Campaign for Atlanta: Resaca and Cassville

The situation on the evening of May 16, 1864 as indicated in my Atlanta Is Ours! wargame.  Johnston has retreated from Resaca and is heavily concentrated around Calhoun.  Sherman has taken up command at Resaca and has ordered Schofield's army and Hooker's corps to cross the Coosawattee River and threaten the Confederate right flank.  Meanwhile, he has also detached Davis' division (the lone Union unit to the right of this photo) to advance on Rome, Georgia. 

Close-up of the Confederate concentration and the Union flanking maneuver while McPherson's army attempts to hold Johnston in place.

Note: This is part two of an overview series on the 1864 Campaign for Atlanta.

Skirmishing continued for a few days around Dalton while McPherson's Army of the Tennessee dug in around Snake Creek Gap.  Sherman decided to send the bulk of his forces through the gap, following McPherson, before moving further south.  He also detached General Jefferson C. Davis' division from General John M. Palmer's Corps of Thomas' Army of the Cumberland to move independently toward Rome in order to secure that important city, which is where Confederate reinforcements were arriving from Mississippi and other points west of the campaign.   Schofield's Army of the Ohio, augmented with a couple of divisions from Thomas' army, tried to fix Johnston's fortified army in place.

By May 13, it was obvious to Johnston what Sherman was up to.  Having already sent three divisions south to Resaca, the Army of Tennessee disengaged from Dalton during the night and marched to Resaca, forming a concentrated defensive line protecting the lone bridge remaining over the Oostanaula River.  McPherson advanced again, this time along with Generals Joseph Hooker and Palmer, through Snake Creek Gap and eastward toward Resaca, driving a Confederate picket line back as the rest of Johnston's army entrenched.  

The ensuing Battle of Resaca was fought in several assaults by each side on May 14-15, 1864. The result was a tactical draw.  The Federals broke the Confederate line near the river, but the southerners managed to stop the Union advance short of the town.  The capture of a couple of small hills in this attack resulted in the Union taking up artillery positions and shelling the bridge at Resaca in an attempt to seal off Johnston's line of retreat.  General Leonidas Polk, who had now reinforced the Rebel army with one full division (General William W. Loring's) and several other assorted regiments, mounted a counterattack but failed to retake the lost hills.  As darkness fell, the continued shelling of the bridge at Resaca failed to score a hit, however.

A botched attack on General William J. Hardee's position by General Henry M. Judah's division in support of General Jacob D. Cox's division on May 14 resulted in heavy northern losses and, ultimately, in Judah's dismissal for mishandling his troops.  We know from his memoirs that Cox suffered about 700 casualties in this attack.  Judah's losses must have been greater.  Meanwhile, an advance by General David S. Stanley to secure the Union left flank was met with a counterattack by two divisions under General Hood.  Most of Stanley's men were routed but only one of Hood's divisions ever made contact with the Federal troops.  By the time the Confederates regrouped for pursuit it was late in the day and they were halted by Union artillery fire.

Probably the fiercest fighting at Resaca took place around a Confederate four-gun battery positioned to offer counter-fire against Union artillery.  In this engagement General Daniel Butterfield's division managed to drive the Confederates back and capture the guns.  These were the only artillery pieces captured by either side until the fall of Atlanta itself.  A second attack was planned by Johnston for Hood's corps on May 15, but was countermanded shortly after it began as Johnston received word that Union troops had successful fought their way across Lay's Ferry south of Resaca.  Once again Johnston's communications was threatened and he stealthily abandoned Resaca on the night of May 15.

Except for the Battle of Atlanta itself, the Battle of Resaca was the bloodiest of the Atlanta Campaign with more than 7,000 casualties in total.  The fighting convinced Sherman that using his superior numbers to attack entrenched positions was a bloody waste.  The battle informed his planning.  It would be another six weeks before he would attempt to attack Johnston again on such a scale. 

Johnston retreated to Calhoun and thought he might make a stand around Adairsville but the ground was not suitable for defense.  So, after another skirmish, he continued further south, and attempted to lay a trap for Sherman.  At a fork in the road, Johnston sent Hardee to Kingston to draw the bulk of Sherman's pursuit that way.  Meanwhile, Hood and Polk (now reinforced with another 4,500 troops, bringing the Confederate total to about 63,000) set up an ambush position near Cassville.  The hope was to attack and destroy the detached Army of the Ohio and Hooker's Corps.  But when Union cavalry arrived on Hood's right flank the attack was called off for fear of being enfiladed.  The "affair at Cassville" was aborted.

Much to the consternation of the Confederate government, Johnston continued to retreat.  His hope, which he never communicated to Richmond, was that with the bloody nose Sherman received at Resaca and the necessity of the Union armies to detach troops to protect each rail station, there might be an opportunity to concentrate a sizable portion of the Army of Tennessee against a fraction of Sherman's scattered armies.  As the Confederates received reinforcements and retreated closer to their source of supply, Sherman's army would grow somewhat weaker and further from his supply and communications source.  Sherman was well aware of the risks, however, and was cautious to avoid any engagement with the Confederates as long as his troops could outflank them.  
  
By May 23, Sherman crossed the Etowah River, moving south as rapidly as he could while protecting his wagon trains and the vital railroad. Johnston found more favorable terrain around Dallas and New Hope.  After failing at Adairsville and again at Cassville, it was there that the next stand would be attempted.