Atlanta Campaign The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864 . Union Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga , Tennessee , beginning in May 1864 , opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E . Johnston . Johnston ' s Army of Tennessee withdrew toward Atlanta in the face of successive flanking maneuvers by Sherman ' s group of armies . In July , the Confederate president replaced Johnston with the more aggressive John Bell Hood , who began challenging the Union Army in a series of damaging frontal assaults . Hood ' s army was eventually besieged in Atlanta and the city fell on September 2 , hastening the end of the war . Background . The Atlanta Campaign followed the Union victory in the Battles for Chattanooga in November 1863 ; Chattanooga was known as the " Gateway to the South " , and its capture opened that gateway . After Ulysses S . Grant was promoted to general - in - chief of all Union armies , he left his favorite lieutenant , Sherman , in charge of the Western armies . Grant ' s strategy was to apply pressure against the Confederacy in several coordinated offensives . While he , George G . Meade , Benjamin Butler , Franz Sigel , George Crook , and William W . Averell advanced in Virginia against Robert E . Lee , and Nathaniel Banks attempted to capture Mobile , Alabama , Sherman was assigned the mission of defeating Johnston ' s army , capturing Atlanta , and striking through Georgia and the Confederate heartland . Opposing forces . Union . At the start of the campaign , Sherman ' s Military Division of the Mississippi consisted of three armies : On paper at the beginning of the campaign , Sherman outnumbered Johnston 98 , 500 to 50 , 000 , but his ranks were initially depleted by many furloughed soldiers , and Johnston received 15 , 000 reinforcements from Alabama . However , by June , a steady stream of reinforcements brought Sherman ' s strength to 112 , 000 . Confederate . Opposing Sherman , the Army of Tennessee was commanded first by Gen . Joseph E . Johnston , who was relieved of his command in mid - campaign and replaced by Lt . Gen . John Bell Hood . The four corps in the 50 , 000 - man army were commanded by : Johnston was a conservative general with a reputation for withdrawing his army before serious contact would result ; this was certainly his pattern against George B . McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 . But in Georgia , he faced the much more aggressive Sherman . Johnston ' s army repeatedly took up strongly entrenched defensive positions in the campaign . Sherman prudently avoided suicidal frontal assaults against most of these positions , instead maneuvering in flanking marches around the defenses as he advanced from Chattanooga towards Atlanta . Whenever Sherman flanked the defensive lines ( almost exclusively around Johnston ' s left flank ) , Johnston would retreat to another prepared position . Both armies took advantage of the railroads as supply lines , with Johnston shortening his supply lines as he drew closer to Atlanta , and Sherman lengthening his own . Battles : Sherman vs . Johnston . Rocky Face Ridge ( May 7 – 13 , 1864 ) . Johnston had entrenched his army on the long , high mountain of Rocky Face Ridge and eastward across Crow Valley . As Sherman approached , he decided to demonstrate against the position with two columns while he sent a third one through Snake Creek Gap , to the right , to hit the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Resaca , Georgia . The two columns engaged the enemy at Buzzard Roost ( Mill Creek Gap ) and at Dug Gap . In the meantime , the third column , under McPherson , passed through Snake Creek Gap and on May 9 advanced to the outskirts of Resaca , where it found Confederates entrenched . Fearing defeat , McPherson pulled his column back to Snake Creek Gap . On May 10 , Sherman decided to take most of his men and join McPherson to take Resaca . The next morning , as he discovered Sherman ' s army withdrawing from their positions in front of Rocky Face Ridge , Johnston retired south towards Resaca . Resaca ( May 13 – 15 ) . Union troops tested the Confederate lines around Resaca to pinpoint their whereabouts . Full scale fighting occurred on May 14 , and the Union troops were generally repulsed except on Johnston ' s right flank , where Sherman did not fully exploit his advantage . On May 15 , the battle continued with no advantage to either side until Sherman sent a force across the Oostanula River at Lay ' s Ferry , towards Johnston ' s railroad supply line . Unable to halt this Union movement , Johnston was forced to retire . Adairsville ( May 17 ) . Johnston ' s army retreated southward while Sherman pursued . Failing to find a good defensive position south of Calhoun , Johnston continued to Adairsville while the Confederate cavalry fought a skillful rearguard action . On May 17 , Howard ' s IV Corps ran into entrenched infantry of Hardee ' s corps , while advancing about two miles ( 3 km ) north of Adairsville . Three Union divisions prepared for battle , but Thomas halted them because of the approach of darkness . Sherman then concentrated his men in the Adairsville area to attack Johnston the next day . Johnston had originally expected to find a valley at Adairsville of suitable width to deploy his men and anchor his line with the flanks on hills , but the valley was too wide , so Johnston disengaged and withdrew . New Hope Church ( May 25 – 26 ) . After Johnston retreated to Allatoona Pass from May 19 to May 20 , Sherman decided that attacking Johnston there would be too costly , so he determined to move around Johnston ' s left flank and steal a march toward Dallas . Johnston anticipated Sherman ' s move and met the Union forces at New Hope Church . Sherman mistakenly surmised that Johnston had a token force and ordered Hooker ' s XX Corps to attack . This corps was severely mauled . On May 26 , both sides entrenched . Dallas ( May 26 – June 1 ) . Sherman ' s army tested the Confederate line . On May 28 , Hardee ' s corps probed the Union defensive line , held by Logan ' s XV Corps , to exploit any weakness or possible withdrawal . Fighting ensued at two different points , but the Confederates were repulsed , suffering high casualties . Sherman continued looking for a way around Johnston ' s line , and on June 1 , his cavalry occupied Allatoona Pass , which had a railroad and would allow his men and supplies to reach him by train . Sherman abandoned his lines at Dallas on June 5 and moved toward the railhead at Allatoona Pass , forcing Johnston to follow soon afterward . Pickett ' s Mill ( May 27 ) . After the Union defeat at New Hope Church , Sherman ordered Howard to attack Johnston ' s seemingly exposed right flank . The Confederates were ready for the attack , which did not unfold as planned because supporting troops never appeared . The Confederates repulsed the attack , causing high casualties . Operations around Marietta ( June 9 – July 3 ) . When Sherman first found Johnston entrenched in the Marietta area on June 9 , he began extending his lines beyond the Confederate lines , causing some Confederate withdrawal to new positions . On June 14 , Lt . Gen . Leonidas Polk was killed by an artillery shell while scouting enemy positions with Hardee and Johnston and was temporarily replaced by Maj . Gen . William W . Loring . On June 18 – 19 , Johnston , fearing envelopment , moved his army to a new , previously selected position astride Kennesaw Mountain , an entrenched arc - shaped line to the west of Marietta , to protect his supply line , the Western & Atlantic Railroad . Sherman made some unsuccessful attacks on this position but eventually extended the line on his right and forced Johnston to withdraw from the Marietta area on July 2 – 3 . Kolb ' s Farm ( June 22 ) . Having encountered entrenched Confederates astride Kennesaw Mountain stretching southward , Sherman fixed them in front and extended his right wing to envelop their flank and menace the railroad . Johnston countered by moving Hood ' s corps from the left flank to the right on June 22 . Arriving in his new position at Mt . Zion Church , Hood decided on his own to attack . Warned of Hood ' s intentions , Union generals John Schofield and Joseph Hooker entrenched . Union artillery and swampy terrain thwarted Hood ' s attack and forced him to withdraw with heavy casualties . Although the victor , Sherman ' s attempts at envelopment had momentarily failed . Kennesaw Mountain ( June 27 ) . This battle was a notable exception to Sherman ' s policy in the campaign of avoiding frontal assaults and moving around the enemy ' s left flank . Sherman was sure that Johnston had stretched his line on Kennesaw Mountain too thin and decided on a frontal attack with some diversions on the flanks . On the morning of June 27 , Sherman sent his troops forward after an artillery bombardment . At first , they made some headway overrunning Confederate pickets south of the Burnt Hickory Road , but attacking an enemy that was dug in was futile . The fighting ended by noon , and Sherman suffered heavy casualties , about 3 , 000 , compared the Confederate 1 , 000 . Battle of Pace ' s Ferry ( July 5 ) . Johnston put the Chattahoochee River between his army and Sherman ' s . General Howard ' s IV corps advanced on Pace ' s Ferry on the river . The Confederate pontoon bridge there was defended by dismounted cavalry . They were driven away by BG Thomas J . Wood ' s division of IV Corps . The bridge , although damaged , was captured . Howard decided not to force a crossing against increased Confederate opposition . When federal pontoons arrived on July 8 , Howard crossed the river and outflanked the Pace ' s Ferry defenders . This forced them to withdraw ; and this permitted Sherman to cross the river , advancing closer to Atlanta . Johnston retired south of Peachtree Creek , about three miles ( 5 km ) north of Atlanta . Battles : Sherman vs . Hood . Peachtree Creek ( July 20 ) . After crossing the Chattahoochee , Sherman split his army into three columns for the assault on Atlanta with Thomas ' Army of the Cumberland , on the left , moving from the north . Schofield and McPherson had drawn away to the east , leaving Thomas on his own . Johnston decided to attack Thomas as he crossed the creek , but Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieved him of command and appointed Hood to take his place . Hood adopted Johnston ' s plan and attacked Thomas after his army crossed Peachtree Creek . The determined assault threatened to overrun the Union troops at various locations , but eventually the Union held , and the Confederates fell back . The advance of McPherson from the east side of Atlanta distracted Hood from his offensive and drew off Confederate troops that might have joined the attack on Thomas . Atlanta ( July 22 ) . Hood determined to attack McPherson ' s Army of the Tennessee . He withdrew his main army at night from Atlanta ' s outer line to the inner line , enticing Sherman to follow . In the meantime , he sent William J . Hardee with his corps on a fifteen - mile ( 24 km ) march to hit the unprotected Union left and rear , east of the city . Wheeler ' s cavalry was to operate farther out on Sherman ' s supply line , and Cheatham ' s corps was to attack the Union front . Hood , however , miscalculated the time necessary to make the march , and Hardee was unable to attack until afternoon . Although Hood had outmaneuvered Sherman for the time being , McPherson was concerned about his left flank and sent his reserves — Dodge ' s XVI Corps — to that location . Two of Hood ' s divisions ran into this reserve force and were repulsed . The Confederate attack stalled on the Union rear but began to roll up the left flank . Around the same time , a Confederate soldier shot and killed McPherson when he rode out to observe the fighting . Determined attacks continued , but the Union forces held . About 4 p . m . , Cheatham ' s corps broke through the Union front , but massed artillery near Sherman ' s headquarters halted the Confederate assault . Logan ' s XV Corps then led a counterattack that restored the Union line . The Union troops held , and Hood suffered high casualties . Ezra Church ( July 28 ) . Sherman ' s forces had previously approached Atlanta from the east and north and had not been able to break through , so Sherman decided to attack from the west . He ordered Howard ' s Army of the Tennessee to move from the left wing to the right and cut Hood ' s last railroad supply line between East Point and Atlanta . Hood foresaw such a maneuver and sent the two corps of Lt . Gen . Stephen D . Lee and Lt . Gen . Alexander P . Stewart to intercept and destroy the Union force at Ezra Church . Howard had anticipated such a thrust , entrenched one of his corps in the Confederates ' path , and repulsed the determined attack , inflicting numerous casualties . Howard , however , failed to cut the railroad . Concurrent attempts by two columns of Union cavalry to cut the railroads south of Atlanta ended in failure , with one division under Maj . Gen . Edward M . McCook completely smashed at the Battle of Brown ' s Mill and the other force also repulsed and its commander , Maj . Gen . George Stoneman , taken prisoner . Utoy Creek ( August 5 – 7 ) . After failing to envelop Hood ' s left flank at Ezra Church , Sherman still wanted to extend his right flank to hit the railroad between East Point and Atlanta . He transferred Schofield ' s Army of the Ohio from his left to his right flank and sent him to the north bank of Utoy Creek . Although Schofield ' s troops were at Utoy Creek on August 2 , they , along with the XIV Corps , Army of the Cumberland , did not cross until August 4 . Schofield ' s force began its movement to exploit this situation on the morning of August 5 , which was initially successful . Schofield then had to regroup his forces , which took the rest of the day . The delay allowed the Confederates to strengthen their defenses with abatis , which slowed the Union attack when it restarted on the morning of August 6 . The Federals were repulsed with heavy losses and failed in an attempt to break the railroad . On August 7 , the Union troops moved toward the Confederate main line and entrenched . They remained there until late August . Dalton ( August 14 – 15 ) . Wheeler and his cavalry raided into North Georgia to destroy railroad tracks and supplies . They approached Dalton in the late afternoon of August 14 and demanded the surrender of the garrison . The Union commander refused to surrender and fighting ensued . Greatly outnumbered , the Union garrison retired to fortifications on a hill outside the town where they successfully held out , although the attack continued until after midnight . Around 5 a . m . on August 15 , Wheeler retired and became engaged with relieving infantry and cavalry under Maj . Gen . James B . Steedman ' s command . Eventually , Wheeler withdrew . Lovejoy ' s Station ( August 20 ) . While Wheeler was absent raiding Union supply lines from North Georgia to East Tennessee , Sherman sent cavalry Brig . Gen . Judson Kilpatrick to raid Confederate supply lines . Leaving on August 18 , Kilpatrick hit the Atlanta & West Point Railroad that evening , tearing up a small area of tracks . Next , he headed for Lovejoy ' s Station on the Macon & Western Railroad . In transit , on August 19 , Kilpatrick ' s men hit the Jonesborough supply depot on the Macon & Western Railroad , burning great amounts of supplies . On August 20 , they reached Lovejoy ' s Station and began their destruction . Confederate infantry ( Patrick Cleburne ' s Division ) appeared and the raiders were forced to fight into the night , finally fleeing to prevent encirclement . Although Kilpatrick had destroyed supplies and track at Lovejoy ' s Station , the railroad line was back in operation in two days . Jonesborough ( August 31 – September 1 ) . Sherman had successfully cut Hood ' s supply lines in the past by sending out detachments , but the Confederates quickly repaired the damage . In late August , Sherman determined that if he could cut Hood ' s railroad supply lines , the Confederates would have to evacuate Atlanta . He therefore decided to move six of his seven infantry corps against the supply lines . The army began pulling out of its positions on August 25 to hit the Macon & Western Railroad between Rough and Ready and Jonesborough . To counter the move , Hood sent Hardee with two corps to halt and possibly rout the Union troops , not realizing Sherman ' s army was there in force . On August 31 , Hardee attacked two Union corps west of Jonesborough but was easily repulsed . Fearing an attack on Atlanta , Hood withdrew one corps from Hardee ' s force that night . The next day , a Union corps broke through Hardee ' s line , and his troops retreated to Lovejoy ' s Station . On the night of September 1 , Hood evacuated Atlanta , burning military supplies and installations , causing a great conflagration in the city ( the dramatic fire scenes depicted in the 1939 film " Gone with the Wind " ) . Union troops occupied Atlanta on September 2 . Sherman cut Hood ' s supply line but failed to destroy Hardee ' s command . Aftermath . Sherman was victorious , and Hood established a reputation as the most recklessly aggressive general in the Confederate Army . Casualties for the campaign were roughly equal in absolute numbers : 31 , 687 Union ( 4 , 423 killed , 22 , 822 wounded , 4 , 442 missing / captured ) and 34 , 979 Confederate ( 3 , 044 killed , 18 , 952 wounded , 12 , 983 missing / captured ) . But this represented a much higher Confederate proportional loss . Hood ' s army left the area with approximately 30 , 000 men , whereas Sherman retained 81 , 000 . Sherman ' s victory was qualified because it did not fulfill the original mission of the campaign — destroy the Army of Tennessee — and Sherman has been criticized for allowing his opponent to escape . However , the capture of Atlanta made an enormous contribution to Northern morale and was an important factor in the re - election of President Abraham Lincoln . The Atlanta Campaign was followed by Federal initiatives in two directions : almost immediately , to the northwest , the pursuit of Hood in the Franklin – Nashville Campaign ; and after the presidential election of 1864 , to the east in Sherman ' s March to the Sea .