Dallas

On May 22, 1864, three Union armies under Major General William T. Sherman moved out of Cassville and Kingston to the west. Major General Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry scouts easily detected such a massive movement, which extended nearly 20 miles wide. Learning of the development, General Joseph E. Johnston correctly anticipated the most potent defensive position again and established a line running four miles from Dallas to one mile east of New Hope and passing through a small mill community called Pickett’s Mill.

The following 10 days of sustained fighting in the tangled, dense wilderness and under constant rain were so intense that veterans on both sides labeled the area the “Hell Hole.” The battles at New Home Church on May 25-26, Pickett’s Mill on May 27, and Dallas on May 27-28 resulted in more than 2,600 Union troops killed, wounded, captured, or missing, and an estimated 1,800 Confederates killed or wounded. Due to the terrain and weather, maneuvering was tricky, and the fighting was so severe that the ratio of Federal troops killed to wounded was the highest of the Atlanta Campaign. These disastrous engagements upset Sherman so much that he never mentioned them in his official reports or memoirs.