Battle of Dallas
The Battle of Dallas was an engagement during the Atlanta campaign in the American Civil War. The Union army of William Tecumseh Sherman and the Confederate army led by Joseph E. Johnston fought a series of battles between May 25 and June 3 along a front stretching northeast from Dallas toward Acworth, Georgia. At Dallas a probe launched by William B. Bate's and William Hicks Jackson's Confederate divisions accidentally turned into a full-scale assault against the defenses of John A. Logan's XV Corps. The attack was driven off with heavy Confederate losses. The previous Union defeats at New Hope Church and the Pickett's Mill are sometimes considered with Dallas as part of one battle.
On May 23, Sherman moved away from his railroad supply line when he launched a wide sweep that aimed to turn Johnston's left flank. Johnston adroitly shifted his army toward Dallas to block Sherman's maneuver. The result was ten days of close fighting that resulted in more Union than Confederate casualties. After the Dallas battle, Sherman shifted his army to the northeast, looking for a way to turn the right flank of Johnston's entrenched defenses. On June 1, Union forces occupied Allatoona Pass on the Western and Atlantic Railroad line. This allowed the railroad to be repaired as far as that location and promised that future supplies could reach Sherman's army by train. On June 3, Union troops arrived at a flanking position that convinced Johnston to abandon his lines and fall back to another entrenched position that covered Marietta.
Background
Union Army
General-in-chief of the Union Army Ulysses S. Grant ordered Sherman, "to move against Johnston's army, to break it up, and to get into the interior of the enemy's country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources". Sherman commanded elements of three armies. The Army of the Cumberland under George H. Thomas was made up of the IV Corps led by Oliver Otis Howard, the XIV Corps under John M. Palmer, the XX Corps commanded by Joseph Hooker, and three cavalry divisions led by Edward M. McCook, Kenner Garrard, and Hugh Judson Kilpatrick. The Army of the Tennessee led by James B. McPherson included the XV Corps under John A. Logan and the Left Wing of the XVI Corps under Grenville M. Dodge. The XVII Corps under Francis Preston Blair Jr. did not join until June 8. The Army of the Ohio commanded by John Schofield consisted of the XXIII Corps under Schofield and a cavalry division commanded by George Stoneman. The XIV Corps had 22,000 men, the IV and XX Corps each numbered 20,000 soldiers, the XV Corps totaled 11,500, and the XVI and XVII Corps had about 10,000 men each.Confederate Army
Johnston's Army of Tennessee included two infantry corps led by William J. Hardee and John Bell Hood, and a cavalry corps under Joseph Wheeler. The army was soon reinforced from the Army of Mississippi by the corps of Leonidas Polk and the cavalry division of William Hicks Jackson. Hardee's corps included the divisions of William B. Bate, Benjamin F. Cheatham, Patrick Cleburne, and William H. T. Walker. Hood's corps comprised the divisions of Thomas C. Hindman, Carter L. Stevenson, and Alexander P. Stewart. Polk's corps was made up of the divisions of James Cantey, Samuel Gibbs French, and William Wing Loring.Early battles
Sherman began his campaign on May 7, 1864 with the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge during which he turned Johnston's western flank with McPherson's forces while Thomas and Schofield threatened his front. After Johnston withdrew, the Battle of Resaca was fought on May 13–16 at which time Polk's corps began arriving. After Sherman turned his western flank again, Johnston withdrew. At the Battle of Adairsville, Johnston planned to counterattack Sherman's widely-spread army, but it miscarried when Union cavalry arrived from an unexpected direction. On May 19, Polk and Hood talked Johnston into retreating to Allatoona Pass. Johnston's retreat south of the Etowah River was done skillfully. Schofield's corps passed through Cartersville and reached the Etowah to find the bridges burned and the Confederates gone. The Western and Atlantic Railroad ran through a gorge at Allatoona Pass and Johnston posted his army there in a very strong defensive position.Sherman aimed to force Johnston's army to withdraw behind the Chattahoochee River. To achieve this he tried to outflank Johnston's army on the west by marching to Dallas and then Marietta. Sherman ordered his army to be ready to move on May 23. Since it would be leaving the railroad line, the army packed 20 days of supplies into its wagons and sent all its wounded and unfit men to the rear. Sherman ordered McPherson's two corps on his right wing to march from Kingston south to Van Wert and then east to Dallas. Since Jefferson C. Davis division was already to the west at Rome, Georgia, it moved with McPherson. Thomas' three corps were directed to march south through Euharlee and Stilesboro toward Dallas. Garrard's cavalry scouted ahead of McPherson's wing, while McCook's horsemen moved ahead of Thomas's center. Schofield's left wing marched from Cartersville to the Etowah with Stoneman's cavalry riding ahead. Kilpatrick's cavalry stayed north of the Etowah to guard the railroad.
On the morning of May 23, Lawrence Sullivan Ross, leading one of Jackson's cavalry brigades, reported that major Union forces were crossing the Etowah at Milam's and Gillem's bridges. Keeping Hood's corps at Allatoona Pass, Johnston quickly ordered Hardee's and Polk's corps to move southwest to Dallas. The Confederates marched all day and into the evening, briefly rested, then continued marching through the night. On May 24, McPherson reached a point west of Dallas. Riding ahead of McPherson, Garrard's troopers reported that Confederate infantry was at Dallas. Hooker arrived at Burnt Hickory ahead of Thomas' other two corps and Schofield's corps. Alerted by reports from Jackson's cavalry division, Johnston deduced that the Union army was maneuvering to turn his left flank and ordered Hood's corps to follow the other two corps toward Dallas. On the afternoon of May 24, McCook's cavalry captured a Confederate courier with a message that Johnston's army was marching toward Dallas. Even so, Sherman believed that Johnston would not attempt to stop him at Dallas; he directed his army to push forward.
Late May fighting
New Hope Church
By the morning of May 25, Hardee's corps reached a defensive position east of Dallas and Polk's corps deployed on Hardee's right flank. Farther to the northeast, Hood's corps arrived at New Hope Church and began digging rifle pits and building breastworks. Hood placed Stevenson's division on the right flank, Stewart's division in the center, reinforced by one of Stevenson's brigades, and Hindman's division on the left flank. Confederate observers on Elsberry Mountain reported dust clouds approaching from the north. Hooker's XX Corps left Burnt Hickory and crossed a bridge over Pumpkinvine Creek after driving off some Confederates trying to burn the span. At a fork in the road, John W. Geary's division took the left fork, while the divisions of Alpheus S. Williams and Daniel Butterfield took the right fork. When Geary's troops discovered that they were facing Hood's corps, the other two divisions were hastily recalled to the left fork.Sherman ordered an attack, believing that only a token Confederate force was in front of the XX Corps. By 5 pm, all three of Hooker's divisions were assembled and they began to advance with Williams on the right, Butterfield on the left and somewhat behind, and Geary in support. Each division was arranged in a column of brigades, that is, with three brigades lined up one behind the other. After advancing through dense woods and underbrush, the 16,000 Union soldiers ran into an intense storm of rifle fire from Stewart's 4,000-man division and artillery fire from 16 guns. Those Federals still unwounded threw themselves on the ground and fired back. When Williams' leading brigade ran out of ammunition, it was replaced in the front line by the second brigade. Asked if he needed help, Stewart replied, "My own troops will hold the position." The Battle of New Hope Church went on for three hours, and during its final hour a storm added its thunder and rain to the noise of battle. Hooker reported losing 1,665 killed and wounded. The Union troops called the battlefield the "Hell Hole". Hooker's troops retreated out of range when night fell. Stewart reported losing only 300–400 casualties.
Pickett's Mill
Thomas brought forward Howard's IV Corps, which deployed on the left of Hooker's corps and was in position by the morning of May 26. Davis' division moved forward on the left of McPherson's two corps. Of Palmer's other two XIV Corps divisions, Absalom Baird's remained at Burnt Hickory to guard Thomas' wagon train and Richard W. Johnson's was retained as a reserve. McPherson occupied Dallas on the morning of May 26 and pressed forward until his troops were in contact with Hardee's corps. McPherson posted Davis' division on his left, Dodge's XVI Corps in the center, and Logan's XV Corps on his right. Garrard's horsemen watched the country to the right and skirmished with Jackson's cavalry. Schofield's XXIII Corps came up behind Hooker's and Howard's corps, except for Alvin Peterson Hovey's division which was left to guard the corps trains. Sherman ordered Schofield's corps to move to Brown's saw-mill on Little Pumkinvine Creek which was on Howard's left. After marching northeast through dense forest to reach Howard's left, both the XXIII Corps and IV Corps performed a right wheel in order to come face-to-face with the Confederate defenses. During May 26, both sides entrenched and there was continuous skirmishing all along the front lines.Thwarted in his attempt to move around Johnston's left flank, Sherman decided to turn the Confederate right flank. He also wanted to extend his left flank until he reconnected with the railroad near Allatoona Pass. Conscious of his numerical superiority, Sherman knew he could hold his entrenchments with part of his forces while using another part for a flanking maneuver. On May 27, he ordered Thomas to pull Thomas J. Wood's division from Howard's corps and use it to turn Johnston's right flank. Wood would be supported by Johnson's division and Nathaniel McLean's brigade of XXIII Corps. On Sherman's left flank, McCook's cavalry clashed with Wheeler's cavalry, inflicting losses and capturing about 50 Confederates. Reports of this action led Sherman to believe that Johnston's right flank was only held by Wheeler's horsemen.
When Thomas and Howard examined the place selected for Wood's attack, they found that it was an open field exposed to crossfire. Thomas ordered Wood to march farther to the left. Accompanied by Howard, Wood's division deployed into six lines, one behind the other, and moved through densely wooded terrain. Johnson's division was in a similar formation to Wood's left. Finding that there were Confederate entrenchments opposite Wood's division, Howard ordered the march to continue. Unknown to the Federals, Johnston anticipated Sherman's maneuver and detached Cleburne's division from Hardee's corps, moving it to the right flank of Hood's corps. Johnston also ordered Stewart's division to be pulled out of the line and sent to the right flank to help Cleburne. Wood's division marched an additional through dense forests and Howard ordered it to attack. At 5 pm, Wood sent William B. Hazen's brigade forward, but it was repulsed by Hiram B. Granbury's Texas brigade after bitter fighting. Belatedly, Wood sent in a second and finally a third brigade, but they also were beaten. Weakly supported on the left by Johnson's division and on the right by McLean's brigade, Wood's attack failed and the Battle of Pickett's Mill was a Union defeat. Federal casualties numbered 1,600, including an unusually high proportion of dead. The Confederates reported 448 casualties.