north of Dallas and Marietta, concentrating his army near New Hope Church, where the roads from the north, east, and southwest converge. Hood's corps was at the church, and Polk and Hardee lay eastward across the Atlanta Road.

Battle of New
Hope Church.

Here a severe battle took place, and the Confederates were driven back; but, they having hastily thrown up some parapets, and a stormy, dark night having set in, Hooker was unable to expel them from the roads. All day it had been lowering. At dark it rained heavily, but the troops kept working until a breastwork was secured. There were neither tents nor food. If fires were kindled the rain put them out. The general and his staff spent the night wrapped in their coats and saddle blankets. Next morning the enemy was found intrenched in front of the road from Dallas to Marietta, and dispositions on a larger scale had to be made.

Owing to the difficult nature of the ground and the dense forests, it took several days to deploy close to the enemy, Sherman resolving to work gradually toward his own left, and, when all things were ready, to push for the railroad east of Allatoona. In making the development about New Hope many sharp encounters occurred. On the 28th, McPherson was on the point of closing to his left on Thomas in front of New Hope Church, to enable the rest of the army to extend still more to the left and to envelop the enemy's right, when suddenly a bold assault was made by the Confederates on him at Dallas. His men had, however, erected good breastworks, and gave their antagonists a terrible repulse.

On the 27th Howard's corps attacked Cleburne, and was repulsed. Johnston estimates his loss in this action and that at New Hope Church at 900.

The order was renewed for McPherson to move to his The Allatoona left about five miles, Thomas and Schofield Pass is turned. also correspondingly moving to their left, the

movement being completed in safety on the 1st of June. By pushing the left well round, all the roads leading from Allatoona and Ackworth were occupied. Stoneman's cavalry was then moved to the east end of the pass, and Garrard's cavalry round by the rear to the west end, and the real purpose of all these movements was accomplished. Allatoona Pass was turned.

Rebuilding of the Etowah

Bridge.

Sherman now ordered the railroad bridge across the Etowah to be rebuilt, and continued working by his left. Plans of the bridge had been in the hands of the Construction Corps long enough to enable them to furnish a duplicate. A train from Chattanooga, with the bridge on board, soon came up, and, though it was 620 feet long, it was rebuilt by the Railroad Construction Corps with 600 men in six days. The engineering operations of the Georgia campaign compare advantageously with similar works executed by former soldiers. Cæsar built a bridge across the Rhine, a few miles below Coblentz, in ten days: it was regarded as a very extraordinary feat. Bertrand threw one across the Danube for Napoleon, near Vienna, in 1809. It took ten times the amount of labor of that of Cæsar; it was finished, however, in twenty days. But railroad bridges, over which heavy and fast-going trains must pass, require to be more strongly constructed than those which formerly sufficed for armies. Commonly, also, they require to be much higher to reach the level of the road; thus the bridge over the Tennessee at Falling Waters, constructed during the winter of 1863, consisted of not less than five stories of round timber cut from the adjacent forests.

On the 4th of June Sherman had resolved to leave The Allatoona made Johnston in his intrenched position at New a secondary base. Hope Church, and move to the railroad about Ackworth, when the latter suddenly abandoned his intrenchments, and retreated to his strong positions of Kenesaw, Pine, and Lost Mountains. Sherman readily

reached the railroad at Ackworth on the 6th. He now examined in person the Allatoona Pass, and, finding it adapted to use as a secondary base, gave orders for its defense and garrison; and, as soon as the bridge across the Etowah was finished, stores came forward to his camps by rail.

Results thus far

The results of the campaign to this date are thus summed up: "We have, in a month's time, with obtained. a force not very superior to his, compelled the enemy to fall back nearly one hundred miles, obliging him to abandon four different positions of unusual strength and proportions; have fought him six times; have captured 12 guns, 3 colors, over 2000 prisoners, with consid erable forage, provisions, and means of transportation; have placed at least 15,000 of his men hors de combat, and have destroyed several important founderies, rolling-mills, iron-works, etc., at Rome, and in the Allatoona Mountains." (5.) The turning of Kenesaw.

The Kenesaw Mountain and its consorts.

On the 9th of June, his communications to the rear being secure, and supplies ample, Sherman moved forward to Big Shanty. In front of him were Lost and Pine Mountains, almost perfect cones, and Kenesaw, divided by a deep notch at the summit, its entire length at the base being nearly two miles.

He says: "Kenesaw, the bold and striking twin mountain, lay before us, with a high range of chestnut hills trending off to the northeast, terminating to our view in another peak called Brushy Mountain. To our right was the smaller hill called Pine Mountain, and beyond it, in the distance, Lost Mountain. All these, though links in a continuous chain, present a sharp, conical appearance, prominent in the vast landscape that offers itself from any of the hills abounding in that region. Kenesaw, Pine Mountain, and Lost Mountain form a triangle; Pine Mountain at the apex, and Kenesaw and Lost Mountain at the base, cover

ing perfectly the town of Marietta, and the railroad back to the Chattahoochee. On each of these peaks the enemy had his signal station. The summits were covered with batteries, and the spurs alive with men busy felling trees, digging pits, and preparing for the grand struggle impending."

Kenesaw.

On approaching close to the enemy, Sherman found him Operations against Occupying a line full twelve miles long, more than he could hold with his force. On the 11th of June dispositions were made to break that line between Kenesaw and Pine Mountains. During a sharp cannonading on the afternoon of June 14th, Johnston, Hardee, and Polk were reconnoitring Sherman's position. They dismounted and walked to the front. A cannon shot struck General Polk, passed through his body, and carried off his right arm. He died instantly. On the next morning the Confederates abandoned Pine Mountain. A paper was found affixed to a stake, stating, "Here General Polk was killed by a Yankee shell." Thomas and Schofield advanced, and found the enemy again strongly intrenched along the line of rugged hills connecting Kenesaw and Lost Mountain. At the same time McPherson advanced his line, gaining substantial advantage on the left. An assault on the centre had been ordered, but not carried out, when, on the 17th, the enemy abandoned Lost Mountain and the long line of admirable breastworks connecting it with Kenesaw. Sherman continued to press at all points, skirmishing in dense forests of timber, and Johnston contracts across most difficult ravines, until he found the enemy again strongly posted and intrenched, with Kenesaw as the salient, his right wing thrown back to cover Marietta, his left behind Nose Creek, covering his railroad back to the Chattahoochee. This enabled him to contract his lines and strengthen them.

his lines.

After this contraction of Johnston's lines on the 19th, Hood's right rested on the Marietta Road; Loring, who