Battle of Allatoona The Battle of Allatoona , also known as the Battle of Allatoona Pass , was fought October 5 , 1864 , in Bartow County , Georgia , as part of the Franklin - Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War . A Confederate division under Maj . Gen . Samuel G . French attacked a Union garrison under Brig . Gen . John M . Corse , but was unable to dislodge it from its fortified position protecting the railroad through Allatoona Pass . Background . After the fall of Atlanta , Lt . Gen . John Bell Hood moved the Confederate Army of Tennessee northward to threaten the Western and Atlantic Railroad , Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s supply line . Hood ' s corps under Lt . Gen . Alexander P . Stewart attacked a number of minor garrisons and damaged track from October 2 to October 4 . Hood ordered Stewart to send a division to attack the Federal supply base where the railroad ran through a deep gap in the Allatoona Mountain range and then move north to burn the bridge over the Etowah River . At Hood ' s suggestion , Stewart selected the division of Maj . Gen . Samuel G . French , three brigades commanded by Brig . Gens . Claudius Sears , Francis M . Cockrell , and William Hugh Young . The small Federal garrison , commanded by Col . John Eaton Tourtellotte , was a partial brigade ( 1st Brigade , 3rd Division , XV Corps ) , consisting of the 93rd Illinois Infantry , 18th Wisconsin Infantry , and Tourtellotte ' s own 4th Minnesota Infantry . Before the Southern division arrived , Sherman sent a reinforcement brigade ( 3rd Brigade , 4th Division , XV Corps ) to Allatoona , under the division commander , Brig . Gen . John M . Corse , who took command of both brigades . The Federal troops occupied strong defensive positions in two earthen redoubt s on each side of a , deep railroad cut and many of the men , including the entire 7th Illinois , were armed with Henry repeating rifles . Battle . French ' s division arrived near Allatoona at sunrise on October 5 . After a two - hour artillery bombardment by twelve Confederate manufactured 12 pounder brass Napoleon guns of Myrick ' s Artillery Battalion manned by men of Capt . Alcide Bouanchaud ' s Battery [ the Pointe Coupee Artillery ) , ( Louisiana ) ] , Capt . James J . Cowan ' s Battery of Warren County , Mississippi and Captain Robert L . Barry ' s Battery [ Lookout Artillery ( Tennessee Volunteers ) ] . French sent a demand for surrender , which Corse refused . French then launched his brigades in an attack — Sears from the north ( against the rear of the fortifications ) and Cockrell , supported by Young , from the west . Corse ' s men survived the sustained two - hour attack against the main fortification , the Star Fort on the western side of the railroad cut , but were pinned down and Tourtellotte sent reinforcements from the eastern fort . Under heavy pressure , it seemed inevitable that the Federals would be forced to surrender , but by noon French received a false report from his cavalry that a strong Union force was approaching from Acworth , so he withdrew at 2 p . m . Aftermath . Allatoona was a relatively small , but bloody battle with high percentages of casualties : 706 Union ( including about 200 prisoners ) and 897 Confederate . Corse was wounded during the battle and on the following day sent a message to Sherman : " I am short a cheek bone and one ear , but am able to whip all hell yet . " French was unsuccessful in seizing the railroad cut and Federal garrison , regretting in particular that he was unable to seize the one million rations stored there , or to burn them before he retreated . There is a persistent myth that Sherman signaled the garrison to " hold the fort " while reinforcements were rushing to their relief , and that intercepting this signal may have been a factor in causing the Confederates to withdraw . Sherman denied the story and in fact the relief column under Maj . Gen . Jacob D . Cox did not arrive until two days after the battle . Nevertheless , the quotation " " is attributed to Sherman . The most likely source of the quotation was a hymn entitled " Hold the Fort " by Chicago evangelist Philip P . Bliss , which featured the chorus , " Hold the fort ; for we are coming , Union men be strong . "