HDQRS. FOURTH DIVISION, SIXTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
East Point, Ga., September 12, 1864.

MAJOR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by this division in that remarkable campaign which has driven the enemy from Northern Georgia and which has closed so gloriously by our occupation of "The Gate City of the South:"

I regret that the absence of any records covering the time prior to my taking command of the division will prevent my giving so detailed a report of the early portion of the campaign as is due to the officers and men concerned, for the endurance, fortitude, and courage of those who have fought is hardly less remarkable than the genius of the general who has directed so minutely all the details of the operation of this great army.

On the 1st day of May, 1864, the First and Second Brigades, with three batteries of artillery, marched from Decatur, Ala. Passing through Huntsville on the evening of the 2d, we reached Woodville, on the Chattanooga railroad, on the 4th. From this point the infantry and a portion of the artillery were conveyed by rail to Chattanooga. The wagon train and a part of the artillery marched through, escorted by the Ninth Illinois mounted Infantry and the First Alabama Cavalry, which, at this time, were under the orders of the division commander. On the 5th of May we left Chattanooga, and marching via Rossville, Gordon's Mills and Villanow we passed through Snake Creek Gap on the 9th, and made a reconnaissance to within a mile of Resaca. The First Brigade was here ordered to gain the railroad just north of the town, and the Second followed to render any support which might be required. The skirmishers has already reached a position from which they commanded the railroad, and the battalions were close behind with every prospect of beating the small force sent out by the enemy to counteract our movements. Here, however, General McPherson deemed it prudent to halt and recall the division, and to withdraw all the forces under his command immediately to the mouth of the gap in our rear. On the 13th the division formed the extreme right of the army, encircling the enemy's lines at Resaca. Our skirmishers, deployed along the banks of the Oostenaula, were steadily and sharply engaged, and those facing the enemy's main fort, near the church, crept up so closely and maintained so rapid and accurate a fire that the enemy was unable to use his guns. The guns of the Fourteenth Ohio Battery, posted on the bald hill which overlooks Resaca from the south, poured shot and shell with great rapidity and accuracy into the town, frequently causing the enemy to seek shelter in a ravine which protected them from our fire. When General Logan's command drove the enemy from his advanced position on the 14th, two regiments of this division, the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin and Thirty-fifth New Jersey, were ordered forward to assist in this movement. General Woods, to whom they reported, highly praised their conduct on this occasion. The map* on the foregoing hope page will exhibit the position gained and held by the division till the enemy evacuated Resaca, on the night of May 15. Crossing the Oostenaula on the 16th the division marched, via Adairsville, to Kinston, where we rested for two or three days, resuming the movement on the 23d. Passing through Van Wert, we entered Dallas without opposition on the 26th of May and encamped on the easterly outskirts of the town. Just at sundown an

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* To appear in the Atlas.

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