The Battle of Resaca was part of the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The battle ranged in Gordon County, Georgia, and Whitfield County, Georgia, from May 13 to May 15, 1864, and ended inconclusively.

The battle was fought between the Military Division of the Mississippi (led by William T. Sherman) on the side of the Union and the Army of Tennessee (Joseph E. Johnston) for the Confederates. There were 5,547 casualties: 2,747 for the Union and 2,800 for the Confederacy.

Johnston had withdrawn from Rocky Face Ridge to the hills around Resaca. On May 13, the Union troops tested the Rebel lines to pinpoint their whereabouts. The next day full scale fighting occurred, and the Union troops were generally repulsed except on the Rebel right flank where Sherman did not fully exploit his advantage. On May 15, the battle continued with no advantage to either side until Sherman sent a force across the Oostanula River , at Lay’s Ferry, towards Johnston’s railroad supply line. Unable to halt this Union movement, Johnston was forced to retire.

References

• National Park Service battle description