Of the many battles of the American Civil War, Resaca remains one of those little-known today. The battle accounted for the second highest casualty number during the entire Atlanta Campaign – May-September 1864. The 5,500 number, only surpassed by the Battle of Atlanta – 20 July, rated significantly higher than Kennesaw Mountain, the only Federally protected site of the entire campaign. Resaca was the only time in the entire campaign, also, where the full complement of Federal and Confederate units faced off and took part in the fighting during the campaign.
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ROCKY FACE START ON THE WAY TO ATLANTA
1863 saw decisions made in the West and East, decisions eventually proving decisive though at the time, an end to the war still lay deep ahead, hidden in the fogbank of the future. Federal armies in Virginia started the new year approximately where they had the previous year. In the West, the Mississippi River returned to Federal control with the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson. Further east, near Chattanooga on the Tennessee-Georgia border, the Confederate Army of Tennessee hung on after their serious setback on Missionary Ridge negated their victory earlier at Chickamauga. Under General Joseph E. Johnston’s new command, the Confederates dug in atop nearby Rocky Face Mountain barring the way for the soon-to-come Federal push towards Atlanta.
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