Dalton II was a Civil War engagement fought in Georgia, 1864. It was a Union victory.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his cavalry raided into North Georgia to destroy railroad tracks and supplies. They approached Dalton in the late afternoon of August 14 and demanded the surrender of the garrison. The Union commander, Col. Bernard Laibolt, refused to surrender and fighting ensued. Greatly outnumbered, the Union garrison retired to fortifications on a hill outside the town where they successfully held out, although the attack continued until after midnight. Skirmishing continued throughout the night. Around 5:00 am, on the 15th, Wheeler retired and became engaged with relieving infantry and cavalry under Maj. Gen. James B. Steedman's command. Eventually, Wheeler withdrew. The contending forces' reports vary greatly in describing the fighting, the casualties, and the amount of track and supplies captured and destroyed. This engagement was inconclusive, but since the Confederates withdrew, it may be termed a Union victory.
Fought over two days, August 14 and 15, 1864, the clash known as the Second Battle of Dalton pitted Union troops against Confederate forces in Whitfield County, in the northern part of Georgia.
Under Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, Confederate horsemen swept into northern Georgia with the goal of tearing up railroad track and cutting the supply lines feeding William T. Sherman's forces, all in hopes of pushing him out of the state entirely. On August 14, Wheeler's men appeared before Dalton, Georgia, where he called on Colonel Bernard Laiboldt to surrender the Union garrison stationed there. Laiboldt would not yield, keeping his men behind their defenses while scattered clashes dragged on into the night, finally dying down around midnight.
By the following morning, Wheeler had abandoned the assault and turned his attention to withdrawing his forces. Before he could get far, Union troops sent from Chattanooga under Maj. Gen. James B. Steedman arrived on the scene and clashed with his cavalry. The fighting dragged on for roughly four hours until the Confederates finally withdrew from the area.
Just how much harm Wheeler managed to do to the rail line remains an open question. Still, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, writing from Nashville, noted that crews restored the damaged section south of Dalton in short order, with trains rolling again within a mere two days.
Urban expansion in Dalton has erased the terrain where the fighting once occurred, along with the historical context that surrounded it.
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