THE STRUGGLE FOR ATLANTA.

299

gap.” At the first news Sherman was much vexed, and declared con-ee i’ning McPherson’s failure to break the enemy’s main artery: “ Such an^Pportunity does not occur twice in a single life, . . . still he was per-

ectly justified by his orders.”

Our commander, believing that Johnston would now speedily fall back tojm.saca, at once changed his purpose. Leaving me at Rocky Face with the°urth Corps and Stoneman’s small division of cavalry to hold our line of'O'Pply, Sherman pressed after McPherson the armies of Thomas and''hofield. But Johnston was not in a hurry. He terrified me for twoa ys by his tentative movements, till our skirmishing amounted at timesa ni0y t to a battle. But the night of the 12th of May he made off in one^ his clean retreats. At dawn of the 13th the formidable Buzzard-Roost. a P was open and safe, and our men passed through. Stoneman rushedUlto the village of Dalton from the north, and the Fourth Corps, eager!lr| h rapid, kept close to the chasing cavalry. Not far south of Dalton weCa ttie upon a bothersome Confederate rear-guard, which made our march-es all that long day slow and spasmodic, yet before dark my command. a h skirted the eastern slope of Taylor’s Ridge for eighteen miles andJoined skirmishers with Sherman, who was already, with McPherson,re ast of Resaca. Thus we ended the combats of Tunnel Hill and Dalton,a fid opened up Resaca.

soon as Johnston reached the little town of Resaca he formed a horse-y-shaped line, something like ours at Gettysburg . He rested Polk’s corps^ the Oostenaula River; placed Hardee’s next, running up Milk Creek;^ then curved Hood’s back to strike the Connasauga River. After the

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extreme left (view looking south) of the confederate lines at resaca.

FROM A WAR-TIME PHOTOGltATH.

"ter of houses includes the railway station, tile railway running generally parallel with the earth-works'ere seen, which in the distance descend to the Oostenaula River. The railway andwagon bridges mentioned in the notes on p. 2CG arc near the railway station.