The Battle of Adairsville was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on May 17, 1864, just northeast of Rome, Georgia. The brief engagement was a Confederate delaying action that allowed General Joseph E. Johnston to bait a trap for the Union army at Cassville. Prelude Following the Battle of Resaca, May 13–15, General Joseph E. Johnston's army retreated southward while Major General William Tecumseh Sherman pursued. Failing to find a good defensive position south of Calhoun, Georgia, Johnston continued to Adairsville, while the Confederate cavalry fought a skillful rearguard action and kept Sherman away from Atlanta. The battle Once across the Oostanaula River, Johnston sought to make a stand and draw the Federals into a costly assault. He expected to find favorable terrain near Calhoun, but in this he was disappointed and during the night of May 16–17 he led the Confederates southward toward Adairsville. Sherman followed, dividing his forces into three columns, and advancing on a broad front. There were skirmishes all along the route, but the main bodies were not engaged. Two miles north of Adairsville Oliver Otis Howard and the Union IV Corps began skirmishing with entrenched units of William J. Hardee's Confederate corps. The 44th Illinois and 24th Wisconsin infantry regiments led by Maj. Arthur MacArthur, Jr. (father of Douglas MacArthur) attacked Benjamin F. Cheatham's division and suffered heavy losses. The rest of Howard's corps prepared for battle but further attacks were called off by General Thomas. At Adairsville, Johnston again hoped to find a position in which he could give battle but there too the terrain was unsuitable for further defense and the Confederate commander was forced to continue his withdrawal. As he fell back, however, Johnston devised a strategy that he hoped would lead to the destruction of a part of Sherman's forces. There were two roads leading south from Adairsville—one south to Kingston, the other southeast to Cassville. It seemed likely that Sherman would divide his armies so as to use both roads. This would give Johnston the opportunity to attack one column before the other could come to its aid. When the Southerners abandoned Adairsville during the night of May 17–18, Johnston sent William J. Hardee's Corps to Kingston, while he fell back toward Cassville with the rest of his army. He hoped that Sherman would believe most of the Southerners to be in Kingston and