June 11th, 1864
Both armies have endured nine straight days of rain. It slows down General Sherman’s advance to a snail like pace as the wagons are mired down in the mud. General Johnston’s troops are nearly swimming in their trenches.
On this day, Sherman’s armies have located the Confederate line about two miles south of Big Shanty. It stretches from Brushy Mountain on the Confederate right, across the Western & Atlantic Railroad, all the way to Lost Mountain on the Confederate left. The line is 10 miles long and is stretched pretty thin. The Confederate Army has also fortified Pine Mountain, which sits in advance of the main line at roughly the center.
The railroad bridge over the Etowah River has been repaired and the first train, a railroad repair train, pulls into Big Shanty. This is welcome news to General Sherman, his supply line is now up and running and he will no longer be so dependent on wagon trains traveling muddy roads for his supplies.
Category: General Johnston
150 Years Ago Today: June 5th, 1864
June 5th, 1864
The Southern soldiers are settling into their new earthworks along the Lost Mountain Line, Sherman’s soldiers are continuing toward Acworth and their life line, the railroad.
150 Years Ago Today: June 4th, 1864
June 4th, 1864
The Confederate forces are moving toward their prepared lines that stretch from Lost Mountain to the railroad just south of Big Shanty. Once General Sherman learns of General Johnston’s retreat from the Dallas – New Hope line, he orders General McPherson to move from New Hope Church toward Acworth. In most places along the line, the Federal troops never hear or see the Southern soldiers leave. They wake up to a deserted battlefield after the Confederates leave under the cover of darkness.
150 Years Ago Today: Along the Dallas – New Hope – Pickett’s Mill line
June 3, 1864
General Schofield advances to the crossroads at the Allatoona Church, the current intersection of Hwy 92, Dallas – Acworth Hwy, and Cedarcrest Rd. His lead division moves slowly for fear of Confederate attack and being separated from the main body of the Federal army. They take the entire day to advance and when they reach the crossroads, they discover the Confederates are gone. General Sherman’s route to Acworth and the railroad now stands unopposed.
General Johnston issues orders to the Confederate army to fall back from the main line and move to the newly prepared lines the stretch from the railroad south of Big Shanty, west to Lost Mountain.
150 Years Ago Today: New Hope – Pickett’s Mill Line
Heavy skirmishing continues all along the line and both armies continue to extend their lines toward the east in the direction of the railroad. General Sherman has ordered General Schofield to move the line to Allatoona Creek. As the Union soldiers reach the creek they are met with stiff resistance from entrenched Confederate troops. They attempt to turn the Confederate right flank, but Butterfield, who is assigned to support Schofield, refuses to add his troops to the assault. He states that he was assigned to support the movement east, but not engage in an attack. Schofield entrenches for the night. This turns out to be a good idea, because General Johnston has moved Cleburne’s and Walkers Divisons toward the end of his lines. Schofield would have been open to a severe counter attack if he had attempted to turn the Confederate right.
Meanwhile, Union Cavalry units operating in the area south of the Etowah river, report to General Sherman that the railroad is intact and usable down to Acworth. The railroad is Sherman’s goal and he is inching closer and closer to it each day.
150 Years Ago Today: Along the Dallas – New Hope line
May 30th, 1864:
General Sherman has decided he wants to shift his armies back east toward the railroad near Acworth. His plan is to begin leap frogging his units from Dallas and move to the east toward Acworth. Sherman has ordered McPherson to begin his movement several times, but Confederate attacks on his lines have prevented his withdrawal. On the night of the 29th, what was thought to be a large scale attack, kept both sides up all night in constant heavy skirmishing. The Union troops thought the Confederates were attacking and the Confederates thought the Union troops were attacking. On the morning of the 30th, Sherman inspected the lines with McPherson, and decided the men were in no condition to move after fighting all night. He then ordered their withdrawal to take place on the night of the 31st.
There was constant skirmishing all along the lines and both armies were trying to extend their lines toward the railroad. Sherman was trying to get back to a steady supply line and General Johnston was trying to stop him.
150 Years Ago Today: The Battle of Dallas, Georgia
May 28th, 1864:
After suffering heavy losses and gaining no ground since the Battle of New Hope Church on May 25th, General Sherman decided to begin withdrawing from the Dallas-New Hope line and make his way back to the railroad where the supply trains could reach him. Sherman had ordered General McPherson to begin moving his Army of the Tennessee, who were entrenched in Dallas, back to the east and toward the railroad near Acworth.
Confederate General Johnston was unsure of Sherman’s intentions and his troop movements. He ordered General Hardee to do a reconnaissance by force to try and ascertain the strength of McPherson’s position. General Hardee selected Bate’s Division supported by Jackson’s Cavalry to carry out the mission. General Bate’s was going to have just one brigade attack and if they found the Federal lines to be weak they would signal the remainder of the units to attack. The first brigade in made fairly good headway and then was repulsed by heavy fire. They found the Federals still heavily entrenched and still in place. Even though McPherson had given orders to begin moving out, his units in this section of the line had not started their movement. The signal to attack was not given. In the turmoil and uncertainty of combat, Lewis’ Kentucky Orphan Brigade thought they had missed the signal. He sent an officer down the line to see if the other unit had already attacked, when the officer arrived he found their portion of the line empty and assumed they had moved forward to attack. They had only moved out of their works a short distance in order to be more ready for the attack when the signal came. After hearing the report from the officer, Lewis orders the his Orphan Brigade to attack. Upon seeing this the Florida Brigade began their attack on the left of the line while Lewis was on the right of the line. They were supported by an artillery battery. Both brigades fought hard and made it close to the Federal lines. They were met with heavy fire from fully entrenched Union soldiers. When Bates realized the Federal troops were still in position and still there in full force, he called off the attack. The orders to retreat were late reaching the Orphan Brigade and for a period of time they were fighting their way forward unsupported.
The outcome of this battle is sort of the opposite of what happened at Pickett’s Mill. The Confederate losses were around 1600 and the Federal losses were around 400. Lewis’ Orphan Brigade suffered over 50 losses.
Book Review: Fields of Glory
Fields of Glory, A History and Tour Guide of the War in the West, The Atlanta Campaign, 1864
by Jim Miles. Cumberland House Publishing Nashville Tenn. 2002
This has been my most used and trusted book for finding locations related to the Atlanta Campaign. I love the way the chapters are set up. One Chapter gives you a fairly good history of a section of the campaign and then the next chapter is a guided tour of that section. The directions are good and detailed and I have not found any mistakes in the directions other than the mileage being off by a few 10th here and there, but not enough to matter. I like the appendix as well. They offer a few other tours and anecdotes of interest.
I must give Jim Miles a great deal of thanks, because I am not sure I could have found all the locations that I needed to with out his book. If you are looking at a driving tour in Georgia and want to visit some Civil War sites, then this is about the best book to use. I highly recommend this book.
150 Years Ago Today: The Union Army Crosses the Etowah River
May 23, 1864: General Sherman had devised a plan to move away from his railroad supply lines and angle southwest in an effort to out flank General Johnston’s Confederate Army, who are held up in the fortified positions of Allatoona Pass. Since they were leaving their main supply line, Sherman striped down his army to the just the essential equipment and rations to last a few days. Extra supplies would have to be brought by wagon train from the railroad and would take a great deal of time. On the 23rd of May the Federal troops begin crossing the Etowah River in multiple locations. They used existing bridges that were not burned by retreating Confederates, shallow fords, and the pontoon bridges that their engineers constructed. After crossing the river, the Union troops began concentrating in the area of Euharlee and Stilesboro. From here they moved away as three separate columns. McPherson was ordered to be the right wing of the advance and was sent to take Dallas. He went in a sweeping arch movement far out to the west through Taylorsville, Aragon, and Van Wert (now Rockmart). Sherman’s left wing was made up General Thomas’s and General Schofield’s Armies. From Stilesboro they moved south from that point, but stayed fairly close to each other, in case one of them needed support upon making contact with the Confederates. They stopped in the area of Burnt Hickory for a day to allow McPherson to complete his movement toward Dallas.
Meanwhile, General Wheeler’s Confederate Cavalry were observing what movements the Union Army was making and sent word back to General Johnston. He immediately issued orders to begin moving elements of his army into blocking positions to prevent or delay the Federal Advance. General Hardee was sent to Dallas to stop McPherson and become the left of the Confederate line. Hood stayed at Allatoona Pass for another day and then moved to New Hope to block the advancing Federals. Polk was sent to Lost Mountain where he could move easily in any direction to offer support if it were needed.
150 Years Ago Today: Confederate Crossing of the Etowah River
May 20th, 1864: General Johnston and the Confederate Army withdrew from Cassville and on the evening and night of the 20th they crossed the Etowah River and began heading in the direction of Allatoona Pass. General Sherman decided to rest his army and they stayed on the north side of the river for the next three days, where they were resting and restocking supplies.
Having traveled through this area as a young officer, General Sherman knew the dangers of approaching the Confederate Army, at the heavily fortified Allatoona Pass. He formulated a plan to leave his railroad supply line and move southwest toward Dallas and try to out flank Johnston and take Marietta before the Confederate Army could get there.
War Was Here 