Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 9.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[52] at the end of which was an open field, and in the field, completely commanding the road, were two forts occupied by the enemy, and from which position they prevented our pioneers from clearing the road of the obstructions referred to.

In accordance with orders from division headquarters, I sent forward the Fifth regiment Connecticut veteran volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel H. W. Daboll commanding, as skirmishers, and shortly afterward sent the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania veteran volunteers, One Hundred and Twenty-third New-York volunteers, and One Hundred and Forty-first New-York volunteers--all that remained of my brigade — to support the Fifth Connecticut veteran volunteers. In a short time they opened fire, and in conjunction with the Second and Third brigades which had been sent around on their flanks, drove the enemy in great confusion from both forts, and captured two prisoners. Lieutenant-Colonel Daboll, commanding the Fifth Connecticut veteran volunteers, is entitled to much credit for the gallant manner in which he charged and drove the enemy from their works, as he was directly under fire of their guns and exposed to much danger. He is a brave officer, and worthy of promotion. I moved on beyond the forts in line of battle for a distance of about one and a half miles, when I was ordered to return and encamp for the night.

In this little affair I only lost three men in my brigade-all from the Forty-sixth regiment Pennsylvania veteran volunteers, one man wounded in the leg, afterward amputated, one man wounded severely in the head, and one other slightly in the shoulder.

There was supposed to be about one thousand of the enemy in the forts, with two pieces of artillery.

December 10.--Travelled about nine miles, and encamped four miles from Savannah. Five of the enemy's soldiers surrendered near General Harrison's plantation to Captain A. W. Selfridge, Assistant Commissary Subsistence of this brigade, while the latter was foraging in advance of my troops. The Fifth Connecticut veteran volunteers of my command captured a wagon loaded with ammunition. The road at the point where we encamped for the night was obstructed by slashed timber, and just beyond the slashing, the enemy were strongly fortified. Pursuant to orders from Brigadier-General N. J. Jackson, I sent the Forty-sixth regiment Pennsylvania veteran volunteers about half a mile to the left, on a road running parallel with the enemy's works, and about four hundred yards from them. In endeavoring to reach the river, this regiment met the enemy's skirmishers, and after a brisk fire of fifteen or twenty minutes, were obliged to fall back about two hundred yards. While here, seven (7) deserters from the enemy gave themselves up, and were forwarded to division headquarters. On the following day, I moved the remainder of my brigade to the road upon which the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania veteran volunteers were stationed, my left connecting with General Geary's line, and my right connecting with the left of the Third brigade of this division. Here I remained until the morning of the twenty-first instant, when it was discovered that the enemy had evacuated his works. In accordance with orders from division headquarters, I moved my brigade at six A. M., and occupied the rebel works. Shortly afterward, I moved my troops to within a mile of the city of Savannah, where they were encamped.

During the time we were encamped in front of Savannah, my troops were within close range of the enemy's guns, and although they kept up a vigorous fire upon our lines, strange to say, only one man of my command was struck by their missiles. He was a member of the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania veteran volunteers, and was slightly wounded by a piece of shell.

During the whole campaign, the foraging was all that could be desired. The troops of my command subsisted principally from the captures of regimental foraging parties, which were sent out daily by each regimental commander.

Beside this, my Acting Commissary of Subsistence obtained the following supplies, and issued them to this command during the march:

Twelve (12) wagon-loads sweet potatoes, averaging one thousand six hundred (1600) pounds per load ; one hundred (100) head of beef cattle, averaging two hundred (200) pounds each; one hundred (100) sheep; fifty (50) hogs; two (2) half-barrels sorghum molasses.

The brigade captured about forty horses and mules, destroyed five (5) cotton-gins, and seventy-three (73) bales of cotton; picked up about one hundred (100) negroes, and destroyed twenty (200) miles of railroad. During the march, the Quartermaster of this brigade obtained from the country thirty-six thousand and ninety--four pounds of corn, and seventy-five thousand two hundred and thirty-one pounds of fodder. Our stock was in much better condition when we entered Savannah than it was at the commencement of the campaign. The health of the command was never better, and both officers and Men were in excellent spirits, and seemed to have the most perfect confidence in the success of our enterprise. When I left Atlanta, on the fifteenth of November, the effective force of this brigade was sixty-three (63) commissioned officers and one thousand four hundred and forty-eight (1448) enlisted men.

At the close of the campaign, I had sixty-four (64) officers and one thousand three hundred and eighty (1880) enlisted men, making an increase of one officer, and a decrease of sixty-eight (68) enlisted men. Twenty-three of the above are supposed to have been captured by the enemy, and four of them were wounded. The remainder-forty-one (41)-were taken from the effective force of the command on account of sickness. In closing my report, duty requires that I should make a few comments upon the conduct of line and non-commissioned officers, many of whom seemed to forget the responsibility of their positions,