May 1, 1864

May 1, 1864

 

---Gen. Sherman has 110,000 troops gathered in and near Chattanooga: Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland, McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee, and Schofield’s Army of the Ohio.  He faces Joseph Johnston’s Army of Tennessee (CSA), at Dalton, Georgia, which has about 40,000 infantry and 8,500 cavalry, only a third of which were equipped with both mounts and weapons to be battle-ready.  McPherson lines up on the right, and sidles soutward to La Fayette, Georgia; Thomas pushes forward to Ringgold, on the railroad, near the Chickamauga battlefield, northwest of Dalton; Schofield lines up on the left, directly north of Dalton.  Sherman’s troops will strike on May 5.