The campaign to Atlanta was managed with the most consummate skill, the enemy being flanked out of one position after another all the way there.  It is true this was not accomplished without a good deal of fighting —­some of it very hard fighting, rising to the dignity of very important battles—­neither were single positions gained in a day.  On the contrary, weeks were spent at some; and about Atlanta more than a month was consumed.

It was the 23d of May before the road was finished up to the rear of Sherman’s army and the pursuit renewed.  This pursuit brought him up to the vicinity of Allatoona.  This place was very strongly intrenched, and naturally a very defensible position.  An assault upon it was not thought of, but preparations were made to flank the enemy out of it.  This was done by sending a large force around our right, by the way of Dallas, to reach the rear of the enemy.  Before reaching there, however, they found the enemy fortified in their way, and there resulted hard fighting for about a week at a place called New Hope Church.  On the left our troops also were fortified, and as close up to the enemy as they could get.  They kept working still farther around to the left toward the railroad.  This was the case more particularly with the cavalry.  By the 4th of June Johnston found that he was being hemmed in so rapidly that he drew off and Allatoona was left in our possession.

Allatoona, being an important place, was strongly intrenched for occupation by our troops before advancing farther, and made a secondary base of supplies.  The railroad was finished up to that point, the intrenchments completed, storehouses provided for food, and the army got in readiness for a further advance.  The rains, however, were falling in such torrents that it was impossible to move the army by the side roads which they would have to move upon in order to turn Johnston out of his new position.

While Sherman’s army lay here, General F. P. Blair returned to it, bringing with him the two divisions of veterans who had been on furlough.

Johnston had fallen back to Marietta and Kenesaw Mountain, where strong intrenchments awaited him.  At this latter place our troops made an assault upon the enemy’s lines after having got their own lines up close to him, and failed, sustaining considerable loss.  But during the progress of the battle Schofield was gaining ground to the left; and the cavalry on his left were gaining still more toward the enemy’s rear.  These operations were completed by the 3d of July, when it was found that Johnston had evacuated the place.  He was pursued at once.  Sherman had made every preparation to abandon the railroad, leaving a strong guard in his intrenchments.  He had intended, moving out with twenty days’ rations and plenty of ammunition, to come in on the railroad again at the Chattahoochee River.  Johnston frustrated this plan by himself starting back as above stated.  This time he fell back to the Chattahoochee.