Sherman had learned of Hood's location and…

Sherman had learned of Hood's location and ordered reinforcements sent to Resaca, who arrive here on October 13, too late to engage Hood in battle.

Hood had sent Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart as far north as Tunnel Hill, near the Tennessee state line, to damage the railroad as much as possible.

During this operation, on October 13, Stewart captures the Federal garrison at Dalton, Georgia, under ugly circumstances.

The seven hundred and fifty men under Colonel Lewis Johnson include a large number of African-American soldiers, a sight that enrages many in Hood's army.

In surrender negotiations, Johnson insists that his black troops be treated as prisoners of war, but Hood replies that "all slaves belonging to persons in the Confederacy" will be returned to their masters.

Unable to defend the garrison, Johnson surrenders and six hundred black soldiers are stripped of their shoes and some clothing and marched to the railroad, where they are forced to tear up about two miles of track under the supervision of Major General William B. Bate's division.

Six of the Union soldiers are shot for refusing to work or being unable to keep up with the march.

Colonel Johnson later writes that the abuse his men received "exceeded anything in brutality I have ever witnessed."

Johnson and his white officers will be paroled the following day, but some of his black soldiers will be returned to slavery.