Grant proposed to move against Lee on May 5th, and it was arranged that Sherman should at the same time move against Johnston. For this work Sherman now put forward his preparations with all possible zeal and thoroughness. On April 27th he ordered all his troops to Chattanooga, and the next day placed his own headquarters there. On May 6th his mighty host was marshalled for the advance. Three armies were under his command. The Army of the Tennessee was on the bank of Chickamauga Creek, near Gordon's Mill. It comprised the Fifteenth and parts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, under Generals Logan, Dodge and Blair, with the gallant McPherson in general command. The Army of the Cumberland was at Ringgold. It included the Fourth, Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, under Generals Howard, Palmer and Hooker, with Thomas in general command. The Army of the Ohio was near Red Clay, north of Dalton, Georgia. It consisted of the Ninth and Twenty-third Corps, and was commanded by General Schofield. The strength of these armies was as follows: Tennessee--Infantry, 22,437; Artillery, 1,404; Cavalry, 624; total, 24,465; guns, 96. Cumberland--Infantry, 54,568; Artillery, 2,377; Cavalry, 3,828; total, 60,773; guns, 130. Ohio--Infantry, 11,193; Artillery, 679; Cavalry, 1,697: total, 13,559; guns, 28. Sherman had planned an army of 100,000 men and 250 guns. He actually had, according to the above statement, 98,797 men and 254 guns. The opposing Rebel army was now commanded by Joseph E. Johnston, who had succeeded Bragg, and comprised three corps, under Hardee, Hood and Polk. According to Johnston's official statement, its total strength in April, 1864, was 52,992, and at the middle of May, when the battle of Resaca was fought, 71,235. The number of guns on both sides was about equal. The Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan on May 4th, and Grant, sitting on a log in the Virginia woods, telegraphed to Sherman at Chattanooga to move forward. General Howard's account of the opening of the great march is as follows: "When we were ready for the bold offensive, the left of Thomas, (Howard's Corps) rested at Catoosa Springs his centre, (Hooker) at Ringgold, and his right, (Palmer) at Leet's Tan Yard. McPherson was near Villanow, and Schofield moving southward from Cleveland, Tennessee, approached Dalton. It was the sixth of May. "Notice Catoosa Springs, a summer resort. The surrounding hills were covered with trees, light green, in tender leaf; and the mountain ranges on two sides, Lookout and Taylor's Ridge, gave substantial back ground to a variegated and charming landscape. The effect of war had already nearly depopulated the village, so that there was little use for the large hotel buildings or the smaller boarding-houses--a few trembling citizens and a few dubious black people were all that remained to satisfy official curiosity and supply local knowledge.