accounted the equal, perhaps the superior, of Sher-Bian. Here was an opportunity that ShermanHeight well say “ does not occur twice in a single”; and not for a moment did we doubt thatsuch a soldier, with such an army, would seizeeu ch an opportunity.
I recall the scene, as a group stood on a knollan J watched the skirmishers advance. As theh^ffs of smoke arose in the distance, as the sharp-footers paid compliments to this group, General
Hood rode up, and after a few moments’ gazeturned the head of his horse and rode a few feet,and by motion called Colonel Grigsby to him.; inanother moment Grigsby called me, and GeneralHood said in a cheery yet grave tone, “We musthold until night.”
Just at dusk the enemy began to fall back, andto our surprise the retrograde movement endednear to the point at which we had commenced ourlight in the morning.
BY E. C. DAWES, LATE MAJOR, 53d OHIO REGIMENT.
JN the foregoing paper [see p. 260] GeneralJoseph E. Johnston asserts that on the 30th° April, 1864, the strength of the Confederatertny Was “37,652 infantry, 2812 artillery with^ 2 guns, and 2392 cavalry,”—in all, 42,856.
f 6 return of that army for April 30th, 1864,h file in the War Department , signed by Generalsh nS ^ 011 an< ^ ^tested by his adjutant-general,°Ws its “present for duty” almost 53,000 :
tnfantry.41,279
Cavalry . 8,436
Artillery, 144 pieces. 3,277
62,992
The difference between these figures and thoseis ^ ^ euei ' a l Johnston from the same returncol & t * n P a P er he gives the footings of thee of “effective total.” This, in all Confed-a hd re ^ urns > includes only sergeants, corporals,th private soldiers “for duty, equipped.” Thateav alry had an effective total of but 2392 withm ” officers and men for duty is accounted for"be fact that a large number of horses werea Zlu g in the rear because of the scarcity of for-a hd ^ ® a ^ on - They were brought to the frontthe men became effective when Sherman’stoe T ® e S an to advance. General Johnston ’s state-ly * ^at his artillery comprised but 112 piecesCo Bla nifest error, for the return plainly says 35Panics, 144 pieces.
y ,,, 6 battle of Resaca was fought on the 13th,donf’ And 15th of May. Prior to that time the° 6 r’ < G® ra ^ e army was reenforced by General Mer-, s brigade of four Georgia regiments, which hadf 0 , 011 garrison duty on the Atlantic coast. A0Jl6 ' a °te to the return of April 30th records thatth e ^hese regiments, the 63d Georgia , joined, artn y “since the report was made out,” andx* ts effective total was 814. All of these regi-th e j r full ranks ; 2800 is a low estimate oftwoL l . n °~°f-battle strength. Cantey’s division, Jf 0r , r igades of infantry and two batteries, 5300a hd U ^’ eame from Mobile about the 7th of Mayth I . e ' Vas stationed at Resaca. Loring’s division,G 6 ll g r ‘ ua f ail try brigades and two batteries, fromaufi a Tme’s command, with 5145 for dutyr eae ? detachment of 550 from French ’s division,time 6| ^ Resaca May 10 th, 11th, and 12 th. Mean-toat e( f re &iment of the Georgia State line, esti-H 00r) , as s f x hundred strong, had been added toa s corps.
v °L-iv. 19
At Resaca General Johnston had at least 67,000men for battle and 168 pieces of artillery. Gen-eral Sherman had at most 104,000 the oddsagainst General Johnston when “ the armies wereactually in contact” were as 100 to 64, instead of“ 10 to 4,” as stated in his article.
On the night of May 16th the Confederate armyevacuated Resaca. On the following day, atAdairsville, it was reenforced by General W. H.Jackson ’s cavalry command, 4477 for duty, whichwas increased to 5120 by June 10 th. On the19th of May, at Cassville, the division of GeneralFrench joined the ai’my with 4174 effectives, ex-clusive of the detachment that was at Resaca.Another Georgia State line regiment, estimatedas 600, was added to Hood’s corps, and Quai’les’sbrigade, 2200 strong, came on the 26th of May atNew Hope Church. A comparison of the returnof April 30th with that of June 10th shows anincrease to the fighting strength of the army of3399 from the return of men “ absent with leave ”in the corps of Hood, Hardee, Wheeler, and in theartillery. The return of May 20 th is missing, butthat of June 10th shows an increase since May20th of 649 “returned from desertion” and 799“joined by enlistment.”
General Johnston has to account, between April30th and June 10th, for at least the following
men available for battle :
Present for duty at Dalton_.April 30tli.. 62,992
Mercer’s brigade. May 2d.. 2,800
Cantey’s division. May 7th.. 5,300
Loring’s division .. .May 10th, lltli, and 12tli.. 5,145
French ’s detachment. Mayl2tli.. 650
French ’s division. May 19th.. 4,174
Jackson 's cavalry. May 17th.. 4,477
Jackson ’s cavalry increase before June 10th.. 643
Quarles’s brigade. May 26th.. 2,200
Two regiments Georgia State line . 1,200
Furloughed men returned. 3,399
Recruits . 799
Returned deserters . 649
84,328
All these figures are official except for Mercer’sbrigade and the two regiments of the Georgia
} For Cantey’s strength, see General D. II. Maury’sreturn April 22d, 1864. For Loring’s strength, see Gen-eral S. D. Leo’s return May 10 th, 1864. For French ’sdetachment, see General French ’s report of “effectivewhen joined.”—E. C. D.
3* For the strength of Sherman’s army at Resaca, add5200 for cavalry joined between May 1st and 12 th to hisstrength, May 1st, of 98,797.—E. C. D.