The tunes Hell Broke Loose in Georgia and Marching Through Georgia refer to a series of battles fought May through August of 1864 as Union forces advanced on Atlanta.
In early May 1864, Union Major General William T. Sherman marched 98,000 troops into northwest Georgia. My maternal great grandfather, Alexander Gilchrist (1846 -1936), was a soldier in that army.
Waiting for him on Rocky Face Ridge, was Joseph E. Johnston, a skillful defensive strategist, with 65,000 Confederates.
Part of Sherman's army attacked at Rocky Face Ridge, the rest circled south forcing Johnston to retreat to Resaca on May 11.
Johnston, one of the South's best generals, was outnumbered and outgunned. With most of his army entrenched at Allatoona Pass, he guessed that Sherman would send a column around to the west, towards Dallas.
Johnston interdicted the Union column at New Hope Church on May 25 and 26. Additional Union forces were repulsed by the Confederates at the Battle of Pickett's Mill on May 27. However, Johnston took heavy casualties at Dallas on May 28 while the rest of
he Union army moved into Allatoona Pass. Johnston was forced to retreat to Marrietta.
Sherman attacked Johnston again at Kennesaw Mountain on June 27. The assault failed with heavy Union casualties. Nevertheless Sherman surrounded Johnston forcing him to retreat to
Atlanta on July 4.
Atlanta, protected by wooden palisades and cannon with overlapping fields of fire, was a fortress. Sherman anticipated a stalemate. Then politics intervened. General Johnston was suddenly replaced with General John Bell Hood by order of Jefferson Davis.
The less disciplined Hood immediately went on the offensive launching several disasterous attacks on Union positions. The Confederates were repulsed and forced to withdraw from Atlanta on September 1, 1864.
Department of Special Collections Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
Listen to an early recording of
Byron G. Harlan and Frank C. Stanley.
Edison Records (1904)
Hetzler's Fakebook
a
resource
for
fiddle, banjo,
guitar, mandolin and dulcimer players who want to learn traditional
music.
