South."[13] The 8th Iowa Cavalry had a significant role in that operation. "In all that arduous campaign the regiment [8th Iowas Cavalry] was constantly at the front, and when the Confederates, after weeks of constant skirmishing and battles, at last fell back behind the Chattahoochee, the 8th Iowa Cavalry was the first troop across the river after them"[12] One
of these battles was the Battle of Resaca on May 13-15th, near Rome,
Georgia in which the Confederates under General Joseph Johnston attempted to
halt the Union advance towards Dalton to the south. [13] Sherman’s intent was to capture the railroad
and telegraph lines in that area. The
battle was inconclusive as the Union suffered more casualties, but the
Confederates withdrew from the field.
The battle on Kennesaw Mountain was perhaps more dramatic. Facing a heavily fortified stretch to Atlanta, 15 miles away, Sherman decided to abandon his usual flanking strategy. [13] Instead, he attempted an unsuccessful large-scale frontal assault on June 27th that resulted in 3000 casualties to the 1000 lost to the Confederates. Sherman
justified the change of strategy as being necessary to avoid
predictability. The Union army faced
each other for five days before Sherman sent the Army of the Tennessee to turn
Johnston’s left flank, thus forcing Johnston to withdraw. (As an aside, Jefferson Davis was tiring of
strategic withdrawals, and after Kennesaw Mountain he would replace Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston with the more aggressive Gen. John Bell Hood. The change in command structure did not have
the desired results. Gen. Hood and his
aggressive tactics were largely wasteful of men and resources. After a month-long siege, on September 2, the
Union would enter the city of Atlanta.) [continued on page 8]
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