Battle of Resaca

Not to be confused with the Battle of Resaca de la Palma in the Mexican–American War.
Battle of Resaca
Part of the Atlanta Campaign

Geary's Second brigade attacking confederate positions
DateMay 13–15, 1864
(2 days)
Location
Gordon County and Whitfield County, Georgia
34°34′53″N 84°56′19″W / 34.5815°N 84.9385°W / 34.5815; -84.9385
Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders

United States William T. Sherman

Confederate States of America Joseph E. Johnston

Units involved
Military Division of the Mississippi Army of Tennessee
Strength
98,787–110,000 60,000–70,000
Casualties and losses
2,747–4,000 2,800–3,000, 4 guns

The Battle of Resaca, from May 13 to 15, 1864, formed part of the Atlanta Campaign during the American Civil War, when a Union force under William Tecumseh Sherman engaged the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by Joseph E. Johnston. The battle was fought in Gordon and Whitfield Counties, Georgia, and is generally viewed as inconclusive.

The campaign began with Johnston holding strong defensive positions at Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Face Ridge, which he hoped Sherman would assault. He was compelled to abandon Dalton when the Union Army of the Tennessee under James B. McPherson seized the unguarded Snake Creek Gap on May 8, threatening Resaca from the west. Johnston retreated to Resaca where he was joined by reinforcements gathering there; he was pursued by Sherman, most of whose forces followed McPherson through Snake Creek Gap, while others came south down the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

On May 14, Sherman gained a foothold west of Resaca but an attack on Confederate defenses to the north and northwest was repulsed, as was an assault by Johnston on the Union left flank later the same day. On May 15, Sherman's attack to the north and a Confederate counterattack were both stopped, but other Union forces seized a bridgehead on the south bank of the Oostanaula River. With his line of retreat threatened, Johnston abandoned Resaca that night and retreated south to Adairsville, where there was a skirmish on May 17.