s), of assigning to too small a force the
main attack upon the vital point of an enemy's position. McPherson
had only about 22,000 infantry, while Sherman estimated Johnston's
force at about 60,000. Thomas's position in front of Rocky-face
Ridge was virtually as unassailable as that of Johnston behind it.
The only weak point of our position was that of two divisions of
the Twenty-third Corps on our left, north of Dalton. Had those
divisions been attacked, as Sherman apprehended, they might have
suffered severely, but would have drawn off force enough from the
enemy to increase largely the probabilities of success in the attack
in Johnston's rear. One half of Sherman's infantry was ample for
the demonstration in front of Dalton. At least one half should
have been sent through Snake Creek Gap to strike the enemy's rear.
There was no necessity to attack Resaca at all, and experience has
shown what terrible losses a small force in a strongly fortified
position may inflict upon a very large attacking force. Two or
three brigades could have invested Resaca, with the garrison it
then held, while a force large enough to hold its ground against
Johnston's whole army could have been put upon the railroad between
Resaca and Dalton. The result would then, in all probability, have
been what Sherman expected. Indeed, the fate of Johnston's army
might perhaps have been decided then and there.

McPHERSON'S TASK AT RESACA

Sherman certainly cannot be suspected of wishing to do injustice
to the memory of McPherson, for he loved and respected him most
highly, and mourned his death with evident sincerity. But I think
he is in error in saying that "at the critical moment McPherson
seems to have been a little timid." I believe the error was
Sherman's, not McPherson's; that McPherson was correct in his
judgment, which certainly was mine (after passing over the same
ground and fighting the battle of Resaca), that his force was
entirely too small for the work assigned it. I had not the same
opportunity General Sherman had of judging of McPherson's qualities
as a commander; but I knew him well and intimately, having sat upon
the same bench with him at West Point for four years, and been his
room-mate for a year and a half. His was the most completely
balanced mind and character with which I have ever been intimately
acquainted, although he did not possess in a very high degree the
p