Rocky Face Ridge was a Civil War engagement fought in Georgia, 1864. It was a Union victory.
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had entrenched his army on the long, high mountain of Rocky Face Ridge and eastward across Crow Valley. As Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman approached, he decided to demonstrate against the position with two columns while he sent a third one through Snake Creek Gap, to the right, to hit the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Resaca. The two columns engaged the enemy at Buzzard Roost (Mill Creek Gap) and at Dug Gap. In the meantime, the third column, under Maj. Gen. James Birdseye McPherson, passed through Snake Creek Gap and on the 9th advanced to the outskirts of Resaca where it found Confederates entrenched. Fearing defeat, McPherson pulled his column back to Snake Creek Gap. On the 10th, Sherman decided to take most of his men and join McPherson to take Resaca. The next morning, Sherman' s army withdrew from in front of Rocky Face Ridge. Discovering Sherman's movement, Johnston retired south towards Resaca on the 12th.
From May 7 to May 12, 1864, opposing armies clashed at Rocky Face Ridge in Whitfield County, Georgia, an engagement forming part of the Atlanta campaign during the Civil War. Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman commanded the Union forces, while Gen. Joseph E. Johnston directed the Confederates. When Union troops executed a flanking movement, Johnston's men found themselves compelled to abandon the formidable ground they had held.
Johnston had dug his forces into strong positions along the steep length of Rocky Face Ridge and to the east across Crow Valley. As Sherman moved into the area, he confronted this line with two columns to keep Johnston occupied, while dispatching a third south through Snake Creek Gap with orders to strike the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Resaca. Fighting broke out between the first two columns and the Confederates at Buzzard Roost, also called Mill Creek Gap, and again at Dug Gap. Meanwhile, the third column, led by Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, made its way through Snake Creek Gap and reached the edges of Resaca on May 9, only to find Confederate troops already entrenched there. Wary of facing such a strong position, McPherson withdrew back toward Snake Creek Gap. On May 10, Sherman resolved to unite his forces with McPherson's in a push to capture Resaca. By the following morning, his troops had pulled away from their positions facing Rocky Face Ridge. Once Johnston realized that Sherman was maneuvering around his flank near the ridge, he abandoned the fight and led his army south toward Resaca on May 12.
During 2016, the American Battlefield Trust joined with partner organizations to secure 301 acres belonging to the Rocky Face Ridge Battlefield, setting the land aside for preservation. This tract contained earthworks that had survived to the present day, along with the remnants of an unbroken trench line stretching over 2,000 feet. With this acquisition, the combined holdings preserved through the efforts of the Trust and its allies reached 926 acres in total.
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