The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Road Past Kennesaw, by Richard M. McMurry This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: The Road Past Kennesaw The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 Author: Richard M. McMurry Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62266] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROAD PAST KENNESAW *** Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net The Road Past Kennesaw: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 THE ROAD PAST KENNESAW THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN OF 1864 RICHARD M. McMURRY Foreword by Bell I. Wiley Office of Publications National Park Service U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Washington, D. C. 1972 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402—Price $1.70 Stock No. 024-005-00288-O/Catalog No. I 29.2:K39 The author: Richard M. McMurry, a long-time student of the Army of Tennessee and the Atlanta Campaign, is associate professor of history at Valdosta State College, Valdosta, Ga. ii i iii NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORY SERIES Publication of this volume was made possible by a grant from the Kennesaw Mountain Historical Association. This publication is one of a series of booklets describing the significance of historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC 20402. Price $1.70. Stock Number 024-005-00288-O Catalog Number I 29.2:K 39 FOREWORD The turning point of the Civil War is a perennial matter of dispute among historians. Some specify the Henry-Donelson-Shiloh operation of early 1862 as the pivotal campaign; others insist that Antietam was the key event; still others are equally sure that Gettysburg and Vicksburg marked the watershed of military activities. Regardless of when the tide turned, there can be little doubt that the Federal drive on Atlanta, launched in May 1864, was the beginning of the end for the Southern Confederacy. And Sherman’s combination assault- flanking operation of June 27 at Kennesaw Mountain may very well be considered the decisive maneuver in the thrust toward Atlanta. For when Joseph E. Johnston found it necessary to pull his forces back across the Chattahoochee, the fate of the city was sealed. The Atlanta Campaign had an importance reaching beyond the immediate military and political consequences. It was conducted in a manner that helped establish a new mode of warfare. From beginning to end, it was a railroad campaign, in that a major transportation center was the prize for which the contestants vied, and both sides used rail lines to marshal, shift, and sustain their forces. Yanks and Rebs made some use of repeating rifles, and Confederate references to shooting down “moving bushes” indicate resort to camouflage by Sherman’s soldiers. The Union commander maintained a command post under “signal tree” at Kennesaw Mountain and directed the movement of his forces through a net of telegraph lines running out to subordinate headquarters. Men of both armies who early in the war had looked askance at the employment of pick and shovel, now, as a matter of course, promptly scooped out protective ditches at each change of position. The campaign was also tremendously important as a human endeavor, and one of the most impressive features of Richard McMurry’s account is the insight—much of it gleaned from unpublished letters and diaries—into the motivations, experiences, and reactions of the participants. The officers and men who endured the heat and the mud of what must have been one of the wettest seasons in the history of Georgia and who lived in the shadow of death day after day for 4 months of as arduous campaigning as occurred during the whole conflict, stand out as flesh and blood human beings. This time of severe testing led to the undoing of some of the generals, including Joseph E. Johnston and John Bell Hood. Others, notably William Tecumseh Sherman, capitalized on the opportunities afforded by the campaign to prove their worth and carve for themselves lasting niches in the military hall of fame. Still others had their careers cut short by hostile bullets, among them Leonidas Polk, a leader whose Civil War experience makes inescapable the conclusion that he should never have swapped his clerical robes for a general’s stars. In marked contrast stood James B. McPherson, great both as a man and a combat commander, whose premature passing elicited moving statements of grief from leaders on both sides. Human aspects of the campaign found most vivid and revealing expression in the letters of the lesser officers and the men whom they led. Robert M. Gill, a Mississippi lieutenant promoted from the ranks, poured out in full and frequent letters to his wife his homesickness, his hopes, his fears, and his spiritual concern; in so doing, he revealed his virtues and his frailties and his ups and downs of morale until a Yankee fusillade snuffed out his life at Jonesborough. On June 22, 1864, he wrote from near Marietta: “I saw a canteen on which a heavy run was made during and after the charge. I still like whiskey but do not want any when going into a charge for I am or at least was drunk enough yesterday without drinking a drop.” Lieutenant Gill tried very hard to live up to his wife’s admonitions against “the sins of the camp,” but he had great difficulty with profanity, especially in the excitement of battle. After the action at Resaca, he wrote apologetically: “The men did not move out to suit me, and I forgot everything and began to curse a cowardly scamp who got behind.” Six weeks later he reported another lapse, and following the Battle of Atlanta he wrote: “I done some heavy swearing, I am told.... I try to do right but it seems impossible for me to keep from cursing when I get under fire. I hope I will do better hereafter. I do not wish to die with an oath on my lips.” Gill’s morale remained relatively good until after the fall of Atlanta. Shortly after that event, he wrote: “I think this cause a desperate one ... there is no hope of defeating Lincoln.... I wish I could be sanguine of success.” John W. Hagan, a stalwart sergeant of Johnston’s army, in poorly spelled words and awkwardly constructed paragraphs addressed to his wife, demonstrated the character and strength of the lowly men who were the backbone of both armies. From near Marietta on June 17, 1864, Hagan wrote: “the yankees charged us ... & we finelly drove them back we all had as much to do as we could do. James & Ezekiel acted very brave the boys Say Ezekiel went to shooting like he was spliting rails; in fact all the Regt acted there parts.” The combat performance of Hagan and his men contrasted markedly with that of one of the officers who was the acting company commander, a Lieutenant Tomlinson. On June 21, Hagan wrote his wife: “I have been in command of our company 3 days. Lieut. Tomlinson stays along but pretends to be so sick he can not go in a fight but so long as I Keepe the right side up Co. ‘K’ will be all right.” Hagan’s morale remained high, despite the fact that he had not received any pay for more than a year. On July 4, he wrote that “some of our troops grow despondent but it is only thoes who are all ways despondent,” and added: “all good soldiers will fight harder the harder he is prest but a coward is allways ready to want an excuse to run or say they or we are whiped. I never Knew there was so many cowards untill Since we left Dalton. I do not Speak of our Regt but some troops have behaved very badly.” iv Foreword by Bell I. Wiley Spring 1864 Resaca To the Etowah New Hope Church Kennesaw Mountain Across the Chattahoochee Johnston Removed From Command In the Ranks Peachtree Creek The Battle of Atlanta Ezra Church The Month of August Jonesborough Epilogue Sherman in Atlanta: A Photographic Portfolio For Further Reading Civil War Sites in Georgia v vi Sergeant Hagan and other Rebs who fought in the Atlanta Campaign had a wholesome respect for the men in blue who opposed them; and rightfully so, for the Union rank and file, mostly lads and young adults from the farms of the Midwest, were admirable folk, deeply devoted to the cause of Union. One of them, Pvt. John F. Brobst of the 25th Wisconsin Regiment, wrote his sweetheart before the campaign was launched: “Home is sweet and friends are dear, but what would they all be to let the country go to ruin and be a slave. I am contented with my lot ... for I know that I am doing my duty, and I know that it is my duty to do as I am now a-doing. If I live to get back, I shall be proud of the freedom I shall have, and know that I helped to gain that freedom. If I should not get back, it will do them good who do get back.” Despite the publication during the past century of many studies on the subject, the Atlanta Campaign—overshadowed both during the war and later by the engagements in Virginia—has not received anything like its due share of attention. Now for the first time, thanks to Richard McMurry’s thoroughness as a researcher and skill as a narrator, students of the Civil War have a clear, succinct, balanced, authoritative, and interesting account of the tremendously important Georgia operations of May to September 1864. This excellent work should be as comprehensible and appealing to those who read history and tour battle areas for fun as it is to those who have achieved expertness in Civil War history. Bell I. Wiley CONTENTS i 1 7 14 18 23 29 32 34 42 46 48 51 54 57 59 70 71 1 2 {uncaptioned} SPRING 1864 One of the most important military campaigns of the American Civil War was fought in northwestern Georgia during the spring and summer of 1864 between Northern forces under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederates commanded first by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and then by Gen. John B. Hood. This campaign resulted in the capture of Atlanta by the Unionists, prepared the way for Sherman’s “March to the Sea,” and, in the opinion of many historians, made inevitable the reelection of Abraham Lincoln and the consequent determination of the North to see the war through to final victory rather than accept a compromise with secession and slavery. Spring 1864 marked the beginning of the war’s fourth year. In the eastern theater, 3 years of fighting had led to a virtual stalemate, with the opposing armies hovering between Washington and Richmond—about where they had been when the war began in 1861. However, the situation was quite different in the vast area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River, a region known in the 1860’s as “the West.” There in 1862 Federal armies had driven the Southerners out of Kentucky and much of Tennessee. In the following year the Northerners secured control of the Mississippi River and captured the important city of Chattanooga. By early 1864, Union armies were poised for what they hoped would be a quick campaign to dismember the Confederacy and end the war. This feeling was well illustrated by an Illinois soldier who wrote his sister on April 22, “I think we can lick the Rebs like a book when we start to do it & hope we will Clean Rebeldom out this summer so we will be able to quit the business.” To realize these hopes, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Northern armies, planned a simultaneous move on all fronts, with the greatest efforts devoted to Virginia, where he would personally direct operations, and to the region between the Tennessee and Chattahoochee Rivers, where the Federals would be led by Sherman and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks. Grant hoped that Banks would move from New Orleans, seize Mobile, and advance northward toward Montgomery, while Sherman’s force struck southward from Chattanooga. Had these plans succeeded, the Confederacy would have been reduced to a small area along the coast of Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. Confederate victories in Louisiana, however, made Banks’ projected campaign infeasible, and Sherman’s drive southward into Georgia, with Atlanta as the initial goal, became the major Union effort in the West. 3 4 Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman Leaders on both sides had long recognized the importance of Atlanta, located a few miles south of the Chattahoochee and about 120 miles from Chattanooga. In 1864, only Richmond was more important to the South. Atlanta’s four railroads were not only the best means of communication between the eastern and western parts of the Confederacy but they were also the major lines of supply for the Southern armies in Virginia and north Georgia. The city’s hospitals cared for the sick and wounded and her factories produced many kinds of military goods. In the words of a Northern editor, Atlanta was “the great military depot of Rebeldom.” In addition, the city’s capture would give the Union armies a base from which they could strike further into Georgia to reach such vital manufacturing and administrative centers as Milledgeville, Macon, Augusta, and Columbus. All of these things were clear to the men who led the opposing armies. William Tecumseh Sherman was a thin, nervous, active man, with a wild shock of reddish or light-brown hair. A 44-year-old native of Ohio, he had been graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1840 and, after several years’ service in the Army, had resigned his commission to go into banking and later into education. The outbreak of war had found him serving as superintendent of a military college in Louisiana. He resigned this position and returned to the North, where he entered Federal service. Rising rapidly in the Army, he was chosen as supreme commander in the West in early 1864. His soldiers liked him and affectionately called him “Uncle Billy.” An officer who was with him in 1864 described the Federal commander as “tall and lank, not very erect, with hair like a thatch, which he rubs up with his hands, a rusty beard trimmed close, a wrinkled face, prominent red nose, small bright eyes, coarse red hands ... he smokes constantly.” Sherman was also a dogged fighter unawed by obstacles that would have broken lesser men, and Grant knew he could be counted on to carry out his part of the grand strategical plan for 1864. Sherman’s assignment was to break up the Confederate army in north Georgia and “to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources.” To accomplish this mission, he had almost 100,000 men organized into three armies—the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas; the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson; and the Army of the Ohio, commanded by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield. By early May, Sherman had assembled these troops around Chattanooga and was prepared to march with them into Georgia. Opposed to Sherman’s host was the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston was a Virginian and, like Sherman, a graduate of West Point (Class of 1829). He had served in the U.S. Army until Virginia seceded in the spring of 1861, when he resigned and entered Confederate service. In December 1863 he was named commander of the major Confederate force in the 5 6 West and given the mission of defending the area against further Northern advance. Johnston had an almost uncanny ability to win the loyal support of his subordinates. An Arkansas officer who met the Southern commander in early 1864 noted in his diary: “General Johnston is about 50 years of age—is quite gray—and has a spare form, an intelligent face, and an expressive blue eye. He was very polite, raising his cap to me after the introduction.” Unfortunately for the Confederacy, Johnston was also secretive, stubborn when dealing with his superiors, petulant, and too prone to see difficulties rather than opportunities. He constantly worried about defeat and retreat, and was hesitant to act. In sum, he was a man whose personality prevented him from effectively utilizing his many abilities. At the beginning of May, the 55,000 men of Johnston’s army were concentrated around Dalton, Ga., 35 miles southeast of Chattanooga. The Southern force consisted of two infantry corps commanded by Lt. Gens. William J. Hardee and John Bell Hood, and a cavalry corps led by Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler. What Johnston would do with these troops was still very much in doubt. The Confederate government wanted him to march into Tennessee and reestablish Southern authority over that crucial State. Johnston, however, believed that conditions for such an offensive were not favorable and that he should await Sherman’s advance, defeat it, and then undertake to regain Tennessee. At the opening of the campaign in early May, this issue had not been settled. The lack of understanding and cooperation between the government in Richmond and the general in Georgia, illustrated by this incident, was to hamper Confederate efforts throughout the campaign. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston 7 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN 1864 RESACA Three major rivers—the Oostanaula, the Etowah, and the Chattahoochee—flow from northeast to southwest across northern Georgia, dividing the area into four distinct geographical regions. Between Chattanooga and the Oostanaula, several parallel mountain ridges slice across the State in such a manner as to hamper military movements. The most important of these was Rocky Face Ridge which ran from near the Oostanaula to a point several miles north of Dalton. This ridge rose high above the surrounding valleys and was the barrier between Johnston’s army at Dalton and Sherman’s forces at Chattanooga. There were three important gaps in this ridge: Mill Creek Gap west of Dalton, Dug Gap a few miles to the south, and Snake Creek Gap west of the little village of Resaca near the Oostanaula. Dalton is on the eastern side of Rocky Face Ridge. The Western and Atlantic Railroad, which connected Chattanooga and Atlanta and served as the line of supply for both armies, crossed the Oostanaula near Resaca, ran north for 15 miles to Dalton, then turned westward to pass through Rocky Face Ridge at Mill Creek Gap, and continued on to Chattanooga. During the winter, the Confederates had fortified the area around Dalton to such an extent that they believed it to be secure against any attack. Johnston hoped that the Federals would assault his lines on Rocky Face Ridge, for he was confident that he could hurl the Northerners back with heavy loss. Sherman, however, had no intention of smashing his army against what one of his soldiers called the “Georgian Gibraltar.” Northern scouts had found Snake Creek Gap unguarded and the Federal commander decided to send McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee through this gap to seize the railroad near Resaca. Meanwhile, Thomas and Schofield would engage the Confederates at Dalton to prevent their sending men to oppose McPherson. Sherman hoped that when Johnston discovered his line of supply in Federal hands, he would fall back in disorder and his army could be routed by the Northerners. By May 6, the Federals were ready to begin the campaign. Sherman moved 9 8 Thomas and Schofield toward Dalton while McPherson prepared to strike for Snake Creek Gap. Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson Johnston had not been idle. He had deployed his men in strong positions to block the expected advance. He had also requested reinforcements, and these were on the way. Some coastal garrisons had been withdrawn from their posts and were being sent to join Johnston. More important, though, was the large body of troops from Mississippi that was moving across Alabama toward Dalton. These men, numbering about 15,000, constituted the Army of Mississippi and were commanded by Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk. A West Point graduate (1827), Polk had resigned from the Army to enter the Episcopal ministry. In 1861 he was Bishop of Louisiana and entered the Confederate service where he was known as the Bishop-General. When Polk joined Johnston the Confederate strength would be raised to about 70,000. Before Polk arrived, however, Sherman sent Thomas and Schofield against Johnston’s position. On May 7 and 8, there was heavy fighting all along the lines from the area north of Dalton south along Rocky Face Ridge to Dug Gap. The Federals made no real headway, but the demonstration served its purpose, for McPherson reached Snake Creek Gap on the evening of the 8th and found it open. James Birdseye McPherson, who stood at Snake Creek Gap on the morning of May 9 with an opportunity to strike Johnston a crippling blow, was one of the Civil War’s most attractive leaders. Like Sherman, he was an Ohioan and a West Pointer (1853). In 1864 he was only 35 years old. His entire adult life had been spent in the Army, and in the Civil War his abilities had carried him from captain to major general in slightly more than a year’s time. Both Sherman and Grant looked upon him as an outstanding leader—a belief shared by the Confederate editor who called McPherson “the most dangerous man in the whole Yankee army.” He was handsome, with flowing hair and whiskers, and he had a special reason for wanting the war to end: when it was over he would be able to marry the beautiful girl who was waiting for him in Baltimore. He was courteous to men of all ranks, and his adoring soldiers remembered long afterwards his habit of riding in the fields to leave the roads open for them. 10 12 OPENING BATTLES OF THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN For four long and bloody months, officers and men alike endured the heat and mud of what must have been one of the wettest seasons in the history of Georgia. On May 9, while skirmishing continued about Dalton, McPherson led his army eastward, hoping to reach the railroad near Resaca and break Johnston’s communications with Atlanta. Unknown to the Federals, there were some 4,000 Confederates in Resaca. These included the advance elements of Polk’s army, as well as infantry and cavalry units assigned to guard the Oostanaula bridges and to protect the area. The Northern advance met these Southerners near the town. McPherson, surprised at finding so large a force in his front, moved with great caution. Late in the afternoon, he became worried that Johnston might rush troops southward and cut him off from Sherman. This fear, and the fact that some of his men were without food, led him to break off the engagement and fall back to a position at Snake Creek 13 15 14 Gap which he fortified that night. In the following days, both armies shifted to the Resaca area. Sherman began by sending a division of Thomas’ army to aid McPherson. Soon orders followed for almost all of the Federals to march southward, with only a small detachment left to watch Johnston. All day on the 11th the roads west of Rocky Face were crowded with troops, wagons, and guns. Although the march was slowed by a heavy rain, nightfall of the 12th found the Northern army concentrated at Snake Creek Gap. Johnston discovered the Federal move and during the night of May 12-13 ordered his men to Resaca where Polk’s troops had been halted. Skirmishing on the 13th developed the positions of the armies. Johnston had posted his men on the high ground north and west of Resaca. Polk’s Corps (as the Army of Mississippi was called) held the Confederate left, Hardee’s men occupied the center, and Hood was on the right, with his right flank curved back to the Conasauga River. The Federal advance, McPherson’s army, had moved directly toward Resaca. When the advance was slowed, Thomas moved to the north and formed his army on McPherson’s left. Schofield moved into position on Thomas’ left. The Battle of Resaca, fought May 13-15, was the first major engagement of the campaign. The 13th was spent in skirmishing and establishing the positions of the two armies. The 14th saw much heavy fighting. Sherman delivered a major attack against the right center of Johnston’s line and was hurled back with a heavy loss. One Northerner described the Confederate fire as “terrific and deadly.” Later, Hood made a determined assault on the Federal left and was prevented from winning a great victory when Union reinforcements were hurried to the scene from other sectors of the line. Late in the day, troops from McPherson’s army made slight gains against the Confederate left. Fighting ceased at dark, although firing continued throughout the night. There was no time for the men to rest, however; both Johnston and Sherman kept their soldiers busy digging fortifications, caring for the wounded, moving to new positions, and preparing for the next day’s battle. The heaviest fighting on the 15th occurred at the northern end of the lines. There, both sides made attacks that achieved some local success but were inconclusive. Meanwhile, a Federal detachment had been sent down the Oostanaula to attempt a crossing. At Lay’s Ferry, a few miles below Resaca, it got over the river and secured a position from which to strike eastward against Johnston’s rail line. The Southern commander believed that this left him no choice but to retreat. Accordingly, during the night of May 15-16, the Confederates withdrew and crossed to the southern bank of the Oostanaula, burning the bridges behind them. As is the case with many Civil War battles, no accurate casualty figures are available for the engagement at Resaca. Federal losses were probably about 3,500; Confederate casualties were approximately 2,600. TO THE ETOWAH South of the Oostanaula, steep ridges and heavy woods give way to gently rolling hills with only a light cover of vegetation. The area was almost without defensible terrain and thus afforded a great advantage to Sherman, whose larger forces would have more opportunities for maneuver than they had found in the mountainous region to the north. Once across the Oostanaula, Johnston sought to make a stand and draw the Federals into a costly assault. He expected to find favorable terrain near Calhoun, but in this he was disappointed and during the night of May 16-17 he led the Confederates on southward toward Adairsville. The Federals followed—Sherman dividing his forces into three columns and advancing on a broad front. There were skirmishes all along the route during the 16th and 17th, but the main bodies were not engaged. At Adairsville Johnston again hoped to find a position in which he could give battle, but there too the terrain was unsuitable for defense and the Confederate commander was forced to continue his retreat. As he fell back, however, Johnston devised a stratagem that he hoped would lead to the destruction of a part of Sherman’s forces. There were two roads leading south from Adairsville—one south to Kingston, the other southeast to Cassville. It seemed likely that Sherman would divide his armies so as to use both roads. This would give Johnston the opportunity to attack one column before the other could come to its aid. When the Southerners abandoned Adairsville during the night of May 17-18, Johnston sent Hardee’s Corps to Kingston while he fell back toward Cassville with the rest of his army. He hoped that Sherman would believe most of the Southerners to be in Kingston and concentrate the bulk of his forces there. Hardee would then hold off the Northerners at Kingston while Johnston, with Polk and Hood, destroyed the smaller Federal column at Cassville. Sherman reacted as Johnston hoped, ordering McPherson and the bulk of Thomas’ army toward Kingston while sending only Schofield and one corps of Thomas’ army along the road to Cassville. On the morning of May 19, Johnston ordered Hood to march along a country road a mile or so east of the Adairsville-Cassville Road and form his corps for battle facing west. While Polk attacked the head of the Federal column, Hood was to assail its left flank. As Hood was moving into position, he found Northern soldiers to the east. This was a source of great danger, for had Hood formed facing west, these Federals would have been in position to attack the exposed flank and rear of his corps. After a brief skirmish with the Northerners, Hood fell back to rejoin Polk. Johnston, believing that the opportunity for a successful battle had passed, ordered Hood and Polk to move to a new line east and south of Cassville, where they were joined by Hardee who had been pushed out of Kingston. Johnston formed his army on a ridge and hoped that Sherman would attack him there on May 20. As usual, the Southern commander was confident of repulsing the enemy. 16 17 TO THE ETOWAH That night the Confederate leaders held a council of war. Exactly what happened at the council is a matter of dispute. According to Johnston, Polk and Hood reported that their lines could not be held and urged that the army retreat. Believing that the fears of the corps commanders would be communicated to their men and thus weaken the army’s confidence, Johnston yielded to these demands, even though he thought the position to be defensible. According to Hood, whose recollection of the council differs markedly from Johnston’s, he and Polk told Johnston that the line could not be held against an attack but that it was a good position from which to move against the enemy. Johnston, however, was unwilling to risk an offensive battle and decided to fall back across the Etowah. No definite resolution of this dispute is possible, but most of the available evidence supports Hood’s version of the conference. Certainly Johnston was not obligated to allow the advice of subordinates to overrule his own judgment. The responsibility for abandoning the Cassville position rests on the Southern commander. During the night, the Confederates withdrew across the Etowah. As they fell back, their feelings were mixed. They had lost a very strong position at Dalton, and had fallen back from Resaca, Calhoun, and Adairsville. Now they were retreating again under cover of darkness. That morning as they prepared for battle, their spirits had been high. Now their disappointment was bitter. Although morale would revive in the next few days, many Southern soldiers would never again place as much confidence in Johnston’s abilities as they once had. By contrast, morale in the Federal ranks soared. In a short time of campaigning, the Northerners had “driven” their enemy from one position after another. Sherman was satisfied with the progress his armies had made and, after learning that the Confederates were south of the Etowah, he decided to give his men a short rest. On May 20, one of the Northern generals summarized the situation in a letter to his wife: Thus far our campaign has succeeded though it must be confessed the rebels have retreated in very good order and their army is still unbroken. Our hard work is still before us. We are still 53 miles from Atlanta and have to pass over a rugged Country. We will have some bloody work before we enter that place. 18 19 After a council with Hood and Polk, Johnston abandoned the Cassville position. NEW HOPE CHURCH The region south of the Etowah was one of the wildest parts of north Georgia. The area was sparsely settled, hilly, heavily wooded, and, in 1864, little known and poorly mapped. Sherman expected to push through this region with little delay. On May 23 he wrote, “The Etowah is the Rubicon of Georgia. We are now all in motion like a vast hive of bees, and expect to swarm along the Chattahoochee in a few days.” His optimism was ill-founded, for the rough terrain and heavy rains favored Johnston’s smaller force and helped delay the Federal advance for 5 weeks. Johnston posted his army around Allatoona Pass, a gap in the high hills south of the Etowah through which the railroad ran on its way southward to Marietta. He had again occupied a strong position hoping that Sherman would attack it. The Federal commander, however, aware of the natural strength of the terrain, was determined to avoid a direct assault and crossed the river to the west where the country was more open. Dallas, a small town about 14 miles south of the river and about the same distance west of the railroad, was the first objective. The Northerners began their advance on the 23d. McPherson swung far to the west through Van Wert and then moved eastward toward Dallas. Thomas was in the center moving via Stilesboro and Burnt Hickory. Schofield was on the left, closest to the Etowah. The day was hot and the men suffered greatly from thirst. Nevertheless, the Federals made progress toward their objective and, on the 24th, were closing in on Dallas. Confederate cavalry soon discovered Sherman’s movement and Johnston took steps to meet it. By evening of the 24th, the Southerners held a line east of Dallas which ran from southwest to northeast. The key to the position was a crossroads at a Methodist church named New Hope. Hood’s Corps held this part of the line. Polk and Hardee were to his left. On May 25, some troops of Thomas’ army ran up against Hood’s line at New Hope Church. In a late afternoon battle fought under dark skies and rolling bursts of thunder, Thomas’ men made a series of gallant assaults against the Southern line. The Federals met a withering hail of bullets and shells that quickly halted each advance. In this short engagement, Thomas lost about 1,500 men. The Confederates suffered little during the battle and were elated at their success. 20 BATTLES AROUND NEW HOPE CHURCH 21 22 {uncaptioned} Sunrise on the 26th found both commanders working to position their men in the woods east of Dallas. Except for skirmishing, there was little fighting during the day. On the following day, Sherman attempted to defeat the right of the Southern line by a surprise attack. In a battle known as Pickett’s Mill, the Northerners were hurled back with about 1,500 casualties. For the Federals, this engagement was one of the most desperate of the campaign. One company of the 41st Ohio Regiment lost 20 of its 22 men. The 49th Ohio carried slightly over 400 men into the battle and lost 203 of them. The commander of another regiment wrote that he lost a third of his men in the first few yards of the advance. “The rebel fire ... swept the ground like a hailstorm,” wrote another Unionist, adding, “this is surely not war it is butchery.” A third Northerner noted in his diary that evening, “our men were slaughtered terribly 2 brigades of infantry were almost cut to pieces.” The Southerners lost about 500 men. Over the next few days fighting continued almost incessantly. Both sides made assaults with strongly reinforced skirmish lines, seeking to hold the enemy in position. This type of combat was very tiring on the men. One soldier wrote after a night battle, “O God, what a night. They may tell of hell and its awful fires, but the boys who went thru the fight at Dallas ... are pretty well prepared for any event this side of eternity.” The days spent in the jungles near New Hope Church were among the most arduous of the war for the soldiers of both armies. In addition to the normal dangers of combat, the men had to undergo unusual physical hardships. Rain, heat, constant alarms, continuous sharpshooting, the stench of the dead, the screams of the wounded, and a serious shortage of food all added to the normal discomforts of life in the field. One Federal soldier described the time spent near Dallas as “Probably the most wretched week” of the campaign. Another wrote of it as “a wearisome waste of life and strength.” A third Northerner, referring to an unsuccessful foray against the Confederate lines, wrote, “We have struck a hornet nest at the business end.” So severe had the fighting been that Sherman’s men would ever afterward refer to the struggle around New Hope Church as the “Battle of the Hell Hole.” When it became clear that no decisive battle would be fought at Dallas, Sherman gradually sidled eastward to regain the railroad. On June 3, advance elements of the Federal forces reached the little town of Acworth, and within a few days, almost all the Northern troops were in that general area. Sherman had outmaneuvered Johnston and bypassed the strong Confederate position at Allatoona, but he had not seriously weakened his opponent. Once again the Federal commander ordered a short halt to rest his troops and allow time to repair the railroad and for reinforcements to arrive.