Georgia, Whitfield and Gordon Counties,

May 13–15, 1864

By Jay Luvaas

On May 9, while US Major General William T. Sherman was probing CS General Joseph E. Johnston’s position at Rocky Face Ridge, US Major General James B. McPherson marched the Army of the Tennessee through the unprotected Snake Creek Gap and advanced toward Resaca with US Major General Grenville M. Dodge’s XVI Corps and US Major General John A. Logan’s XV Corps, about 23,000 men. Sherman’s orders on May 5 were for a “bold and rapid movement on the enemy’s flank or line of communications.” McPherson was to cut through the gap, destroy the railroad at Resaca, then retreat to the gap. When Johnston retreated from Dalton, McPherson was to pounce on him.

Dodge encountered Confederate cavalry and then pressed forward to the old Calhoun and Dalton crossroads. While Dodge’s Fourth Division secured the crossroads, US Brigadier General Thomas W. Sweeny’s Second Division captured Bald Hill from CS Brigadier General James Cantey’s Brigade of infantry. The Confederates fell back across Camp Creek to the Resaca defenses. To protect the railroad bridge over the Oostanaula River near Resaca, they had only about 4,000 troops, composed of Cantey’s Brigade, part of CS Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk’s Corps, which was joining Johnston from Alabama, and a brigade from the vicinity of Dalton.

McPherson was cautious, and he missed his opportunity for a major victory. However, he had received no word from Sherman all day and was concerned that if Johnston had concentrated his entire army against him, he would be annihilated. McPherson recalled Dodge to the mouth of Snake Creek Gap to entrench and bring forward supplies. McPherson later explained, “If I could have had a division of good cavalry, I could have broken the railroad at some point.” For the next two days McPherson remained in his defensive stance on the Resaca side of the gap and dug in his troops. On May 10 Sherman ordered US Major General Joseph Hooker’s XX Corps to reinforce McPherson, to be followed the next day by the rest of the Army of the Cumberland, except for US Major General Oliver O. Howard’s IV Corps, which continued to hold the Union position at Buzzard’s Roost and defend the railroad. On the thirteenth US Major General John M. Schofield’s army also moved into the gap.

Johnston used the time given him by McPherson to concentrate his forces at Resaca and to prepare the battlefield. The troops of Polk’s Corps who had arrived from Alabama occupied the Confederate left, their flank anchored on the Oostanaula River. CS Lieutenant General William J. Hardee’s Corps held the center along the high ridge overlooking Camp Creek. CS Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Corps was posted on the right, his line running east to a hill near the Conasauga River.

On May 14 Sherman’s army closed in, enveloping the Confederate lines from the north and west. Hooker’s XX Corps supported McPherson’s troops, while US Major General John M. Palmer’s XIV Corps was on Hooker’s left with orders to fight its way to the railroad. Palmer attacked at about noon, supported on his left by Schofield’s troops and later by Howard’s IV Corps on Schofield’s left. The fighting was severe as Schofield and Howard drove the Confederates back into their prepared positions. Palmer’s subordinates were unaware of these breastworks and took heavy losses in front of CS Major General Patrick R. Cleburne’s position at the center of Hardee’s line.

The heaviest fighting was near the headwaters of Camp Creek, where late in the afternoon US Major General Jacob D. Cox’s division of Schofield’s army drove the Confederate outposts over rough and wooded ground into their works. Two divisions of Howard’s IV Corps later moved up to secure the position, opposite CS Major General Thomas C. Hindman’s Division on the left of Hood’s line.

At 6:00 p.m. Johnston launched a fierce counterattack from the Confederate right with two of Hood’s divisions, supported by two brigades from CS Major General William H. T. Walker’s Division of Hardee’s Corps. Holding with his left, Hood executed a swing movement that enabled his right to advance about two miles, overrunning a round-topped hill just east of the Dalton Road that anchored the Union flank. The lead division of the XX Corps under US Brigadier General Alpheus S. Williams rushed to the vicinity of Nancy Springs at dusk, just in time to repel Hood’s assault.

The Union attacks succeeded on the right, led by a brigade of US Major General Morgan L. Smith’s division of the XV Corps which stormed across Camp Creek. The fighting continued until dark, and McPherson’s men held. Throughout the night the Federals dug entrenchments.

The attack on May 15 did not materialize as Sherman had planned. The rough, unknown terrain on the Union left slowed the deployment of the divisions of US Major General Daniel Butterfield and US Brigadier General John W. Geary. The configuration of the terrain gave the Confederates “unusual facilities for cross firing and enfilading,” and the Union brigades were forced to attack in columns without adequate artillery support. The brunt of the Union attacks was borne by CS Major General Carter L. Stevenson’s Division. In places the Federals advanced to within thirty paces of Stevenson’s defenses. They briefly overran the “Cherokee Battery” of four 12-pounders, but the Confederate line held. A counterattack by CS Major General Alexander P. Stewart’s Division later that afternoon against the Union left was bloodily repulsed.

During the day the Federals had laid Sherman’s two pontoon bridges across the Oostanaula River at Lay’s Ferry, about three miles below Resaca. US Brigadier General T. W. Sweeny’s Second Division of the XVI Corps crossed the river and beat back an attack by a portion of Walker’s Division. Once Sweeny’s men had fortified the bridgehead, Johnston’s position was turned. Johnston then concluded that he did not have enough troops to protect his rail line to Atlanta and at the same time hold his position and defeat Sherman. He crossed the Oostanaula that night, burned the railroad bridge and damaged the wagon bridge, and headed for Calhoun.

At Resaca the Confederates lost about 2,800 of their 60,000 men, and the Federals, 2,747 of their 110,000.

Estimated Casualties: 2,747 US, 2,800 CS