McCOOK AND STONEMAN'S CAVALRY RAID - JULY 29, 1864
Having secured a position around the northern and eastern sides of the city of Atlanta, Union General William T. Sherman determined that it was necessary to cut off Confederate General John B. Hood from his supplies by attacking the Macon and Western Railroad below Jonesboro at Lovejoy's Station. A two-pronged cavalry raid led by Generals McCook and Stoneman failed when Stoneman changed plans without telling anyone and left for Macon to try to liberate prisoners there and at Andersonville before meeting McCook at Lovejoy, rather than afterward as Sherman originally approved.
McCook reached Lovejoy on the morning of July 29, 1864 from the west and proceeded to destroy the railroad and telegraph there. When he discovered that Wheeler's Confederate cavalry was between him and McDonough, and there was no sign of Stoneman, he determined he should return to Union lines by the way in which he had come. Wheeler passed near the Nash Farm in his pursuit of the retreating federal cavalry and engaged the Union rear guard west of the railroad. McCook was nearly surrounded at Brown's Mill, near Newnan, but was able to avoid capture with a chaotic charge through Confederate lines and a mad dash for the safety of the north bank of the Chattahoochee River.
Damage Report From McCook's Cavalry
Brig. Gen. E. M. McCook, commanding U.S. Second Cavalry Division, reports as follows the result of his expedition to cut the enemy's railroad communications to Macon and West Point. His instructions are specified in (
Special Field Orders, OR. Vol. 38, No. 42), of July 26, headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi:
"Two and one-half miles of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad and telegraph wire destroyed near Palmetto. General McCook moved his cavalry forces to Fayetteville, where he found a large number of wagons belonging to the rebel army in Atlanta. While there, eleven hundred wagons were burned, 2,000 mules killed or disabled, 1,000 bales of cotton, 1,000 sacks of corn, and 300 sacks of flour destroyed, besides large quantities of bacon and tobacco, and taking 250 prisoners, mostly quartermasters and men belonging to the trains. He then pushed for the railroad, reaching it at Lovejoy's Station at the time appointed. He burned the depot, tore up a section of the railroad, five miles of telegraph wire destroyed and McCook continued to work until forced to leave off to defend himself against an accumulating force of the enemy.
McCook had heard nothing of General Stoneman, and finding his progress east too strongly opposed he moved south and west and reached Newnan." So it's safe to say without further evidence, Lovejoy's train depot was destroyed by McCook's cavalry command while he was engaged with Wheeler's Confederate forces. So basically, there no was train depot at Lovejoy when Kilpatrick's Raiders came through the area on August 20, 1864. The same can be said when the infantry battles were fought there ten days after Kilpatrick passed through the area. Lovejoy's Station was mentioned in the Official Records, but it was serving only as a water pumping station during the infantry battles and the Confederate occupation between September 6th and the 17th, 1864.
Lovejoy's Station was mentioned by name in the OR's, but the name also served as a general "Landmark" for other hard fought battles in the general vicinity. This is because the RR Station on the Western & Macon Railroad at Lovejoy was identified as the major landmark when battlefield reports were later written. Any battles/skirmishes or military action that took place between Jonesboro to the north, Hampton to the south, Fayetteville to the west and McDonough to the east could have be easily reported as taken at Lovejoy. Lovejoy was centrally located and was also well know by the combatants who fought there because of the main roads that intersected Lovejoy from all points, north, south, east and west.
