Allatoona Pass - a Needless Effusion of Blood

Gen Sherman, US Army

Gen Hood, CS Army

October 5, 1864: Atlanta had fallen and Sherman's March to the Sea was underway.  Confederate General Hood had decided to strike Sherman's lines of supply to the north, mainly the Western and Atlantic Railroad, running between Atlanta and Chattanooga.  After that, he planned to march into Tennessee and recapture Nashville.  In actuality, President Jefferson Davis had dictated the plan, just has he had ordered Hood to attack Sherman during the siege of Atlanta.  Davis even gave a speech describing the entire strategy, which the Southern papers reprinted, apparently oblivious to the valuable intelligence they were giving the Union Army. Sherman had already countered the first part of the plan by fanning out his army and living off the land between Atlanta and Savannah so that he did not rely on the railroad very much.  He knew the second part could not succeed because General Thomas, his trusted Rock of Chickamauga, had enough men at hand to hold Nashville.  
To cut the W & A RR near the middle of its span, Hood sent Brigadier General Samuel G. French with 3,000 men to capture the two forts at Allatoona Pass, where 976 men under LTC Tourtelotte defended.

In this picture from the time, there is one fort on top of each side of the pass.  On the left side, you can see where the breastworks sit above the natural rise of the slope.  It was a formidable fortification, but French may not have known that Sherman had dispatched a division from Rome under Brigadier General John Corse to reinforce the garrison.  Corse arrived early in the morning on the 5th and assumed overall command, with over 2,000 men.  

BG French, CSA

BG Corse, USA

 French arrived at Allatoona after a long march and demanded the forts surrender to avoid, "a needless effusion of blood."  Corse refused and the effusion began, mostly from gray uniforms.  An entrenched  division of this size could have defended against twice as many attackers.  The forts were well-built with fraise, abatis, and a height of 12 feet from the bottom of the outer trench to the top of the breastworks.  French followed his orders, attacking four times unsuccessfully, until he heard of additional reinforcements coming to the forts.  Corse sustained a facial wound and wrote to Sherman afterwards, "I am short a cheekbone and one ear, but am able to lick all hell yet."

One young private from the 12th Wisconsin Light Artillery, James Croft, who was English by birth, saw a gunner go down and assumed his position.  Although the gunner is usually the most experienced member of the crew, with the rank of sergeant, Croft showed considerable skill and inspired his comrades.  He alone received the Medal of Honor for the Battle of Allatoona Pass. 
Today, the forts are well preserved at Red Top Mountain State Park in Allatoona, GA.  The State of Iowa honored BG Corse with a statue in Des Moines and French has a bust at the Vicksburg Battlefield.