Wood's division, supported by other formations, to turn Johnston's right flank, but the Federals were repulsed with heavy casualties when they ran into tenacious Confederate opposition.

Unwilling to attack Johnston's lines frontally, Sherman attempted a wide sweep around the Confederate western flank.

Johnston quickly shifted his army southwest to block the move, and Sherman's first thrust at his opponent's defenses was defeated at New Hope Church.

A day after Sherman's troops were beaten at Pickett's Mill, the Confederates launched an attack on the Union right flank which was repelled at Dallas.

The two armies faced each other in the New Hope Church and Dallas lines until Sherman extended his left flank toward the railroad, compelling Johnston to retreat to a new position on June 4.

Sherman's forces were supported by 25,000 non-combatants consisting of railroad employees and repair crews, teamsters, medical staff, and Black camp servants.

Schofield's small army included his own XXIII Corps and a cavalry division led by Major General George Stoneman.

[6] The Atlanta campaign began with the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge on May 5–9, 1864, when Sherman sent McPherson's two corps to turn Johnston's defenses from the west while Thomas and Schofield demonstrated frontally.

At the Battle of Cassville on May 19, Johnston planned to counterattack part of Sherman's widely-spread army, but timing was ruined when McCook's cavalry appeared in an unexpected location.

Hood and Polk argued that the Cassville line was vulnerable to Union artillery fire, so Johnston retreated to Allatoona Pass on the night of May 19–20.

[7] At the start of the latest Union maneuver, Sherman ordered 20 days rations be carried in his wagons because they were leaving the proximity of the railroad.

[8][note 1] Thomas' army crossed the Etowah River and marched through Euharlee and Stilesboro, while Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis' 2nd Division, XIV Corps, which was detached at Rome, joined the movement of McPherson's wing.

Strongly resisted by three Confederate regiments, Brigadier General John W. Geary's 2nd Division pressed forward until it came into contact with Hood's corps at New Hope Church.

Hooker admitted sustaining losses of 1,665 killed and wounded in a place the Union troops began calling the "Hell Hole".

Aware of his numerical superiority, and with both armies entrenched, Sherman decided that he could assemble some of his troops and use them to outflank the Confederate defenses.

The Union divisions marched through forests so dense that Wood gave the colonel of his leading regiment a compass to guide the movement.

Historian Albert Castel asserted, "Of all the brigade commanders in Sherman's army, a worse one to assist in Howard's attack could not have been found."

Govan's scouts reported Howard's movement to Johnston, who ordered probes of the Federal lines, believing that Sherman was making a general retreat to the railroad.

[22] After marching an additional 1 mi (1.6 km), Wood's and Johnson's troops reached a north-flowing stream called Pickett's Mill Creek.

All mounted officers sent their horses to the rear and went forward on foot, with Hazen guiding his brigade with a compass because the woods and underbrush were so dense.

[25] The Confederate cavalrymen gamely fought back, but they were deployed in a long skirmish line and Hazen's infantry forced them to give way.

[26] With his soldiers taking heavy losses and running low on ammunition, Hazen frantically sent messages to his superiors asking for reinforcements.

Finally, with Hazen's attack completely spent, Wood ordered Gibson's brigade forward, thinking that "a second effort might be more successful".

[29] Scribner's brigade finally showed up on Gibson's left, but was quickly pinned down by enfilade rifle fire from Kelly's dismounted cavalrymen.

Pulling back, Knefler's men plus the 37th Indiana and 78th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments from Scribner's brigade took a position where they exchanged fire with the Confederates until nightfall.

Even so, Cox believed that if Johnson had ordered Scribner to push straight on, while fending off the Confederate cavalry with another one of his brigades, the attack might have succeeded.

That day, Johnston directed Hardee to order Bate's left flank division to probe McPherson's lines to find out if the Union troops were still present.

At 3:45 pm, Bate's division and Brigadier General Frank Crawford Armstrong's dismounted cavalry brigade launched an attack on lines manned by Logan's XV Corps.

On June 2, Schofield's XXIII Corps pressed forward on the extreme left flank until it encountered Confederate entrenchments near Allatoona Creek.

[41] Between May 23 and June 6, including the fighting at New Hope Church, Pickett's Mill, and Dallas, Sherman's forces suffered 4,500 casualties while Johnston's army lost 3,000.