May 26, 1864 - June 1, 1864

	Union	Military Division of Mississippi	2,400
	Confederate	Army of Tennessee	3,000
	Total Losses		5,400

Battle Location:  Paulding County
Campaign:  Atlanta Campaign ( 1864 )
Theatre:  Main Western
Winner:  Union
Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman		Gen. Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Union Commander		Confederate Commander
The sharp engagements around the small town of Dallas, Georgia, southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee, were really nothing more than one episode in the long-running drama during Union general William T. Sherman"s spring 1864 offensive to capture Atlanta. After the Confederates" disastrous defeat on the slope of Missionary Ridge on 25 November 1863, the cautious, canny General Joseph Johnston, a sound defensive strategist, replaced General Braxton Bragg as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. By early May 1864, General Sherman, by that time commander of the military Division of the Mississippi, was ready to begin his push to Atlanta as part of the overall spring offensive on all fronts that General Ulysses S. Grant had devised. On 7 May, Sherman"s forces attacked across the railroad line crossing the Rocky Face Mountains at Snake Creek Gap. Intense pressure from Sherman"s large army all along the Rocky Face Mountains finally forced Johnston to retreat to Resaca to keep from being completely outflanked by Sherman. If Sherman had forced his way into Resaca, Johnston would have been completely blocked from Atlanta by a vastly superior force. Taking advantage of a delay among the Union forces to exploit their initial advantage at Resaca, Johnston rushed his forces to the endangered position. Sherman arrived in full force on 14 May and found the Confederates well positioned. He attacked during the dav and drove the Confederates back to their defensive works, where they did damage to the Union offensive. On the 15th, Sherman decided to move on after another direct attack failed. Johnston crossed to the Oostanaula River and prepared his defenses for another advance by Sherman. Thus the pattern had been set: Johnston would defend and Sherman would outflank. After pushing Johnston backwards through the nigged northwest Georgia mountains, Sherman cut loose from his railroad supply line and sent a large force, with George Thomas"s largest army in the center, toward New Hope, south of the heavily defended Allatoona Mountains, once again threatening to outflank Johnston"s forces. Sherman also sent George M. Schofield"s forces north of Thomas"s to a spot near Pickett"s Mill and James B. McPherson"s troops south of both of these positions, near the town of Dallas, Sherman"s primary objective. Because McPherson had the most circuitous route to follow, he was behind the rest of the Union army in arriving at his objective. The reason Sherman avoided the Allatoona Pass was because he had remembered from his travels in the area twenty years before, when he was stationed in Marietta, that the rugged area greatly favored the defensive. So, having altered the path of his army, he had chosen ground that he thought would, if not necessarily favor the offensive, at least pull Johnston out of his advantageous defensive position as a consequence. Having avoided an earlier confrontation around Cassville, Johnston was being heavily criticized for conceding territory without a fight, so he responded to this unexpected advance by moving William J. Hardee"s corps to Dallas, John Bell Hood"s to New Hope Church about four miles northeast, with Leonidas Folk"s corps sandwiched in between. Johnston was now determined to fight. Fighting on the 25th began when Union general Joseph Hooker advanced across Pumpkinvine Creek and met Hood"s troops, who were just arriving at the New Hope Methodist Church. A much superior force effectively repulsed Hooker"s initial attack; Hooker did not realize at the time that he was facing the entire right wing of Johnston"s army and not merely an advance party. Undaunted, Hooker then massed two divisions together and sent them into a much-outnumbered group of Hood"s men, led by General Alexander Stewart. Stewart"s troops responded heroically, defending their position determinedly despite sustained pressure for two to three hours. Hooker could not budge the Confederate position. By the end of the day, Schofield, who temporarily had to relinquish command due to an injury he sustained falling from his horse, had reached Pickett"s Mill, and McPherson had arrived around Dallas only to find the Confederates ready and waiting for him. Although on the next day Sherman deliberately scrutinized the Confederate line for a soft spot, he could not find one to exploit. He decided on the 27th to attack Johnston"s right flank, which was anchored around Pickett"s Mill. General Oliver O. Howard, whose corps had ignominiously fled at Chancellorsville, was given the task of turning Johnston"s right flank. Johnston, anticipating such a move by Sherman, had maneuvered his toughest divisional commander, General Patrick R. Cleburne, from Hardee"s left wing position and placed him in what was to be the center of Howard"s advance. Cleburne"s men destroyed the blue advance in quick order. Johnston, now satisfied that he had at least delayed Sherman"s advance, decided to take the initiative himself and ordered Hardee to move against McPherson, and General William B. Bate"s division got the assignment. His attack on the 28th was as stunningly repulsed, as had been both Hooker"s and Howard"s during the previous three days. Although the attack had been planned, supposedly, Bate"s attack began spontaneously and therefore was never fully supported by Hardee"s entire force. Interestingly, had the attack been somewhat later, the Union troops would have been gone; McPherson had previously been ordered to join up with Thomas"s army around New Hope and then swing around Johnston"s right flank to wedge in between the Confederates and the railroad. That night Hood argued for a flanking attack around Howard"s position, but when he discovered the next morning that the Union had anticipated such an aggressive move, he halted his advance. With all the segments of the opposing forces seemingly satisfied with having seen action, the main fighting around Dallas came to a halt. After a month of wrestling through the tangled Georgia hill country, both armies had been devising new tactics and means of survival, such as reinforcing their earthworks with sharpened sticks to repulse attackers. The results were to increase the efficiency of destruction. On 1 June, Sherman maneuvered left to link back up with the railroad, now at least having danced his way around the Allatoona Mountains. Johnston, having fought Sherman to a draw, moved back once again to block his opponent from direct access to Marietta and Atlanta. With Johnston"s army settling in and around Lost Mountain, Sherman looked for yet another way to out-maneuver the Confederates and capture Atlanta.
My Source:  Encyclopedia of the American Civil War — James H. Meredith