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s and Chevaux-de-frise in front of the Potter House, Atlanta, Georgia, 1864]] The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta, Georgia , during the Summer of 1864, leading to the eventual fall of Atlanta and hastening the end of the American Civil War . BACKGROUND The Atlanta Campaign followed the Union victory at the Battle Of Chattanooga in November 1863; Chattanooga was known as the "Gateway to the South", and its capture opened that gateway. After Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to general-in-chief of all Union armies, he left his favorite lieutenant, Major General William T. Sherman , in charge of the Western armies. Grant's strategy was to apply pressure against the Confederacy in several coordinated offensives. While he, George G. Meade , Benjamin Butler , Franz Sigel , George Crook , and William W. Averell , advanced in Virginia against Robert E. Lee , and Nathaniel Banks attempted to capture Mobile, Alabama , Sherman was assigned the mission of defeating the army of General Joseph E. Johnston , capturing Atlanta, and striking through Georgia and the Confederate heartland. At the start of the campaign, Sherman's 's Army Of The Tennessee (Sherman's old army under Grant), Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield 's Army Of The Ohio , and Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas 's Army Of The Cumberland . When McPherson was killed at the Battle Of Atlanta , Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard replaced him. Opposing Sherman, the Army Of Tennessee was commanded first by Johnston, who was relieved of his command in mid-campaign and replaced by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood . On paper at the beginning of the campaign, Sherman outnumbered Johnston 98,500 to 50,000,Eicher, p. 696 but his ranks were initially depleted by many furloughed soldiers, and Johnston received 15,000 reinforcements from Alabama . However, by June, a steady stream of reinforcements brought Sherman's strength to 112,000.McKay, p. 129. Johnston was a conservative general with a reputation for withdrawing his army before serious contact would result; this was certainly his pattern against George B. McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862. But in Georgia, he faced the much more aggressive Sherman. Johnston's army repeatedly took up strongly entrenched defensive positions in the campaign. Sherman prudently avoided suicidal frontal assaults against most of these positions, instead Maneuvering In Flanking Marches around the defenses as he advanced from Chattanooga towards Atlanta. Whenever Sherman flanked the defensive lines (almost exclusively around Johnston's left flank), Johnston would retreat to another prepared position. Both armies took advantage of the railroads as supply lines, with Johnston shortening his supply lines as he drew closer to Atlanta, and Sherman lengthening his own. BATTLES The following battles comprise the Atlanta Campaign: ; Battle Of Rocky Face Ridge ( May 7 – May 13 , 1864 ) : Johnston had entrenched his army on the long, high mountain of Rocky Face Ridge and eastward across Crow Valley. As Sherman approached, he decided to demonstrate against the position with two columns while he sent a third one through Snake Creek Gap, to the right, to hit the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Resaca, Georgia . The two columns engaged the enemy at Buzzard Roost (Mill Creek Gap) and at Dug Gap. In the meantime, the third column, under McPherson, passed through Snake Creek Gap and on May 9 advanced to the outskirts of Resaca, where it found Confederates entrenched. Fearing defeat, McPherson pulled his column back to Snake Creek Gap. On May 10 , Sherman decided to take most of his men and join McPherson to take Resaca. The next morning, as he discovered Sherman's army withdrawing from their positions in front of Rocky Face Ridge, Johnston retired south towards Resaca. ; Battle Of Resaca ( May 13 – May 15 ) : Union troops tested the Confederate lines around Resaca to pinpoint their whereabouts. Full scale fighting occurred on May 14 , and the Union troops were generally repulsed except on Johnston's right flank, where Sherman did not fully exploit his advantage. On May 15 , the battle continued with no advantage to either side until Sherman sent a force across the Oostanula River at Lay's Ferry, towards Johnston's railroad supply line. Unable to halt this Union movement, Johnston was forced to retire. |
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