of Resaca First Battle of Tilton Battle of Adairsville Battle of New Hope Church Battle of Dallas Battle of Pickett's Mill Battle of Marietta Battle of Kolb's Farm Battle of Kennesaw Mountain Battle of Pace's Ferry Battle of Peachtree Creek Battle of Atlanta Battle of Ezra Church Battle of Brown's Mill Battle of Utoy Creek Second Battle of Dalton Battle of Lovejoy's Station Battle of Jonesborough Battle of Allatoona Second Battle of Tilton Sherman's March to the Sea Battle of Griswoldville Battle of Buck Head Creek Second Battle of Fort McAllister Battle of Altamaha Bridge
1865	Special Field Orders No. 15 Battle of West Point Battle of Columbus
Units	Confederate Union
Places	Atlanta
Category Commons

American Civil War

Origins

Origins	Timeline leading to the War Bleeding Kansas Border states Compromise of 1850 John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry Kansas-Nebraska Act Lincoln–Douglas debates Missouri Compromise Nullification crisis Origins of the American Civil War Panic of 1857 Popular sovereignty Secession South Carolina Declaration of Secession States' rights President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers
Slavery	African Americans Cornerstone Speech Crittenden Compromise Dred Scott v. Sandford Emancipation Proclamation Fire-Eaters Fugitive slave laws Plantations in the American South Positive good Slave Power Slavery in the United States Treatment of slaves in the United States Uncle Tom's Cabin
Abolitionism	Abolitionism in the United States Susan B. Anthony James G. Birney John Brown Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison Lane Debates on Slavery Elijah Parish Lovejoy J. Sella Martin Lysander Spooner George Luther Stearns Thaddeus Stevens Charles Sumner Caning Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad

Combatants
Theaters
Campaigns
Battles
States

Combatants

Union	Army Navy Marine Corps Revenue Cutter Service
Confederacy	Army Navy Marine Corps

Theaters

Major campaigns

Major battles

Involvement

States and
territories

Cities

Leaders

Confederate

Military	R. H. Anderson Beauregard Bragg Buchanan Cooper Early Ewell Forrest Gorgas Hill Hood Jackson A. S. Johnston J. E. Johnston Lee Longstreet Morgan Mosby Polk Price Semmes E. K. Smith Stuart Taylor Wheeler
Civilian	Benjamin Bocock Breckinridge Davis Hunter Mallory Memminger Seddon Stephens

Union

Military	Anderson Buell Burnside Butler Du Pont Farragut Foote Frémont Grant Halleck Hooker Hunt McClellan McDowell Meade Meigs Ord Pope D. D. Porter Rosecrans Scott Sheridan Sherman Thomas
Civilian	Adams Chase Ericsson Hamlin Lincoln Pinkerton Seward Stanton Stevens Wade Welles

Aftermath

Constitution

Reconstruction Amendments

Reconstruction

Post-
Reconstruction

Monuments
and memorials

Union	List Grand Army of the Republic memorials to Lincoln
Confederate	List artworks in Capitol memorials to Davis memorials to Lee Removal

Cemeteries

Veterans

Related topics

Military	Arms Campaign Medal Cavalry Confederate Home Guard Confederate railroads Confederate revolving cannon Field artillery Medal of Honor recipients Medicine Naval battles Official Records Partisan rangers POW camps Rations Signal Corps Turning point Union corps badges U.S. Balloon Corps U.S. Home Guard U.S. Military Railroad
Political	Committee on the Conduct of the War Confederate States presidential election of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1862 Copperheads Emancipation Proclamation Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 Hampton Roads Conference National Union Party Politicians killed Radical Republicans Trent Affair Union Leagues U.S. Presidential Election of 1864 War Democrats
Music	Battle Hymn of the Republic Dixie John Brown's Body A Lincoln Portrait Marching Through Georgia Maryland, My Maryland When Johnny Comes Marching Home Daar kom die Alibama
Other topics	Baltimore riot of 1861 Battlefield preservation Bibliography Confederate war finance Confederate States dollar Espionage Confederate Secret Service Great Revival of 1863 Gender issues Juneteenth Naming the war Native Americans Catawba Cherokee Choctaw Seminole New York City Gold Hoax of 1864 New York City riots of 1863 Photographers Richmond riots of 1863 Salt Supreme Court cases Tokens U.S. Sanitary Commission Women soldiers
Related	List of films and television shows about the American Civil War