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.

The regiment, under command of Lieut. Col. E. D. Swain, rejoined the brigade on the 6th of May last, after marching from Nashville. Tenn., on its return from veteran furlough, and reported for duty to General C. G. Harker, then commanding the brigade. On the following morning we resumed our march and entered upon a very eventful campaign, known as “The Georgia campaign of 1864.” When we rejoined the brigade we numbered 20 commissioned officers and 238 enlisted men. On the 8th of May we skirmished a part of the day and participated in the capture of Rocky Face Ridge, and went on picket in the evening, and were not relieved in time the next day to take part in the bloody and unsuccessful assault upon the enemy's fort on Buzzard Roost or Rocky Face, where our brigade lost so many of its brave officers and men. On the 13th we marched to the front with the balance of the brigade, the enemy having left our front during the past night. We found him again strongly posted near Resaca, where we engaged him in the afternoon of the 14th, relieving the Third Kentucky Regiment and holding our ground for one hour, when we were relieved to replenish our ammunition. Our loss in this short engagement was 3 officers severely wounded, 2 of them mortally, and 7 enlisted men killed and 24 wounded. On the 16th we were the second regiment to cross the Oostenaula River, and again placed upon the skirmish lihe, which resulted in a loss of 2 enlisted men killed and 1 wounded. [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 [362] miles to the front and took position in front of Atlanta, and there we threw up some very good earth-works and remained in camp behind our works, occasionally making demonstrations upon the enemy's works and doing picket duty, &c., until the 26th of August, occasionally losing a man killed or wounded. Had 1 man killed in our advance of the 22d of July, and on the 26th while on picket; and on the 3d of August were ordered to drive in the rebel pickets and take their pits, which was done in splendid style, and yet we sincerely regret that in so doing we had to lose such a true patriot and brave officer as Capt. Charles A. Seaver, besides 4 enlisted men; but we held the pits until after dark, when we were relieved by the Seventy-ninth Illinois. On the 8th the command of the regiment was turned over to Maj. F. A. Atwater. On the night of the 26th of August the regiment was withdrawn from the picket at about midnight and followed up the rear of the army on a movement to the southwest, and on the 1st of September we struck the Macon and Atlanta Railroad and spent part of the day in tearing up and burning it, but just before dark and a little too late to commence much of a fight we came upon the enemy near Jonesborough and drove in his pickets, the Forty-second, however, being in the second line. The enemy left again during the night following, and as the day follows the night so we followed them, but they halted us near Lovejoy's Station, and we remained there two or three days, losing 1 man killed and 4 wounded during the time, and on the 4th we learned that Atlanta was held by our forces and the campaign was ended, and on the 5th instant, with the balance of the army, we took up our line of march toward Atlanta, a tired yet a happy set of men. We encamped one night in Jonesborough on our way back, and reached the captured city of Atlanta noonday of the 8th instant and went into camp one mile north of the city.

A general summary of the casualties of the regiment during the past eventful campaign is as follows: Commissioned officers killed, 4; wounded, 5. Enlisted men killed, 13; wounded, many of them mortally, 97. Total, 119.

I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,