Confederate Withdrawal

By early afternoon at Allatoona, surrender seemed near as Federal troops were pinned down, out of water, and nearly out of ammunition. At noon, General French received a message from cavalry General Frank M. Armstrong that Federal troops were entering Big Shanty and advancing up the railroad toward Allatoona. French's troops were exhausted, nearly out of ammunition, and fresh supplies would have to be hauled up the steep slopes before another assault could be attempted. Fearing he might be cut off from the main Confederate force at New Hope, French reluctantly chose to withdraw, and by 3:30 p.m. was marching down Sandtown Road, leaving Allatoona in Federal hands after losing a third of his division. Heavy rain that evening added misery to the march. After the battle, Private Harvey M. Trimble of the 93rd Illinois Regiment recalled the horrific scene before the Star Fort, where dead and wounded lay everywhere in heaps and windrows, and where even the victors looked with compassion and tears upon the field of blood and carnage. Confederate dead and wounded remained scattered through the surrounding woods, ravines, and gulches and were found and buried from day to day until October 22. French later wrote that when he reached the Confederate encampment near New Hope Church, Hood seemed sad, melancholy, and depressed in spirits. Meanwhile, when questioned from the signal station at Kennesaw about his wounds, Corse replied that he had lost a cheekbone and an ear but was still ready to fight, though his losses were very heavy and he was anxious about a force moving from Stilesborough on Kingston. After further communications, Lieutenant William Ludlow carried Corse's report to Kennesaw Mountain, where Sherman, frustrated in trying to predict Hood's movements, contrasted Hood unfavorably with Johnston. The war continued into 1865, with many more battles before the Confederacy fell; at Allatoona, some men remained to guard a crucial railroad pass, while others from both sides were buried but not forgotten after what was called a needless effusion of blood.

Georgia · United States