History UnderfootAtlanta
  • Battle action
  • Civil War
  • July 22, 1864, late afternoon

The railroad cut: Manigault's breakthrough

The Georgia Railroad ran through a deep cut here. Manigault's brigade broke the XV Corps line partly by frontal assault and partly through the unguarded cut.

See it on the map All Civil War records

The record

Lightburn's brigade held north of the cut and Martin's south, in trenches the Confederates had left the night before. Manigault's men broke through at the cut, took the batteries there, and in a leftward drive captured DeGress's four 20-pounder Parrotts. The gunners spiked the guns and shot the horses before falling back. The cut was still visible in 1903, but the ground has since been heavily reworked by the railroad, MARTA and roads.