their escape; and in the morning the town was entered and taken possession of by the National troops. The whole Union army then started in pursuit of the retreating rebels, but found no token of their whereabouts until, the evening of the 17th, near a place called Adairsville, a brigade of the enemy was overtaken. The advance, consisting of General Newton's division, engaged the rebel rear-guard, and a sharp encounter ensued. Night again put a stop to the conflict; and upon the following morning the enemy was gone, and was not afterwards overtaken till the National army had advanced four miles below Kingston, where he was again discovered on open ground, well adapted for a heavy battle. The proper dispositions for a fight wer promptly made; but as the Union troops were getting in readiness, and preparing to hem in the rebels, they once more took advantage of the mantle of darkness, and escaped in the night-time across the Etowah river, burning the road and bridges which they passed over, but leaving the National troops in undisputed possession of the whole valuable country about the Etowah river. General Sherman now gave his army a brief rest of a few days, as well for the purpose of recruiting their strength as to allow time for bringing forward supplies for the next stage of the campaign. CAPTURE OF ROME, GA. MAY 19, 1864. In the mean time a detachment of the Fourteenth corps (General Palmer) under command of General Jeff. C. Davis had been ordered on the 17th of May, along the west bank of the Oostanaula, toward Rome, a place fifteen miles west of Kingston. General Davis reached Rome upon the following day, and met with a determined resistance from the enemy. A sharp fight ensued, which resulted in the rebels being completely routed; General Davis took several forts, eight or ten guns of heavy calibre, a great many valuable mills and foundries then doing duty in the service of the Confederate government; and large quantities of stores. On the 19th, General Davis with his troops took possession of the city of Rome. On the 23d of May, the march was resumed. Feeling assured that the enemy had the power, and would therefore use it, to hold the Union army in check at a place called the Allatoona Pass, General Sherman determined to turn it by a circuit to the right, instead of attempting it in front, and on that day ordered the whole army, with the exception of the garrisons at Rome and Kingston, forward upon Dallas. Upon the march a letter from the rebel General Johnston was captured, showing that he had discovered General Sherman's movement, and was concentrating at Dallas to meet him. General Geary's division, of Hooker's corps, encountered the enemy's line of battle, after crossing Pumpkin Vine creek, and advancing about three miles along the Dallas road; the result was a severe fight of several hours. The remaining troops of General Hooker's corps were advancing along different roads, but they were quickly brought in to the assistance of Geary, and by order of General Sherman the entire corps made a bold push to obtain a point called New Hope Church, which lay at the intersection of three roads leading from Ackworth, Marietta, and Dallas. A very heavy battle was fought at this point, which resulted in defeat to the rebels, who were beaten back, but saved themselves from being driven from the road by throwing up hastily constructed fortifications. A severe storm, which set in about the close of the day, also proved of great assistance to them, inasmuch as it prevented General Hooker from making any further demonstration against them. In the morning the enemy was discovered strongly intrenched in front of the road which led from Dallas to Marietta. Consequently, preparations against them were made in large force. General McPherson was stationed at Dallas; General Thomas was deployed against New Hope Church; and General Schofield was directed to hold the left. The cavalry under General Garrard operated with McPherson, that under General Stoneman with Schofield, and General McCook's division brought up the rear. During all these movements, constant skirmishing occurred between the opposing armies. The heaviest attack took place on the 28th, and was made by a strong rebel force upon General McPherson's troops, when they were in the act of closing up to General Thomas in front of New Hope Church. The Federal troops being strongly protected by breastworks, repulsed the enemy bravely, and succeeded in driving him back with heavy loss. A brief pause succeeded this demonstration, which was at times broken by a renewal of skirmishing; after which the movements against the enemy were continued, and on the 1st of June General McPherson moved to the left, and occupied the position of General Thomas in front of New Hope Church, while that general and Schofield were ordered to move five miles farther to the left, thus giving the Union troops the occupation of the roads leading to Allatoona and Ackworth. General Stoneman's cavalry was next pushed into Allatoona, at the east end, and General Garrard's at the west end, of the Pass, thus accomplishing the real intention to turn Allatoona. The bridge across the Etowah which had been destroyed by the rebels was immediately rebuilt; and General Sherman moved his army upon Ackworth on the 4th, thus compelling Johnston to leave his intrenchments at New Hope Church, and to move westward to cover Marietta. The National troops reached Ackworth on the 6th, and rested there for a few days. Allatoona Pass, being considered by General Sherman as specially suited to the purpose, was chosen by him as a secondary base of operations, and was, according to his orders, made suitable for defence. On the 9th of June, the army moved forward to Big Shanty, having been on the previous day strengthened by two divisions of the Seventeenth corps, and one brigade of cavalry, which had been absent on furlough. Between Big Shanty and Marietta a mountainous district intervenes, which has three separate and well-defined summits, the most easterly of which is called the Kenesaw Mountain, and lies directly north and north-west of Marietta, and west of the railroad; it has a spur, called the Little Kenesaw, which juts out for a considerable distance in a northeasterly direction. The second of the highest summits, known as Lost Mountain, lies directly west of Marietta, and midway between these two lies Pine Mountain. These three mountains are connected by ranges of smaller eminences, upon all of which the rebels had erected signal stations, from which they could observe all the operations of the National troops. A great battle was impending; and the rebels, swarming about the summits of the hills, "thick as leaves in Vallambrosa," made the place alive with moving figures, and the air vocal with the hum of voices, the noise of felling timber, and the many hundred sounds of hurried preparations for the coming struggle. General Sherman describes the scene as "enchanting-too beautiful to be disturbed by the harsh clamors of war;" but beyond him lay the Chattahoochie, which must be reached; and no way to reach it lay before him except to cut his way through the rebel army, that stood between him and the goal to which all his motions then tended. The moment for attack approached. General McPherson was ordered toward Marietta; General Thomas to Kenesaw and Pine Mountain; and General Schofield toward Lost Mountain. The rebel front extended westward, and was upwards of two miles in length; and was so drawn that Kenesaw Mountain, the controlling point of the whole region, formed a sort of citadel for the enemy. General Johnston's force was estimated at sixty-three thousand, besides a force numbering fifteen thousand of Georgia militia, which was placed at his service. The preparations for attack had been going on for five days, and on the 14th, the battle for the possession of the mountains began. |