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.

[361] We occupied Calhoun that night, from which time to the 26th nothing of note occurred, at which time we arrived in front of New Hope Church, where the enemy had posted himself in a very strong position, and for the following ten or twelve days our duty was constant and dangerous, being under fire all of the time, and having one or two men wounded every day. On the 3d day of June Lieutenant-Colonel Swain was wounded, and the command of the — regiment then devolved upon Capt. J. W. Richards. On the 10th the veterans of the Twenty-second Illinois Volunteers, fifty-three in number, were assigned to the Forty-second Illinois. On the 15th the Fifty-first Illinois and the Forty-second were ordered forward as skirmishers to find the enemy's works, which we did in handsome style, driving them into their works and holding them there. Our loss was slight, being only 1 killed and 7 wounded (enlisted men) and no officers, and on the 18th we were again engaged, with a loss of 6 wounded and 2 killed. The next morning we discovered the fact that the enemy had left our front, and we were obliged to follow up the retreating foe; were again deployed as skirmishers, and lost 2 men wounded. On the 26th had 1 man wounded. On the 27th we went into a fight, and upon a charge or into an assault upon the enemy's works, closed in mass by divisions, and as a result were unsuccessful and suffered severely in more than one respect. In the first place, we were forced to witness the fatal fall of our beloved commander, Brig. Gen. C. G. Harker, who fell mortally wounded in the very midst of our ranks, and then we were forced to fall back without having accomplished our object, and with a loss of 1 officer and 3 enlisted men killed, and 20 enlisted men wounded and 2 officers. We remained in camp until the 3d of July, when we again commenced our pursuit of the fleet-footed foe, passed through Marietta on the 3d, and followed the enemy four miles south, and on the next day we celebrated the glorious 4th of July by skirmishing nearly all day, and succeeded in capturing some rifle-pits and several prisoners; had 6 of our men wounded during the day. The enemy falling back in the night, compelled us to follow them the 5th, in order that Johnston might get Sherman just where he wanted him, viz, on the north side the Chattahoochee River, and himself on the south side, and the (of course) bridges burned.

On the 9th we marched with the brigade and division to Roswell, a small manufacturing town, sixteen miles up the river, and there we forded the river and camped and threw up works about one mile south of the river; were relieved on the 11th and recrossed the river, and the 12th marched back to our camp at Vining's Station. On the 13th we crossed the river and bivouacked until the 18th, when there was another general movement upon the enemy, driving him, of course. On the 20th we crossed Peach Tree Creek and had gone but a short distance before the enemy came down upon us like a thunderbolt, and attacking while we were unprepared and trying to take a little rest; they made several unsuccessful assaults upon us. The Forty-second was stationed in several different positions during the fight, but at no time had they any works to fight behind with the exception of an occasional tree that had been felled for the purpose of building works. Our loss, however, was very slight, being only 2 men wounded. We were temporarily detached from our brigade and ordered to report to Colonel Lane, of the Ninety-seventh Ohio, to assist in holding his line, he being hard pressed, and the colonel complimented the Forty-second very handsomely for the timely assistance. On the 22d we moved with the brigade a few