previous next

[38] the campaign against the rebel army under Hood, who had gone to our rear and was operating on our communications. The march was continued daily, via Marietta, Kenesaw Mountain, Allatoona, Kingston, Rome, Resaca, Snake Creek, Georgia; Ship's Gap, Summerville, and Chattoogaville to Galesville, Alabama, where we remained from October twenty-first to October twenty-eighth, during which the troops and animals were subsisted almost exclusively by foraging on the country.

At Galesville, the Third brigade was sent out to search for one Gatewood and his band of guerrillas. But Colonel Hambright, confining himself altogether to the main roads, failed to accomplish any useful result.

On the twenty-eighth, we set out for Rome, and arrived there on the twenty-ninth. Here the Thirteenth Michigan volunteers joined the division.

November second, we marched to Kingston, where in a few days the troops received pay and clothing. Here also the Twenty-first Michigan volunteers joined the division.

On the twelfth of November, we left Kingston for Cartersville where we arrived that night. On the thirteenth, I resumed the march southward, and at Ackworth commenced destroying the railroad, which was continued to Big Shanty, five miles, where we camped for the night. On the fifteenth, I reached Atlanta, leaving the Thirteenth Michigan at Chattahoochee Bridge, with orders to destroy it after the passage of all our troops and trains. This order was carried out by Lieutenant-Colonel Palmer, commanding the regiment.

On the sixteenth, I marched from Atlanta, via Decatur, to Lithonia, twenty miles. On the twenty-first, I marched to Yellow River, destroying five miles of the Georgia Railroad. The march was continued through Covington to Harris's plantation, where we turned southward toward Shady Dale, and on to Milledgeville, where we arrived on the twenty-third.

On the twenty-fourth, we crossed the Oconee and marched on Sandersville, arriving there on the twenty-seventh. On the twenty-eighth, we arrived at Davisboro. Continuing the march due east, through Louisville, we struck the Augusta and Millen Railroad at Lumpkins Station, and destroyed three miles of railroad, all the buildings, platforms, wood, etc. Marching on eastward, we struck the Savannah and Augusta road near the Savannah River and turned southward.

On the eleventh of December I arrived before Savannah, and took position on the right of the Louisville road, relieving Mowers's, Leggett's, and G. A. Smith's divisions of the Fifteenth corps.

This position was maintained, with more or less skirmishing, till the twenty-first instant, when my advance entered the city of Savannah. Several days before the evacuation by Hardee, I recommended an attack in front of my division.

My total loss during the campaign in killed, wounded, missing, and deaths by disease is as follows: One commissioned officer wounded, two enlisted men killed, seven wounded, and thirty-seven missing.

It is impossible to state accurately how much cotton was destroyed by my men, but it would probably amount to ten thousand bales. None was left in the country on our line of march.

It is estimated that this division drew from the country on the march at least one hundred and twenty thousand rations, worth to the United States at least thirty-six thousand dollars, ($36,000.) One hundred and sixteen horses, and two hundred and four mules total, three hundred and twenty head — were seized by this division and used for public purposes.

The estimate of rations by the Commissary of the division I am sure is under the mark.

I have the honor to be, Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. P. Carlin, Brigadier-General Commanding. To Lieutenant-Colonel D. C. Mcclurg, A. A. G., Headquarters Fourteenth Army Corps.


Colonel Hobart's Report

headquarters First brigade, First division, Fourteenth army corps, near Savannah, Ga., December 31, 1864.
Captain: In compliance with circular from headquarters First division, Fourteenth army corps, dated December twenty-eighth, 1864, I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this brigade from the fall of Atlanta, Georgia, to the capture of Savannah, Georgia.

From the fall of Atlanta until the eighth day of November, 1864, this brigade was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hapeman, One Hundred and Fourth Illinois volunteer infantry, whom I relieved at Kingston, Georgia, by order of General Carlin. The operations of the command during this period consisted of a series of marches after the rebel army, under General Hood, through North-western Georgia to the border of Alabama. The following statements show the principal points arrived at during these marches. On the third day of October, the brigade marched with the division from Atlanta, and on the night of the fifth it bivouacked near Marietta. On the morning of the sixth, we again resumed the march, and passing Kenesaw Mountain, leaving Big Shanty and Ackworth on the right, we crossed the Allatoona Mountain, the Etowah River, and arrived at Rome, Georgia, on the thirteenth. From Rome the command marched to Galesville, Alabama, passing through Resaca, Snake Creek Gap, Ship's Gap, and Summerville. At Galesville the troops remained in camp for several days, and were subsisted almost entirely on the potatoes, chickens, cattle, sheep, etc., which were gathered from the surrounding country.

From Galesville, on the twenty-eighth, the command marched back to Rome, Georgia, where it arrived on the twenty-ninth. Here the troops received payment to include the thirty-first day of August, 1864. On the morning of the second


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide People (automatically extracted)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
28th (3)
29th (2)
21st (2)
13th (2)
December 31st, 1864 AD (1)
December 28th, 1864 AD (1)
November 8th, 1864 AD (1)
August 31st, 1864 AD (1)
December 11th (1)
November 12th (1)
November 2nd (1)
October 28th (1)
October 21st (1)
October 3rd (1)
27th (1)
24th (1)
23rd (1)
16th (1)
15th (1)
6th (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: