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Hdqrs. Forty-Second Illinois Vet. Vol. Infty., Near Atlanta, Ga.,
August
12, 1864
.
Sir: In regard to the operations of the Forty-second Illinois Infantry, I beg
leave to report as follows:
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. 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 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,
Captain Waterman , A A. A. A. G., Third Brig., Second Div., 4th Army Corps.