410 Series I Volume XXXVIII-I Serial 72 - The Atlanta Campaign Part I
Page 410 | Chapter L. THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. |
up our dead and wounded, and were again put in the first line, covering our front with Company A, Sergeant Gardner commanding, and Company F, Lieutenant Glover, deployed as skirmishers, and during the night built a line of works. Our losses in this day's operations were Lieutenant Hanson, Company A, slightly wounded; Lieutenant Donner, Company E, severely wounded, and 9 enlisted men killed and 44 wounded. On the morning of the 22nd we were relieved from the first line by the Eighty-ninth Illinois, taking their place in the second line. On the morning of the 23rd we relieved the Eighty-ninth Illinois, in the first line, and in the afternoon were ordered to advance our skirmish line, which we did a short distance, with Company F, Lieutenant Glover, and Company D, Lieutenant Geiger, deployed as skirmishers, losing Lieutenant Geiger, slightly wounded, and 3 enlisted men killed and 17 wounded, principally from these two companies.
From this date, the 23rd of June, until the 2nd day of July, we were engaged in no important movement, merely holding our position, alternating with the Eighty-ninth Illinois in holding the front line. As we were so near the enemy, it required that the whole command should be kept on the alert and that the utmost vigilance should be exercised by officers and men when on the front line to prevent a surprise, and the command was very much harassed and fatigued. On the evening of the 2nd of July we moved to the left and relieved a part of the Fifteenth Corps directly in front of Little Kenesaw Mountain, our position being in the works of the right of the front line of the brigade. During the night the enemy evacuated their works, and Company K, Captain Carroll, and Company E, Lieutenant Du Bois, which were on the skirmish line in our front, picked up some 25 or 30 of the enemy's stragglers. Sergt. Thomas Bethel, of Company K, was killed while reconnoitering the front early in the morning by the pickets of an adjoining command. Of the march to Marietta and Vining's Station and up the Chattahoochee, and the crossing of that river, it is unnecessary to go into derails. On the 17th of July, in the movement of our division down the left bank of the Chattahoochee to a point opposite Vining's Station to cover the crossing of the Fourteenth Army Corps, this regiment occupied the extreme left of the first line of the brigade and division, covering that flank with skirmishers. On the 19th of July, in the crossing of Peach Tree Creek, we had 2 men slightly wounded by a stray ball.
On the 20th of July we moved to the front and left and relieved a portion of General Stanley's division, completing their unfinished works. During the morning had 2 men of Company K, killed on the skirmish line, and in the evening Sergt. T. C. Cory, of Company I, wounded while advancing the skirmish line, making the third wound which the sergeant received during the campaign, the first two of which were not yet healed. He deserves special mention for his courage and fortitude. During the night of the 20th and morning of the 21st the enemy again evacuated their works in our front, and Company F, Lieutenant Glover, which was on the skirmish line, picked up 5 or 6 stragglers. During the day we moved forward and fortified a position on a high hill in support of Bridges' battery and in front of a line of works which was occupied by the enemy.
Early on the morning of the 22nd it was discovered that the enemy had again evacuated, and Company C. Captain Byrd, on the skirmish line, picked up a few stragglers. During the forenoon we
Page 410 | Chapter L. THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. |