Alan J. Pitts
None of this fits....
Fri Apr 20 00:51:06 2001


Sherman's account of the capture of the 40th Alabama was exaggerated and misleading, as was much that he wrote. A recent historian of the Georgia Campaign, Albert Castel, notes that Sherman's famous remark, "Atlanta is ours and fairly won," should really have been "Atlanta is ours and barely won".

Anyway, it doesn't matter because Private Parker survived this encounter. His service record shows that he received clothing on June 30, 1864. If he became a casualty (and there is no later record), it would have to be later than that date. As part of Baker's Brigade, Clayton's Division, Hood's Corps, the 40th Alabama was not engaged in the fighting at Peachtree Creek (July 20th), but did see action at Atlanta (July 22nd). Samuel H. Sprott, captain of Company "A", says the regiment lost heavily at Ezra Church on July 28th, which he mistakenly calls the Battle of Peachtree Creek. As far as Confederate dead were concerned, soldiers of the Federal XV Corps spent all of the following day burying them, presumably in trenches near where they fell. They claim to have buried several hundred on that ground. A similar statement could be made about the Confederate dead at Atlanta.

It's possible he was killed in a skirmish or another minor action after June 30th. There were a few of those when Johnston withdrew from the Kennesaw line on July 2nd and fell back to the Chattahoochee. After Johnston crossed the Chattahoochee, however, there was little contact between the two armies until Peachtree Creek. I'd suggest looking at the books about the 40th Alabama to see what's mentioned during the period of time. I can tell you that Captain Sprott was quite outdone by Sherman's claim to have captured the regiment "entire".