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.

[776] the 7th of June, when we reached Acworth and were relieved. On the morning of the 10th we joined the march to the front and advanced toward Marietta. We continued to advance as the enemy was pushed back by our column, my regiment being only in occasional skirmishing, until the 18th, in the neighborhood of Kenesaw Mountain. On that day, under a drenching rain, we groped through the woods and advanced, in connection with the rest of the line, upon --the enemy's works. Having reached the edge of a field some 300 or 400 yards distant, we halted, poured a deadly fire upon the enemy, compelling the infantry to keep behind their breast-works and almost silencing the artillery, while we, under the point-blank range of their guns, dug rifle-pits in the open field. The fight lasted all day, but my regiment lost only 11 men in killed and wounded; but so effectual was the assault of our army that during the night the enemy abandoned his works and moved nearer the mountain. Our lines followed, and from this time till the evacuation of Kenesaw, though constantly involved in heavy skirmishing, there is no need to detail the monotonous operations of my regiment.

On the 3d of July the enemy evacuated Kenesaw and fell back to the Chattahoochee, to which place our army immediately followed. Heavy skirmishing, but no regular combat, took place; one corps after another crossed the river, my regiment crossing with its brigade on the 17th of July. We skirmished slowly and steadily toward Atlanta, being always under fire, but not involved (except slightly on the 20th) in any of the heavy engagements around the city. The most notable of our combats occurred on the 5th of August, when we were ordered to support the skirmish line while we threw forward our intrenchments nearer the enemy's works. We were subjected to the heaviest shelling we have endured during the campaign, though, fortunately, our caution in throwing up the works saved us very heavy loss. This report is, perhaps, already too much in detail. I refer with great pride to the general bravery, coolness, good conduct, and skill of my officers and men. Though one of the most laborious, aswell as brilliant, campaigns of the war, they have for more than 100 days dared and endured all the dangers and hardships, glories, and privations of the sternest war, with disciplined obedience, and, at the same time, enthusiastic courage. To all, officers and men, I gratefully acknowledge the devotion and kindness shown me personally, painfully suffering as I have been from my old wound. Deeply as I regret the fall of my comrades in arms to the humblest, I cannot refrain from making special mention of First Lieut. Lyman W. Barnes. He was a brave soldier who had risen from the ranks. In the dark hour of Chickamauga I saw him in the thickest of the fight till I fell, and after that he stood by the colors till the last moment. He was a brave and efficient officer, and he died as a gallant soldier dies.

Appendix.

The effective force of the regiment when it left Ringgold was 544; it is now 413; loss, 131. Of these 66 have been killed or wounded in action, and 65 have left the ranks from death, sickness, details, and other causes.¹