The success won by Schofield at Olley’s Creek indicated the direction
for the next Federal movement. Sherman quickly decided to shift troops
to his right, knowing that such a move would force Johnston to choose
between giving up the Kennesaw line or being cut off from Atlanta.
Accordingly, he began to reinforce Schofield by moving McPherson from
the left to the right. By the afternoon of July 2, Federal troops were
pushing southward on Sandtown Road against only light opposition from
small Confederate detachments.
Johnston was aware of what was happening—in fact, he had expected such a
movement since the failure of the assault on the 27th. Believing that it
would be unwise to stretch his lines further and realizing that the
troops opposing the Federal advance could do no more than delay it,
Johnston decided to abandon his Kennesaw Mountain position and fall back
to a previously prepared line near Smyrna, 4 miles to the south.
Accordingly, during the night of July 2-3, the Confederates filed out of
their trenches around Marietta and marched southward.
When Sherman discovered that the Southerners were gone, he pushed
forward in pursuit, hoping to strike while the enemy was retreating. In
the late afternoon of the 3d, the Northerners reached the new
Confederate line. The 4th was spent in skirmishing, but before a serious
battle could develop, the Federal right secured a strategic position
from which it threatened to slice in between Johnston’s army and
Atlanta. Again, the threat to his left forced Johnston to retreat.
During the night of July 4-5, the Southerners fell back to a heavily
fortified position on the north bank of the Chattahoochee.
On the 5th, the Federals pushed forward until they reached the new
Southern line. Skirmishing that day convinced Sherman that the position
was too strong to be carried by a headlong assault. He dispatched a
cavalry force to seize Roswell, an important little manufacturing town
about 16 miles upriver from Johnston’s fortifications, and allowed his
men a few days’ rest while he planned the next move.
[Illustration: ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER]
After carefully studying the situation, the Federal commander decided to
attempt a crossing near the mouth of Soap Creek, above Johnston’s right
flank. On July 8, he moved Schofield’s Army of the Ohio into position
for the crossing. In a brilliant movement, Schofield, utilizing pontoon
boats and the ruins of a submerged fish dam, got over the river and
drove away the small group of Southerners defending the area. Other
troops were rushed across, bridges were built, trenches were dug, and by
nightfall the Northerners held a secure bridgehead on the southern bank.
On the following day, the Federal cavalry got over the river at Roswell.
Sherman had successfully crossed the last major barrier between
Chattanooga and Atlanta and had carried the fighting into the open
country south of the Chattahoochee where the terrain would favor him.
During the night of July 9-10, Johnston retreated across the river and
took up a position on the southern bank of Peachtree Creek only a few
miles from Atlanta. The Confederate commander seems to have been
optimistic at this time. Once again he believed that he had reached a
position from which he could not be driven and he expected to fight the
decisive battle of the campaign along Peachtree Creek.
Sherman, meanwhile, had decided upon his next step. He would swing north
and east of Atlanta to cut Johnston off from Augusta and possible
reinforcements from Virginia. McPherson was to strike eastward from
Roswell to the Georgia Railroad at some point near Stone Mountain. As
this force advanced, the rest of the Federals would move closer to the
river. The line would thus become a great swinging movement, with
McPherson on the far left, Schofield in the center as the pivot, and
Thomas on the right along Peachtree Creek. This movement began on the
17th. The next day, McPherson reached the Georgia Railroad near Stone
Mountain.