Dug Gap was named for a pioneer road cut out of the hillside that passed through a cleft in Rocky Face Ridge at this point. The road led east to Dalton and the Western and Atlantic Railroad, important military objectives. Federal forces sought in February and again in May 1864 to pass through the gap but were repulsed. On May 8, 1864, as the Atlanta Campaign began, Geary`s Division of the Federal Twentieth Corps attacked Dug Gap but was driven back after a brisk action. After direct attacks on Dalton failed, Sherman flanked toward Resaca through the broken, wooded area to the west.

Photo: David Seibert