The Atlanta (Georgia) Campaign: May 1 - September 8, 1864., Part I: General Report.
Maj. George B. Davis, Mr. Leslie J. Perry, Mr. Joseph W. Kirkley, Ed.

[400] hour of action; none of our brave boys have fallen dishonorably or unregretted, and all our dead have received honorable sepulture, even when in the hands of the enemy. Once only has the old First Brigade met repulse in these 123 days--the sad, yet glorious, 27th of May-and the rude-made graves of 105 men'on the slope of Cleburne's parapets give silent testimony to the pith of the old First's regiments. For a year past it has passed into a proverb with us that “any battalion can fight itself,” not that the officers are lessened thereby in the scale of skill or bravery, but that the men are so disciplined as to preserve the unit in battle or associated action in repulse or advantage: It is not for me to pass eulogy upon the First Brigade, of the Third Division. I only ask justice for and mention honorably of its works; for, under the skillful and watchful eye of its division commander, it has performed all acts worthy of honorable mention, and I, in all trustworthiness and candor, leave the same in his hands.

Believe me, captain, though the month of September, enjoyed in peace and glorious recollections in the empire city of the empire State of the South, finds the battalions of the Fairst Brigade shorn of half their numbers, yet the old unconquerable spirit is in the ranks, ready at all times and seasons to battle for national liberty, national peace, national power, and the national unity of half a hemisphere.

Respectfully submitted.