The Atlanta Campaign: Into the Hell Hole

The morning of May 25, 1864.  Johnston has swung his army around and is now gathering at New Hope Church to meet the wide Federal advance.

The same situation as presented in the just released (since my first two posts in this series) VASSAL Module for Atlanta is Ours!  The module orients the game map left to right whereas I oriented it up and down on my gaming table.  From here on I will use screen shots from this module to depict the military situations in the Atlanta Campaign.

After avoiding a Confederate ambush at Cassville, Sherman boldly decided to attempt a larger, wider flanking maneuver against Johnston's smaller army.  Upon crossing the Etowah River, the Union commanding general opted to abandon the railroad line of march that had heretofore made his  concentration rather predictable.  He hoped to catch Johnston being overly conservative and get around the Army of Tennessee's left flank.

The maneuver involved all three Federal armies pulling away from the rail line (leaving sufficient garrisons to protect against possible Confederate cavalry raids) and using the massive array of wagon trains to supply Sherman's forces from the new Union depot established in Kingston.  Sherman aimed to concentrate his forces near Dallas, Georgia.

But Confederate cavalry detected the numerous Union crossings along the Etowah to the west of Johnston's army.  Johnston reacted with haste (though he may have missed an opportunity to do real damage to Sherman, according to some), sending Hood's Corps to New Hope Church, just north of Dallas.  Hood's divisions arrived and constructed hasty entrenchments literally minutes before the vanguard of the Federals formed up and attacked.  The resulting Battle of New Hope Church was small but intense.  It ended as almost every attack by either side had so far in the campaign - with a repulse, this time at a cost of around 1,600 Union killed and wounded against less than 500 Confederates.

Both sides formed an extended line and dug-in.  It was about this time that rain began to impact the campaign.  With the two sides arrayed in trench warfare, the rains turned the roads into quagmires as Sherman's wagons wore them out traveling back and forth for supplies.  Sherman only waited a couple of days to attempt to turn the Confederate right flank.  But Johnston adeptly anticipated this move and sent his lone reserve unit to cover his flank.  

That reserve was probably the best division in the Army of Tennessee, commanded by General Patrick Cleburne.  In the ensuing Battle at Pickett's Mill, Cleburne's troops repulsed a strong Union attack under General Oliver O. Howard.  It was another short, sharp engagement amounting to about 2,000 total causalities, about two-thirds of which were northern troops.  Though small, this battle, combined with the previous clash at New Hope Church served to raise southern morale. 

Since his flanking ambitions had once again been thwarted, and since the rain continued to interfere with the movement of troops, Sherman opted from gradual pressure and a cautious advance against the Rebels.  The main encounter during this time was the Battle of Dallas which happened in slow motion over the course of several days.  But this time it was the Confederates who got the worst of the fight which inflicted about 3,000 on the southerners against about 2,400 northern losses.

With the loss of Dallas, the left anchor of the Confederate line was turned and Johnston implemented a short retreat, once again entrenching along the Brushy Mountain Line.  The rain continued to fall, slowing the Yankee pursuit.   This defensive line was held for several weeks as Sherman reestablished his position eastward toward the railroad again, and set up a new depot at Acworth.  There was only sporadic skirmishing during these several weeks of rain during the campaign.  

A significant action during this time was the freakish death of General Polk on June 14.  While observing Federal positions from the top of Pine Mountain, Polk came under fire from Union artillery.  The fire was directed by Sherman himself, who was annoyed at Polk's nonchalant attitude of just standing above the position, looking down upon Sherman's men.  As shells exploded around his entourage, Polk remained calm and steadfast while the rest of his staff sought shelter.  Soon, one shell hit Polk in the side, killing him instantly.  General Loring took over the command of Polk's Corps.

To date fighting in the campaign had amounted to about 18,000 casualties, split roughly 11,000 to 7,000 in favor of the southern army.  But the Federals were better able to replace their losses due to their superior field hospitals and medical facilities.  So the net result was that Johnston's forces were weakening just as much as Sherman's.  The Union could afford this sort of attrition whereas the Confederates were losing ground but not gaining anything in terms of combat strength compared with the northern forces.  To save Atlanta, Johnston needed a much bigger victory than he had heretofore scored against Sherman.

Through torrential downpours, the Yankees continued to pressure the Rebel line around Brushy Mountain, eventually forcing another southern retreat.  For almost a month, the campaign slowed to a crawl, with the weather and the sharp battles and skirmishing making the situation a "hell hole" for all concerned.  Past the middle of June, Sherman again forced Johnston to retreat in order to cover his flanks.  The next southern line of defense was anchored on Kennesaw Mountain.