Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Alabama in the Civil War

7. Retreat and Defeat in the West

Chapter  One week into May ,William T. Sherman set in motion his army group of more than , bluecoats in three armies; the second great Union offensive of the season was underway. Like Grant, who was clashing at that moment with Lee in the Wilderness,Sherman’s mission was to aim for a high profile city—Atlanta in this instance—and destroy all Confederate forces and military resources in his path. Opposing this juggernaut was the proud but ill-fated Army of Tennessee, initially , strong but soon reinforced to a peak strength of , troops. Of its  infantry regiments, thirty-four came from Alabama. Of the  guns in the artillery component, a dozen Alabama batteries comprised more than  of them. Of the approximately fifty contingents of cavalry,Alabama horsemen made up eight regiments’ worth. All in all, these fifty-four combat units amounted to well over , men— the largest concentration of Alabama soldiery at any point in the war. Most of the men in the ranks had experienced the gamut of military triumph and tragedy over the previous three years. As they marked time in makeshift shelters “chinked” out of the red clay of northern Georgia, a sense of apathy pervaded the ranks. That all changed on  December , when Gen. Joseph Johnston replaced the much-despised Braxton Bragg at the helm. A capable and prudent officer, Johnston’s manifest concern for the welfare of his men immediately raised morale.Recognizing that even the veterans had grown lackadaisical, he instituted an intense regimen of training that revitalized confidence in the ranks.For weeks,the units rotated through various firing ranges to improve their marksmanship or marched about in formation to hone their tactical movements.Furthermore, Johnston granted generous furloughs and encouraged a religious awakening that swept through the army’s camps. In just about every regiment, chaplains led a remarkable series of bible-thumping revivals. Finally, the Rebels played a lot of baseball, particularly the th Alabama Infantry, which purportedly fielded one of the best teams in the whole army. At the outset of the campaign,Johnston deployed his army along Rocky Face Ridge, an -foot  Retreat and Defeat in the West escarpment that shielded the small town of Dalton, Georgia.Sherman had no intention of storming that height. Instead, on – May, he distracted the defenders with a strong demonstration,while a force of , slipped southwestward to turn the Confederate army’s left flank. Discovering this maneuver just in time,Johnston hastily repositioned his forces around Resaca, where the Rebels quickly established a strong defensive line. On – May Union forces attempted in vain to punch through. Four all-Alabama brigades under Brig. Gens. Zachariah Deas,Edmund Pettus,Alpheus Baker,and Henry Clayton anchored the Confederate right flank, where they conducted a series of piecemeal counterattacks throughout the battle. Clayton’s experience typified the nature of the fighting in that area.On the afternoon of  May,his four regiments —the th, nd/th (consolidated), th, and th Infantry—overran an advanced Union position. From there they launched a more ambitious assault the following afternoon. The first two Yellowhammer regiments made good progress under cover of some woods, but the other two, advancing across open ground, came under heavy fire. Rushing from the prone position in short bursts,theseAlabamians still managed to get off a few volleys before falling back. Clayton’s Brigade suffered over  casualties at Resaca but helped inflict an estimated  on the enemy to its front. Overall, both sides lost about , men each. Convinced that the Confederate position at Resaca was too strong, Sherman executed another southwestward turning movement.Johnston deftly countered and,though fumbling an opportunity to strike the enemy columns around Cassville,blocked his adversary’s progress at Dallas.On  May Union forces tried to bludgeon their way forward at nearby New Hope Church, but Rebel defenders stopped them cold. Clayton’s Brigade played a key role once again. The Alabamians had just felled enough trees for breastworks when enemy batteries opened fire and a Yankee division charged. Backed by effective artillery,Clayton’s men beat back three successive waves over a period of two hours before sunset, and a massive thunderstorm, ended the battle. The attackers labeled the blood-soaked terrain in front of theAlabama brigade a“hell hole.”1 Two days later the Yankees attempted to turn the Rebel right with an assault at Pickett’s Mill, where three Alabama regiments...