ture it. Two regiments of General Rice's brigade were moved into the town at 5.30 a. m. At 8.30 a. m. on the 2nd instant my command was ordered to march toward Lovejoy's, and did so, moving through the fields and woods between the roads occupied respectively by the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps. When, half a mile from Lovejoy's, at 11 a. m., the enemy was found intrenched, General Corse formed a line of battle in the Fayetteville and Covington road, on the right of the Fifteenth Corps, and sent out the Sixty-sixth Illinois and Eighty-first Ohio Infantry, Colonel Adams commanding, as skirmishers, connecting on the left with the skirmishers of General Logan. I was then ordered to mass my command in the rear as a reserve, leaving the two regiments mentioned on the picket-line where they remained till the afternoon of the 3d, and rendered very important service. In the afternoon of the 2nd Colonel Adams advanced his line on the right, and, with General Logan's skirmishers and the Sixty-sixth Illinois and Eighty-first Ohio charged through the open fields and drove the enemy from a commanding position on a bald hill where he was erecting a battery. The loss of the two regiments during the skirmish was 6 men.

Under orders from Major-General Howard, one -third of my command was engaged in tearing up the railroad track during the evening.

On the 3rd the Second Division, General Corse commanding, went into position on the right of the Seventeenth Corps, and intrenched itself, the Fourth Division remaining in reserve on the Fayetteville and Covington road near Hebron Church. On the 4th the prisoners constructed a line of works half a mile to the rear of Hebron Church, near Turner's house, which on the 5th the Fourth Division, General Fuller commanding, occupied for the purpose of covering the withdrawal of the right of the army. At 8 p. m. of the 5th the Second Division withdrew to Turner's and halted to allow the Seventeenth Corps to pass. A severe storm set in at 7 p. m., lasting for several hours, and filled the small creeks crossing the roads, washing away our bridges and corduroys, and rendering the roads almost impassable. This delayed the trains beyond the hour fixed for the withdrew of the troops, and as the rear guard on the Jonesborough road, under General Hazen, withdrew at the proper time, the pickets being already in, I directed General Corse to occupy the works vacated by Hazen, and pushed out the Ninth Illinois Mounted Infantry in front. Through the exertions and good management of Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, chief of staff, department headquarters, the trains and artillery of the Seventeenth Corps were finally got out of the road at 4.30 a. m., when General Corse's division, on the Jonesborough road, and General Fuller's division, on an interior road, left Turner's at 5 a. m. Arriving at our old works on Flint Creek we occupied them, during the day, and on the 7th marched toward East Point, camping at night on the Fayetteville and East Point road, six miles north of Renfroe Place. On the 8th marched to East Point, and occupied the rebel works on the west of the railroad between the Newman and Sandtown roads.

Before closing this report I desire to command the skill evinced by Brigadier-General Corse, commanding Second Division, in the management of this troops in the battle of the 31st, and to thank Brigadier General J. W. Fuller, commanding Fourth Division, for his promptness in re-enforcing General Corse on that occasion. To both of these officers I am indebted for able and cordial assistance during all the time I have been in command.