were generally in advance of the infantry column, reconnoitering and scouting, and twice during the five days had successful skirmishes with the enemy. When not in advance I was with the General, doing the duty of a staff officer. The army having gone in camp at Smyrna Camp-Ground, I went to Atlanta with permission to re-equip and collect the detachment, where I remained until the 14th, when I rejoined the corps.

First Lieutenant J. H. Weirick was on a signal station on Kennesaw Mountain November 1 to 4. The line this station was on was one of considerable importance, as it was the duty only rapid means of communication between Atlanta and our base of supplies when the telegraph was interrupted, which was frequently the case; and Lieutenant Weirick's station was the most important one on the line, being, in addition, a station of observation overlooking a considerable portion of country infested by the enemy. Besides this, the lieutenant had no officer to assist him, and was on an exposed and uncomfortable station, but he and the men with him did their duty well. First Lieutenant J. L. Shellabarger was at Chattanooga on business for the chief signal officer on the 1st of November, whence he returned to Atlanta on the 3rd, reporting to me on the 6th, and remained there until the 14th, awaiting orders. Second Lieutenant J. Q. Adams was on a signal station in Marietta until November 14, conducting it creditably and without assistance from the other officers.

Lieutenant Shellabarger and myself with fourteen enlisted men joined the Fifteenth Corps when it started from Atlanta on November 15, and that day we were in a sharp skirmish at Rough and Ready, where, finding a road around the enemy's flank, we assisted in driving them from a fortified position. When the rear of the army had passed Kennesaw Mountain on its march southward, Lieutenants Weirick and Adams abandoned their stations there, coming forward rapidly, and joined the remainder of the detachment on the morning of the 16th. That day we met the enemy at McDonough, and the detachment assisted in a charge in driving a brigade of rebel cavalry from the town, following it up with little support for several miles. There being four officers present with the detachment, one was detailed to accompany the general each day during the remainder of tht in staff duties, or in any other way in which he could make himself useful, while with the remainder of the party, now numbering more than twenty trusty men, mounted and well armed, I was continually reconnoitering and scouting in front and on the flank of the infantry column. In this way we were enabled to obtain much valuable information in regard to the enemy and the roads, and occasionally having a skirmish with or a chase after the rebels. During the march we captured 11 prisoners and nearly 100 horses and mules, not loosing a single man or animal out of the detachment. On our arrival opposite Station Numbers 3, I crossed the Ogeechee River in a little boat with but three men, on the order of General Howard, and reconnoitered through swamps and woods, intending to cut the railroad that night, but was not permitted to do so. The night of our arrival at the Cannouchee River, I crossed that stream in the face of the enemy with but two men and reconnoitered for roads through the swamps until midnight, reporting to General Osterhaus. The following day we swam our horses across, and with the detachment went in advance of the infantry and were the first to reach and destroy the Gulf railroad and telegraph. On our arrival in front of Savannah each of the officers reconnoitered and made himself acquainted with the lines and occasionally directed the fire of our artillery with the aid of