Prelude to the Campaign
In March of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and given command of all the Federal armies. William Tecumseh Sherman succeeded Grant as commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi, assuming the direction of operations in the Western theater with a force of some 100,000 men.
The 2nd Massachusetts Infantry was bouyed by the news that the 12th Corps was to take part in the coming campaign. Then came the shocker. Under a reorganization of the Army of the Cumberland, the 11th and 12th Corps, both badly reduced in numbers, were consolidated. After 18 months of hard and valiant service, it was a bitter blow to Slocum's soldiers to be merged with Howard's "cowardly" Dutchmen. The 12th Corps had never lost a a single stand of colors nor one piece of artillery, not had they ever run like a flock of scared chickens. If there was any consolation in the business it was that the new corps would continue to bear the 12th Corps badge--the Star.
Som they were now the 20th Corps, "a number that we are not at all proud of," scoffed Capt. Henry Newton Comey, who added, "Perhaps the future will make it famous."
Then there was more bad news. The new corps was to be commanded by Joseph Hooker. Slocum, who had made it abundantly clear that he would never again serve under Hooker, was reassigned to head the District of Vicksburg. It was, said Capt. Francis Crowninshield, "the worst thing that could possibly have happened to the corps."
Hooker promptly gave two of his three division commanders--Schurz and Steinwehr--the boot. MG John White Geary, an able soldier but as self-promoting, political a general as Hooker ever was, was given command of the 2nd Division. Hooker's faithful crony, Daniel Butterfield, took over the 3rd Division. Only reliable "Pap" Williams managed to retain his place, taking charge of what was formerly the 12th Corps--an deservedly so. No division commander had served with more distinction with so little recognition.
For the 2nd Massachusetts little else had changed. It continued in the 2nd Brigade of the highly capable Thomas Ruger. And as far as Col. William Cogswell was concerned, he was determined to maintain the high standards set by Gordon and Andrews. If Sherman wasn't much for drill, the field officers of the 2nd MA were. Company and Batallion movements were conducted every other day and officers attended their recitations on a daily basis. All of this, in addition to perpetual roll call, left Capt. Crowninshield with "very little time to myself."
By mid-April, Sherman began to concentrate his forces to move against Joseph Johnston at Dalton, Georgia, where the Confederates gathered after their defeat at Missionary Ridge. His force consisted of the following:
Of the 218 regiments in Sherman's army, only 33 hailed from the eastern states, and only 2 of these were from Massachusetts: the 2nd Massachusetts and the 33rd Massachusetts.
Johnston's army numbered approximately 55,000, consisting of 2 corps under Hardee and Hood, plus Joseph Wheeler's cavalry. Although the Federals held a 2 to 1 advantage, no one in the 2nd Massachusetts imagined that their invasion of Georgia was going to be a cake-walk. Nothing about this march was going to be easy. They were expected to march 15 miles each day and sustain themselves by foraging liberally off the country. Transportation was reduced to one wagon and one ambulance per regiment--a far cry from the 25 laden wagons with which the 2nd MA had left Brook Farm with in 1861. Still, everyone was in high spirits, confident that their superior numbers and superior leadership would win out. If only they could actually get a good shot at the Rebels, Lt. Col. Charles Morse was certain that they would give them "an awful thrashing," but he wondered if Johnston would sit back and wait for their attack. There was a great deal of territory between Sherman and Atlanta. Morse suspected that Johnston would use every inch of it before engaging in a definitive battle.
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