The region south of the Etowah was one of the wildest parts of north
Georgia. The area was sparsely settled, hilly, heavily wooded, and, in
1864, little known and poorly mapped. Sherman expected to push through
this region with little delay. On May 23 he wrote, “The Etowah is the
Rubicon of Georgia. We are now all in motion like a vast hive of bees,
and expect to swarm along the Chattahoochee in a few days.” His optimism
was ill-founded, for the rough terrain and heavy rains favored
Johnston’s smaller force and helped delay the Federal advance for 5
weeks.
Johnston posted his army around Allatoona Pass, a gap in the high hills
south of the Etowah through which the railroad ran on its way southward
to Marietta. He had again occupied a strong position hoping that Sherman
would attack it. The Federal commander, however, aware of the natural
strength of the terrain, was determined to avoid a direct assault and
crossed the river to the west where the country was more open. Dallas, a
small town about 14 miles south of the river and about the same distance
west of the railroad, was the first objective.
The Northerners began their advance on the 23d. McPherson swung far to
the west through Van Wert and then moved eastward toward Dallas. Thomas
was in the center moving via Stilesboro and Burnt Hickory. Schofield was
on the left, closest to the Etowah. The day was hot and the men suffered
greatly from thirst. Nevertheless, the Federals made progress toward
their objective and, on the 24th, were closing in on Dallas.
Confederate cavalry soon discovered Sherman’s movement and Johnston took
steps to meet it. By evening of the 24th, the Southerners held a line
east of Dallas which ran from southwest to northeast. The key to the
position was a crossroads at a Methodist church named New Hope. Hood’s
Corps held this part of the line. Polk and Hardee were to his left.
On May 25, some troops of Thomas’ army ran up against Hood’s line at New
Hope Church. In a late afternoon battle fought under dark skies and
rolling bursts of thunder, Thomas’ men made a series of gallant assaults
against the Southern line. The Federals met a withering hail of bullets
and shells that quickly halted each advance. In this short engagement,
Thomas lost about 1,500 men. The Confederates suffered little during the
battle and were elated at their success.
[Illustration: BATTLES AROUND NEW HOPE CHURCH]
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
Sunrise on the 26th found both commanders working to position their men
in the woods east of Dallas. Except for skirmishing, there was little
fighting during the day.
On the following day, Sherman attempted to defeat the right of the
Southern line by a surprise attack. In a battle known as Pickett’s Mill,
the Northerners were hurled back with about 1,500 casualties. For the
Federals, this engagement was one of the most desperate of the campaign.
One company of the 41st Ohio Regiment lost 20 of its 22 men. The 49th
Ohio carried slightly over 400 men into the battle and lost 203 of them.
The commander of another regiment wrote that he lost a third of his men
in the first few yards of the advance. “The rebel fire ... swept the
ground like a hailstorm,” wrote another Unionist, adding, “this is
surely not war it is butchery.” A third Northerner noted in his diary
that evening, “our men were slaughtered terribly 2 brigades of infantry
were almost cut to pieces.” The Southerners lost about 500 men.
Over the next few days fighting continued almost incessantly. Both sides
made assaults with strongly reinforced skirmish lines, seeking to hold
the enemy in position. This type of combat was very tiring on the men.
One soldier wrote after a night battle, “O God, what a night. They may
tell of hell and its awful fires, but the boys who went thru the fight
at Dallas ... are pretty well prepared for any event this side of
eternity.”
The days spent in the jungles near New Hope Church were among the most
arduous of the war for the soldiers of both armies. In addition to the
normal dangers of combat, the men had to undergo unusual physical
hardships. Rain, heat, constant alarms, continuous sharpshooting, the
stench of the dead, the screams of the wounded, and a serious shortage
of food all added to the normal discomforts of life in the field. One
Federal soldier described the time spent near Dallas as “Probably the
most wretched week” of the campaign. Another wrote of it as “a wearisome
waste of life and strength.” A third Northerner, referring to an
unsuccessful foray against the Confederate lines, wrote, “We have struck
a hornet nest at the business end.” So severe had the fighting been that
Sherman’s men would ever afterward refer to the struggle around New Hope
Church as the “Battle of the Hell Hole.”
When it became clear that no decisive battle would be fought at Dallas,
Sherman gradually sidled eastward to regain the railroad. On June 3,
advance elements of the Federal forces reached the little town of
Acworth, and within a few days, almost all the Northern troops were in
that general area. Sherman had outmaneuvered Johnston and bypassed the
strong Confederate position at Allatoona, but he had not seriously
weakened his opponent. Once again the Federal commander ordered a short
halt to rest his troops and allow time to repair the railroad and for
reinforcements to arrive.
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]