ARMY OPERATIONS. 



resources at the disposal of Johnston would 

 admit. Should the mountain region be trav- 

 ersed or turned, and the Chattahoochee be 

 crossed by an invading army, the enormous 

 strength of Atlanta itself still gave promise of 

 a long and perhaps successful defence, while an 

 active cavalry force operating on Sherman's 

 tlaiiks might so seriously interrupt his commu- 

 nications as to compel him to retrace his steps 

 and abandon the campaign. His forces were 

 also liable to daily depletion as he advanced by 

 the necessity of garrisoning captured places as 

 well as of guarding the line of railway, while 

 Johnston, moving constantly nearer to his sup- 

 plies and ret-nforcements, would probably be 

 relatively stronger when he reached Atlanta 

 than when he started. The consequences 

 which defeat would entail upon either party 

 seemed so disastrous that the campaign was 

 watched with an interest hardly inferior to 

 that attending the more extensive operations 

 around Richmond. 



For the convenience of reference the follow- 

 ing table of stations on the Western and At- 

 lantic Railroad, with their distances from Chat- 

 tanooga, is appended : 



Miles. ' Mile* 



Boyee 5 Kingston 79 



Chickamauga ]" Can 86 



Johnson 1 S Cartersville. 91 



Ringgold -23 Etowah 95 



Tnnnel Hill 31 Altoona 98 



Dalton 38 Ackworth 102 



TilUm 47 Bis Shanty. . . . . 103 



Resaea 66 



Calhoun 60 



Adairsville 69 



Marietta 119 



Vinin<;'s ISO 



Atlanta 13S 



A reconnoissance by Gen. Sherman of Gen. 

 Johnston's position at "Dalton satisfied him that 

 an attack in front was impracticable, even 

 should the enemy abandon their works at 

 Tunnel Hill. Directly south of this eminence, 

 through which passes the railroad by a tunnel 

 eighteen hundred feet in length, opens a level 

 valley about three miles long by half to three- 

 quarters of a mile in width, bounded at its fur- 

 ther extremity by "Rocky Faced Ridge," a 

 steep, thickly-wooded and rugged eminence, 

 which commands the approach to Dalton both 

 by railroad and wagon road, and extends as 

 an impassable barrier along its west side for 

 many miles. The outlet to this valley is through 

 a narrow mountain pass called Buzzard Roost, 

 nearly midway between Tunnel Hill and Dal- 

 ton, which by means of abatis, a formidable 

 series of batteries, and a line of rifle-pits at its 

 northern entrance, had been rendered absolutely 

 impregnable to a force advancing along the rail- 

 road. On its northeast side Dalton was de- 

 fended by strong works on Mill Creek. Gen. 

 Sherman accordingly directed Gen. McPherson, 

 with the Army of the Tennessee, to move rapid- 

 ly southward from his position at Gordon's 

 Mill, via Ship's Gap, Yillanov. and Snake Creek 

 Gap, upon Resaca, a station eighteen miles be- 

 low Dalton, or upon any other point on the 

 railroad which might prove more accessible. 

 This movement, he supposed, would compel 

 Gen, Johnston to evacuate Dalton, when Gen. 



McPherson would be in a position to harass 

 the enemy's flank, while the main body of the 

 Federal army pressed him from the north. 

 While this flanking movement was in progress 

 a strong feint of attack was to be made by Gen. 

 Thomas in front of Buzzard Roost, and Gen. 

 Schofield, with the Army of the Ohio, was di- 

 rected to close up upon the latters left. 



On the Vth Gen. Thomas advanced from 

 Ringgold toward Tunnel Hill, which was car- 

 ried by the 14th corps under Gen. Palmer, after 

 a brief skirmish, with the loss of a few men 

 wounded. The slight resistance offered by the 

 enemy indicated that they had no intention of 

 defending the position, but only sought to hold 

 Gen. Thomas in check until they could make 

 good their retreat to the stronger position of 

 Buzzard Roost. The Federal line was estab- 

 lished on the same evening about a mile south 

 of Tunnel Hill. On the 8th a demonstration 

 in force was made against Rocky Faced Ridge 

 and Buzzard Roost, which, on the 9th, was 

 pushed almost to a battle. The 4th (Howard's) 

 corps succeeded in carrying the ridge, but found 

 the crest too narrow to enable it to attack the 

 pass with any prospect of success. Gen. Scho- 

 field meanwhile came up on Gen. Thomas's left, 

 which was held by Gen. Howard, and a brigade 

 of his cavalry, while demonstrating against the 

 enemy's right flank, met with some loss in an 

 encounter with a superior force of rebel in- 

 fantry. 



On the 8th Gen. McPherson passed through 

 Snake Creek Gap, surprising a rebel cavalry 

 force sent to hold the position, and approached 

 within a mile of Resaca, which he found too 

 strong to be carried by assault. Apprehend- 

 ing, also, that if he should attempt to cross over 

 to the railroad he might expose his left flank to 

 an attack from the direction of Dalton, he fell 

 back to a strong position at the west end of 

 Snake Creek Gap, and reported to Gen. Sher- 

 man. The latter, finding that the demonstra- 

 tion on the enemy's flank had failed to compel 

 him to evacuate his strong position, immediate- 

 ly determined to put the remainder of his army 

 in motion for Snake Creek Gap ; and on the 

 10th Gen. Hooker's (20th) corps, which held 

 the right of Gen. Thomas's line, started for that 

 place, followed on the succeeding day by the 

 rest of Thomas's troops, with the exception 

 of two divisions of Howard's corps and some 

 cavalry, who were left to threaten the ene- 

 my in front of Buzzard Roost, and by Gen. 

 Schofield's army ; the three armies thus hold- 

 ing the same relative positions occupied by 

 them at the commencement of the campaign. 

 The Federal loss in the actions of the 8th and 

 9th was between TOO and 800 killed, wounded, 

 and missing, the greater number being only 

 slightly wounded. 



Resaca, toward which Sherman was now 

 moving, is situated on the Oostanaula, in a pen- 

 insula formed by the junction of that river 

 with its northwest fork, the Conasauga, and 

 across this peninsula the rebels had erected 



