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Hdqrs. Battln. 13TH Regt.
Ohio Veteran Vols.; Atlanta,
Ga.,
September
11, 1864
.
Captain: In compliance with orders just received, I have the honor to submit the following report of the part
taken by my command
in the operations which have culminated so gloriously to our arms by the occupation of Atlanta:
At noon of
Tuesday, May
3
, in connection with the balance of the brigade, we marched from McDonald's Station, Tenn., my effective force consisting of 22 commissioned
officers and .311 muskets.
We participated in all the movements incidental to the advance, embracing Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, &c., but no casualties occurred until the evening of
May
17
, when near Adairsville.
The enemy resisted our advance, and my regiment was thrown out upon the right flank, a portion of it being
deployed as skirmishers
The reserve was formed in a skirting of timber, where the enemy having got a section of artillery into position,
we were
for a time exposed to its fire, and I had 2 men wounded with fragments of shell.
Nothing of importance transpired again until the evening of
Thursday, May
19
, when near Cass Station we encountered the enemy again.
My regiment in supporting the Seventeenth Kentucky on the skirmish line had 1
man mortally and 2 severely wounded.
May
23
, we marched from Cass Station, crossed the Etowah River at 4 p. m., and proceeded on in the direction of Dallas.
On the
26th
, after crossing Pumpkin Vine Creek, the scene of the fight of the
Twentieth Army Corps the evening previous, our lines were formed for
battle, and I had 1 man killed in getting into position.
Nothing of especial interest occurred in which my command was engaged until about 4 p. m. the next day,
May
27
, when we encountered the enemy near Pickett's Mills, some
three miles
north of Dallas
, after a fatiguing march over a rough, densely wooded country.
My regiment was in the first line of the attacking column of the brigade, with the Seventeenth Kentucky on its left.
Two of my companies, viz, C and H, were not engaged, having been thrown out on the skirmish line during the
march, and in the
confusion incidental thereto separated from their command, and did not rejoin it until about midnight.
The position occupied by the enemy was a ridge running parallel to our line of march of this afternoon, and our
advance had
to be made over ground most unfavorable; dense woods, tangled vines, rocks and ravines impeded our way at every
step; but
we pushed on under a murderous fire, never halting for a moment until within about twenty yards of the crest of
the ridge, when we found ourselves under a formidable line of defenses from which the enemy poured a deadly
fire of musketry and artillery.
We had suffered severely in getting to this position, but once there were comparatively safe, shielded by the
slope of the
hill.
A battery on the right, where our lines had failed to advance, enfiladed our lines and occasioned us some loss.
We remained in this position until our ammunition was exhausted and all hopes of re-enforcements despaired of,
so at 10 p. m. when the enemy charged our lines we fell back, firing our last round of ammunition upon the
advancing foe. Arriving at the
point where our lines had been formed in the afternoon, we joined the rest of the brigade, and went into bivouac
some half
a mile to the right about midnight.
Our casualties in this engagement embraced
Capt.
Samuel
W.
McCulloch
, Company D, mortally wounded;
Second Lieut.
James
Thompson
, Company F, severely wounded; 5 enlisted men killed or
mortally wounded; 26 enlisted men wounded; 26 enlisted men missing in action, making an aggregate loss of 59 out
of about 200 engaged.
On the morning of the 31st we advanced our lines about a half a mile, and began to throw up breast-works; while
thus engaged the enemy made a spirited assault upon our whole line, but
the reserves of the skirmish line checked their advance and we completed our works.
The morning of
Sunday, June
5
, disclosed the enemy gone from our front, and the next day we took up our line of march in the direction
of Acworth Station, where we bivouacked and remained until the morning of
June
10
, when we marched toward Marietta.
Our movements from this to the
21st instant
were very slow, the advance being made by parallels, driving the enemy from one position to another,
line upon line of most formidable works marking the course of their retreat.
I had 2 men killed on the 18th by solid shot from a battery that enfiladed our position.
On the afternoon of the l2st, near Kenesaw Mountain, my command
participated in the advance made by our brigade when we captured the enemy's rifle-pits and were thus enabled
to secure a good position some half a mile to the front.
Two men mortally and 4 severely wounded were the casualties in my command in this movement.
We remained before Marietta performing the usual duties,
confronting a vigilant enemy, making occasional demonstrations upon his lines until the 27th, when a general
advance was attempted, and my command with the rest of the brigade marched about a mile to the right at 7 a. m.
to the support of
Newton
's division.
I had 1 man wounded in this movement.
The morning of
July
3
the enemy disappeared from our front; our troops occupied Marietta and we pushed forward toward the Chattahoochee River, reaching it at a point known as Pace's Ferry.
About noon of the
5th instant
the enemy offered a stubborn resistance there, and my battalion that night, under cover of the darkness,
threw up a line
of rifle-pits close to the margin of the river and occupied them.
We remained in this locality until Sunday, the
10th
, when we marched four or five miles to the left, preparatory to crossing the river, which we did
unmolested on the afternoon of the
12th instant
, and went into bivouac some mile and a half on the south side, where we remained until
Sunday, 17th instant
, when, with the balance of the brigade, we marched to the south side of Pace's Ferry to cover the crossing of the Fourteenth Army
Corps.
On
Monday, 18th instant
, advanced upon Atlanta by the Peach Tree road.
On the
19th
drove the enemy from his line of defenses on Peach Tree
Creek and established our lines some half a mile on the other side.
I had 3 men wounded in charging across the creek.
From this time to that of settling down before Atlanta, on the
22d instant
, nothing of interest transpired.
On that day we established our lines within two miles of the city, near what is known as Utoy Creek, and constructed a line of good works about 800 yards from the outer
defenses of the city, the pickets confronting each other at some 300 yards distance in rifle-pits.
From this time up to the evening of
August
25
, when we withdrew, nothing of especial interest transpired upon our immediate front.
Every day and almost every night the artillery and musketry kept up a constant fusillade.
We made several demonstrations upon the enemy's lines, and on the
24th of July
carried their advanced rifle-pits, which enabled us to advance our picket-line some 200 yards. Three men
wounded embrace all the casualties in my command during our stay before the city.
On
Thursday
night,
August
25
, my battalion held the picketline during the withdrawal of the troops of our brigade.
Our movements were now directed against the Montgomery railroad, which we struck at 7 a. m.
29th of August
,
twelve miles
southwest of Atlanta
, and participated in its destruction.
On the afternoon of
Wednesday
, 31st, we reached the Macon railroad and formed our
lines to protect the details engaged in its destruction.
The next morning,
September
1
, we pushed forward four miles farther in the direction of Jonesborough and demolished the road at that point.
At 4 p. m. marched toward Jonesborough, where some of our troops
were engaged, and formed our lines in an open field about a mile north of the town, exposed to
an artillery fire, but we were not engaged.
The next morning,
September
2
, passed through Jonesborough, the enemy having fallen
back toward Lovejoy's Station; we followed up, and at 3 p. m. formed our
lines about a half a mile to the left of the railroad and advanced upon the enemy, who occupied a ridge about a
mile this side of Lovejoy's Station.
Our movements had to be made over a very rough, broken country, made more difficult by fallen timber with which
the enemy
obstructed our way; we pushed on, however, and succeeded in carrying their rifle-pits and capturing the
occupants, but coming
upon their main works across an open field, some 300 yards from the edge of the woods, the line upon our right
not having advanced at all, we could not hope to carry them alone, so
we constructed hasty works at the line we had secured at the edge of the woods, and where we remained
confronting the enemy,
exposed to a heavy fire, until the night of the
5th
, when the whole army withdrew.
My loss here was 3 killed and 7 wounded. On
Thursday
afternoon,
September
8
, just two weeks from the time this movement was inaugurated, we returned and took possession of the
prize-Atlanta, ours.
We feel that the toils and labors of the past four months are amply rewarded.
Below is a recapitulation of the casualties of the campaign.
You will please to remember that on
June the 8th
my command was reduced to a battalion organization of four companies, with an aggregate effective force
of only 150 men since that time.
Recapitulation: Killed or died of wounds-commissioned officer, 1; enlisted men, 16.
Wounded-commissioned officer, 1; enlisted men, 45.
Missing in action-enlisted men, 26.
Aggregate, 89.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant.