At the beginning of the battles for Atlanta, General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered his army to advance towards Atlanta in a semi-circle. The Union Army of the Tennessee was ordered to the north around Atlanta to close into the city from the east. The new commander of the CSA’s Army of Tennessee, John Bell Hood, was under extreme pressure to counter this maneuver. Moving towards Atlanta from the east, General Francis Blair, XVII Corps, spotted a high ridge known as "Bald Hill" and ordered Mortimer Leggett’s Division to take the hill. A charge on July 20, 1864 failed to move Patrick Cleburne's crack troops. The following day, however, Manning Force's brigade successfully gained control of the ridge and immediately dug in, moving artillery to the top of hill. Although artillery shot had reached Atlanta earlier, from this position the Union forces could fire into the town center. Sherman and much of his staff believed that the battle for Atlanta was over.

Forward federal lines began observing large-scale troop and civilian movements within the city. This was interpreted as only further proof that Hood was withdrawing from his position. What the Union troops were witnessing was not a withdrawal. General William "Old Reliable" Hardee began a wide swing around the Union flank to attack the rapidly entrenching Army of the Tennessee from the south.

Time was a factor that was in favor of the Union commanders. Hardee, behind schedule in his forced march, turned north too early, running headlong into Granville Dodge's XVI Corps on the left flank of the Army of the Tennessee. Before the start of fighting, a sniper shot Confederate General W.H.T Walker, who had moved forward to observe the field of battle. Early Confederate advances pushed Union soldiers back along the line of Hardee's attack. During the fighting the Union troops pulled back across a wide front. A gap in the lines between the XVI & XVII Corps allowed Union General James McPherson, commander of the Army of the Tennessee, to ride into a group of Confederate soldiers. Upon realizing his mistake the general doffed his hat, reversed direction and rode off at a gallop. A Confederate enlisted man quickly fired and McPherson fell from his horse, mortally wounded. The senior Union commander at the critical point of battle was dead on the field.

The left flank (southern end) of the Union forces recoiled from the withering attack of General Hardee's Corps. The Confederate advance was having success and Southern feat of arms might win the battle.

This a battle for control of the "bald hill", later known as "Leggett’s Hill," that controls observation and fires into downtown Atlanta plus cuts the Georgia Rail Road that enters the Atlanta terminal from Augusta. The CSA must seize and hold the "Bald Hill" (designated by the junction square). The Union forces must retain control of the Bald Hill while also maintaining their lines opposite Cheatham’s Corps to the west.

• Control of the junction awards the controlling team +1 VC point for each turn of possession.
• Dispatch of any division (meaning one or more brigades from that division) from the breastworks of Logan’s XV Corps to counter the CSA assault counts as –1 VC point for the Union. Any unit of Logan’s Corps that is attacked by infantry fires or melee by the CSA can join the fight without penalty. CSA artillery fires do not count toward release of XV Corps units.

Victory is determined as the team with the most VC points at the end of T6.

The tenacity of Grenville Dodge's XVI Corps saved the day as they finally formed and held a line. Unaware that Union forces had successfully stabilized their line, Hood launched a secondary attack to the north at about 4:00pm, in the vicinity of the Decatur Road (now Dekalb Avenue). Well-placed artillery fire, directed by General Sherman himself helped turn back the Rebel onslaught while General John "Blackjack" Logan led a charge to retake a critical hill near the Troup-Hurt House. To the south Hood's men briefly battled at the top of Leggett's Hill (the "Bald Hill") at an extremely heavy cost. With the line stabilized and losses mounting to an unacceptable level, Hood called off the attack.

(The top of the battlefield map is NORTH)

Only units that start the scenario in Breastworks may use them; no units may build Breastworks.

No unit will execute strategic movement.

Union forces can not execute any orders on T1 (to simulate the surprise attack by the CSA) except Dodge’s XVI Corps.