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far to the right, and concentrating his troops at
Dallas.
Thomas advanced along the road from
Kingston, while
McPherson moved farther to the right by way of
Van Wert.
Schofield went eastward of both, so as to come in on
Thomas's left.
The Confederate leader quickly perceived his peril, and prepared to avert it. As the latter was moving toward
Dallas from Burnt Hickory,
Hooker's corps in the advance,
Geary's division of that corps was met
near
Pumpkinvine Creek, by Confederate cavalry.
These he pushed over that stream, and saved a bridge they had fired.
Following them eastward two miles, he came upon the foe in strong battle order.
A sharp conflict ensued; and when, at four o'clock,
Hooker had his whole corps well in hand, he made a bold push, by
Sherman's order, to secure possession of a point at the New Hope Church, where the roads from
Ackworth,
Marietta, and
Dallas meet.
But a stormy night coming on,
Hooker, though he gained some ground, could not drive the
Confederates from that position.
Meanwhile,
Johnston's troops had been very busy with their pickaxes and spades, and on the following morning
Sherman found his antagonist strongly intrenched, with lines extending from
Dallas to
Marietta.
Sherman now found formidable difficulties in his way. The approach to
Johnston's intrenchments must be made over a rough, broken, and wooded country, and he was engaged several days, constantly skirmishing, in making disposition for pushing through them to the railway east of Allatoona Pass.
For this purpose
McPherson was moved up to
Dallas, and
Thomas's troops were deployed against New Hope Church, in the vicinity of which there were many severe encounters, while
Schofield was directed to turn and strike
Johnston's right.
Garrard's horsemen were operating with
McPherson, and
Stoneman's with
Schofield.
Just as
General McPherson was on the point of closing to the left on
General Thomas, in front of New Hope Church, that
Sherman might more easily and safely envelop
Johnston's right, the
Confederates struck
him a severe blow at
Dallas.
They were repulsed with heavy loss; and at about the same time
Howard, nearer the center, was repulsed.
Sherman now moved his army to the left, seized the roads leading to Allatoona Pass and
Ackworth, and, enveloping the former stronghold, compelled
Johnston to evacuate it. The cavalry of
Garrard and
Stoneman were pushed on to occupy it, and a garrison to hold it was placed there.
The bridge over the
Etowah was rebuilt, the railway was repaired, and
Allatoona was made a secondary base of supplies for
Sherman's army.
On the 4th of June
Johnston abandoned his works covering New Hope Church and
Ackworth, when
Sherman advanced
to the latter place and took possession of the railway.
There, on the 8th, he was joined by
General Frank Blair, with two divisions of the Seventeenth Corps, and the cavalry brigade of
Colonel Long, of
Garrard's division.
These re-enforcements raised the number of
Sherman's effective force nearly to what it was when he moved from the
Chattanooga region.
1 His communications in his rear being now secure, he moved on to Big Shanty
where before him arose the
Twin Mountain of
Kenesaw 
