Oostanaula River Bridges

The original Western & Atlantic Railroad bridge over the Oostanaula River at Resaca dated from 1847, and by 1862 two bridges spanned the river there, one for the railroad and the other for a wagon road to Calhoun six miles south. After Federal agents led by James J. Andrews stole the locomotive “General” on April 12, 1862, at Big Shanty and attempted to burn the railroad bridge at Resaca, the vulnerability of several bridges became apparent, and for the next two years Governor Joseph E. Brown stationed Georgia State Line troops to guard the bridge while they trained at nearby Fort Wayne, also called Camp Wayne. In early May 1864, Union Major General William T. Sherman ordered Major General James McPherson's army south through Snake Creek Gap to wreck the railroad at Resaca and cut the supply line from Atlanta for Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's army at Dalton. Only 4,000 Confederates defended the Oostanaula River bridges when McPherson's 23,000 Federals arrived west of Resaca on May 9, but artillery fire from Fort Wayne contributed to McPherson's misjudgment of Confederate strength and his decision to withdraw back to Snake Creek Gap, giving Johnston time to fortify the hills around Resaca. By May 13, Sherman's combined armies of about 100,000 and Johnston's army of about 55,000 had arrived, and the Battle of Resaca took place on May 14 and 15, 1864. Sherman's armies attacked, much of the Confederate front on May 14 stalled with heavy Federal losses in Camp Creek Valley, Confederates countered near Nance Springs and then stalled, and a later Federal attack pushed Confederates from hills overlooking the bridges and resisted repeated counterattacks. Confederate supplies crossed on the two bridges and a pontoon bridge, but Federal advances brought all three under fire. Sergeant Walter Clarke of the 63rd Georgia Infantry Regiment wrote of heavy artillery fire while crossing the pontoon bridge at Resaca and of a solid shot from a Federal battery striking the company in front of his, killing two men and wounding a third within ten feet of where he stood. Another attack and counterattack near Nance Springs on May 15 caused heavy casualties and led to the capture of a Confederate four-gun artillery battery in hand-to-hand combat. Later that day Johnston confirmed reports of a Federal force crossing the Oostanaula River in his rear at Lay's Ferry, and the Confederate army secretly withdrew overnight, spreading straw over the bridges before marching across undetected and setting them afire. Sherman's armies extinguished the flames and used the wagon road bridge to pursue the Confederates toward Calhoun. The Battle of Resaca resulted in about 6,000 casualties with no clear-cut tactical victor, yet Sherman's flanking strategy forced Johnston's smaller army to retreat.

Resaca, Georgia · United States