Resaca — A Defensible Position

In the 1840s, plantations and farms occupied this part of Gordon County when construction of the Western & Atlantic Railroad began, bringing Irish immigrants who built temporary cottages and called the area Dublin. After the railroad was completed, the W & A built a terminal on the river's north side near the bridge, and soldiers returning soon after the Mexican-American War renamed the village Resaca in honor of their 1846 victory at Resaca de la Palma, Texas. By the 1860s, about 200 people lived there. Resaca's position along a steep ridge, beside the railroad, and at bridges across the Oostanaula River made it a strong strategic point, where Southern forces, as at Rocky Face Ridge, held an advantage despite the Union's greater strength and numbers because attackers had to cross Camp Creek Valley and climb the ridge. Rebel defenses included Fort Wayne, rifle pits, an artillery battery along the bluff, and additional trench lines built as battle neared. Residents learned of the approaching armies from Confederate scouts, the telegraph, and messages brought by incoming trains; many who could leave fled well before the fighting, while others on outlying farms were trapped in the cross fire once the armies arrived. After the battle, Union forces occupied Resaca for the rest of the war.

Resaca, Georgia · United States