Qualla: Battle of Resaca https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/5/s/battle-of-resaca-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Resaca https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca Battle of Resaca: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. "Well, Mac, you have missed the opportunity of a lifetime." Sherman's words to General James McPherson on May 12, 1864, cut through the Georgia afternoon like artillery fire. McPherson had marched his army through the unguarded Snake Creek Gap and stood within striking distance of the Western and Atlantic Railroad at Resaca -- the lifeline of the entire Confederate Army of Tennessee. He could have severed it and trapped Joseph E. Johnston's forces. Instead, fearing a trap, he cut some telegraph wire and marched back to the gap. Sherman would spend the next three days and thousands of casualties fighting for what McPherson might have won in an afternoon.

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/5/s/battle-of-resaca-wp/dn5s-battle-of-resaca-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Resaca: The Snake in the Gap https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca/ Photo credit Jordon Fuquea, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sherman's plan was elegant. With 110,000 men organized into three armies, he would pin Johnston's Confederates behind their fortifications at Rocky Face Ridge and Buzzard's Roost Gap while McPherson's Army of the Tennessee slipped through Snake Creek Gap to the south, cutting the...

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Image: Jordon Fuquea | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/5/s/battle-of-resaca-wp/dn5s-battle-of-resaca-the-snake-in-the-gap.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Resaca: Three Armies Converge https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca/ Photo credit Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain. Johnston was no fool. Recognizing the threat to his rear, he abandoned Dalton overnight and marched south to Resaca, where reinforcements under Leonidas Polk were already arriving from Mississippi. Sherman funneled his entire force through Snake Creek Gap in pursuit. By May 13, t...

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Image: Mathew Benjamin Brady | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/5/s/battle-of-resaca-wp/dn5s-battle-of-resaca-three-armies-converge.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Resaca: Four Napoleons in No Man's Land https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca/ Photo credit Paul J. Scheips, Public domain. The fighting on May 14 and 15 produced scenes of chaos and valor in equal measure. Henry Judah's division recklessly charged into Confederate entrenchments and lost 700 men. On the Union left, Hood launched a counterattack that overwhelmed two of David Stanley's brigades before t...

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Image: Paul J. Scheips | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/5/s/battle-of-resaca-wp/dn5s-battle-of-resaca-four-napoleons-in-no-mans-land.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Resaca: The Bridges at Midnight https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. What ultimately decided Resaca was not the frontal assaults but a bridgehead. On May 15, Thomas Sweeny's division crossed the Oostanaula at Lay's Ferry, threatening Johnston's retreat route south. That evening, Johnston made the calculation every defensive commander dreads: he co...

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]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/5/s/battle-of-resaca-wp/dn5s-battle-of-resaca-the-bridges-at-midnight.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Resaca: The Long Road to Atlanta https://qualla.com/battle-of-resaca/ Photo credit United States Army Center of Military History., Public domain. The butcher's bill at Resaca came to roughly 4,000 Union casualties and 3,000 Confederate. Historians have called the battle inconclusive, and tactically it was -- Sherman gained ground without destroying his opponent. But Resaca set the pattern for the entire Atlanta campaign: S...

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Image: United States Army Center of Military History. | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/5/s/battle-of-resaca-wp/dn5s-battle-of-resaca-the-long-road-to-atlanta.mp3 0:06 6 full