THE RECONNAISSANCE AND BATTLE AT ROCKY FACE RIDGE.
February 25, 1864.
The enemy was pursued along the road to Dalton to a gorge about three miles from the town. The railroad runs through this gorge, formed in Rocky Face Ridge or Buzzard’s Roost, and the position occupied here by the rebels appeared to be almost impregnable. An advance on the 24th had driven the enemy from all the ridge north of the creek, but on the retirement of the Union troops at night, it was reoccupied by the rebels, who, being now thoroughly aroused to their danger, recalled Claiborne’s, Stevenson’s, and other divisions to aid in repelling their assailants.
At about eleven o’clock, A. M., on the 25th, soon after all the forces comprising the expedition had arrived, the Union troops, in long blue lines, moved in splendid order upon the enemy’s works. The skirmishers became at once closely engaged in the woodland. The advance was steady and rapid, clearing the enemy from the ridge as it proceeded. The object of the reconnoissance was accomplished; the enemy, in overwhelming force, was found to be strongly posted in the gorge, and, accordingly after much heavy skirmishing, the Union forces were ordered to retire. Some rebel cavalry attempted to pursue them, but were soon driven out of sight. The capture of Tunnel Hill, and the other important operations of the expedition, had been accomplished with a loss of about seventy-five killed and two hundred and fifty wounded. The rebels suffered much more severely.