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headquarters 113TH Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Near
Atlanta, Ga.,
September
10, 1864
.
Captain: Herewith please find report of the operations of this regiment from the
2d of May, 1864, to
September
2, 1864
, the day on which Atlanta was occupied by our forces.
The regiment moved from its winter cantonment at Rossville, Ga.,
May
2
, to Ringgold, under command of
Lieut. Col.
D.
B.
Warner
, in connection with its brigade and division, and went into position in front of Ringgold Gap.
From 3d to 7th remained in camp, but changed position to east side of gap. 7th and 8th, marched to Tunnel Hill and Mill Creek Gap,
and formed line of battle with Seventy-eighth Illinois on our right, with
skirmishers in front, the balance of brigade in rear as supports.
We charged and took the isolated hills in front of the gap, losing 1 man killed, and took position on the last
hill, covering the mouth of the gap. 9th to 12th, position unchanged, but continued skirmishing.
12th, marched to mouth of Snake Creek Gap. 13th, marched through gap in the
night and encamped.
14th, took position in front of Resaca in support of Ninety-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, One hundred and
eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and Thirty-fourth
Illinois, which had been deployed under heavy fire.
In the afternoon the left wing of this regiment was ordered to
relieve the Thirty-fourth Illinois, but was soon recalled.
and with the balance of brigade took position farther to the right, relieving a part of the Twentieth Army Corps. 16th, marched to Rome via Snake Creek Gap. 17th, finding the
enemy in front of Rome, we were formed in line on the right
center, but were afterward moved by the right flank and took position on the right of
the brigade, our front covered by skirmishers.
We then advanced through a dense undergrowth of pine until night-fall, when we stopped and intrenched.
In the morning, the enemy having disappeared, we encamped north of the city.
On the
23d
moved across the Oostenaula, through Rome, and then
across the Etowah.
24th and 25th, marched to Dallas.
26th, remained in camp.
27th, the brigade took position on the left of the Army of the
Tennessee. 28th, were deployed as skirmishers, connecting
McPherson
and
Hooker
.
29th, returned to our former position.
30th, position unchanged.
31st, relieved and marched to the left.
June
1
, moved still farther to the left, and relieved a part of the Twenty-third Army Corps. 2d and 3d, position unchanged.
4th, relieved by a part of
General
Whitaker
's brigade.
5th, moved to the left and relieved a part of
General
Williams
' division, Twentieth Army Corps. 6th, went into
position west of Big Shanty and remained until the 10th, when we advanced facing to the south.
11th, 12th, and 13th, advanced lines, skirmishing and intrenching.
14th, marched to the left and intrenched, occupying the right in front line, the left of brigade resting on the
Atlanta railroad.
15th, remained in trenches.
On this day
Lieutenant
Platt
, commanding Company G, was killed by a stray shot.
In his death the regiment lost a most brave and efficient officer.
16th, 17th, and 18th, no change in position, but constant skirmishing.
19th, advanced our lines to the foot of Kenesaw Mountain, and
remained in same position until the 25th, all the time under a severe fire from artillery and musketry posted on
the side and crest of the mountain.
Our casualties here were 5 severely wounded.
25th, relieved at midnight, marched to the right, and went into camp at daylight.
26th, remained in camp.
27th, we received orders at daylight to be prepared to storm the enemy's works in our front.
The brigade was formed and in position by 9 o'clock, the Thirty-fourth
Illinois being deployed as skirmishers, and the One hundred and thirteenth leading the main force.
At the signal for the advance, the whole line sprang forward at the double-quick.
The skirmish pits of the enemy were passed over, when we proceeded through thick woods up one hill and down
across a small creek.
Owing to the rough nature of the ground, the lines were not kept in as perfect order as desirable, but every man
moved forward
with ardor and the highest courage.
When crossing the creek we found before us a hill of some size, at the summit of which were the main works of
the enemy.
Our skirmish support having fallen back, our regiment advanced up, exposed to the full fire of the enemy.
It was not until we had advanced half way up the hill that the enemy poured into our ranks his heaviest fire.
Our left was then in close proximity to a salient angle in the hostile works, toward which
Colonel
McCook
's brigade was charging with his entire line.
The firing then became most terrific.
The rebels opening up with two batteries upon either flank and delivering from the left a most galling musketry
fire.
The men, however, advanced without faltering, the One hundred and twenty-first taking position on our right.
We found before us a heavy abatis work and the enemy's line heavily fortified and defended with all the
appliances of the
most skillful engineering.
We charged rapidly forward, and our men falling by scores, until the left had nearly reached the works, some of
the men falling
immediately upon them.
At this time
Lieutenant-Colonel
Warner
was severely wounded, and the brigade upon our left being forced to retire, the order was given to fall
back, which was done
with perfect coolness, and position taken back of our supports in the rear, and intrenchments rapidly thrown up
under fire.
Where the whole regiment displayed such bravery it would be almost invidious to mention individual instances of
daring.
Lieutenant-Colonel
Warner
was in the thickest of the fight, urging men and officers forward, until after he was wounded.
Lieutenant
Dungan
, Company A, fell mortally wounded in advance of his company.
Capt.
John
Bowersock
, Company E;
Lieut.
Joseph
Parker
, Company G, and
Lieut.
Edward
Crouse
, Company F, each in command of their companies, were killed
close up to the enemy's works, and their bodies were not recovered until
the next day. It is sufficient evidence of the nature of the contest to say that in a space of not over twenty
minutes the regiment lost 153 men. Of the 19 commissioned officers who went into the charge 10 were killed or
wounded.
Although the assault was not successful, still a most important advantage was gained, and we had the melancholy
satisfaction
of knowing that we failed only because we attempted impossibilities.
28th, remained in same position, within stone's throw of the rebel works, and heavy firing from the main lines,
Major
Sullivant
in command.
29th and 30th, and
1st
and
2d of July
, no material change in position, but continued heavy skirmishing, with an occasional casualty.
3d, the enemy evacuated his works at night, we following through Marietta, came upon him and again intrenched.
4th, no change.
5th, the enemy fell back to his works at the Chattahoochee River,
we following; in the morning found him strongly intrenched above and below the railroad bridge, in the form of a
semi-circle,
with each extremity of the arc resting on the river.
We took position on the Marietta and Atlanta road and intrenched.
5th to 17th, no material change; constant skirmishing and artillery firing for much of the time.
17th, crossed the Chattahoochee River at Pace's Ferry; advanced skirmishers and crossed Nancy's
Creek. 18th, advanced to Peach Tree Creek. 19th, our
regiment, with the brigade, was ordered to advance across Peach Tree
Creek to support the Third Brigade, which was heavily pressed.
While the brigade was crossing we were ordered to form to the right, during which we suffered from a heavy flank
fire, losing
2 killed and 2 wounded. At daylight the next morning we took position in a less exposed place across the creek.
20th, heavy firing, but no change.
At night the enemy retired from our immediate front.
21st, our regiment was ordered on a reconnaissance toward the main
Atlanta road
. We advanced to within one-half mile of the river, discovering the enemy in force.
22d, advanced to within
two and a half miles of Atlanta
; formed lines and intrenched.
23d to 28th, remained in our works, except when on skirmish line.
28th, made reconnaissance to Turner's Ferry, and returning took position the
right of
Howard
.
29th, advanced to
White Hall road
and intrenched.
30th, moved one mile to right and intrenched.
31st, reconnaissance to Utoy Creek and found the enemy in force.
August
1
,
2
.
and 3, position unchanged.
Major
Sullivant
being unwell went to the division hospital, and the command of the regiment devolved upon myself.
5th, advanced toward the east, took position under heavy
artillery fire, and intrenched.
6th, no change.
7th, advanced and captured line of skirmish pits; took some prisoners and several stand of arms; lost I killed
and several wounded.
8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th, remained in trenches under constant fire, losing men every day. 12th, moved to the
right, relieving a portion of the Twenty-third Army Corps. 13th to
19th, no change.
20th to 27th, constant skirmishing but no change of position.
27th, moved to the right across Utoy Creek. 28th, marched across
Montgomery railroad, one mile to the southeast.
29th, lay in camp.
30th, marched at 6 a. m. and went into camp half way between Rough and Ready and Jonesborough.
31st, marched to one and a half miles distant from Macon
railroad.
September
1
, moved on
Jonesborough road
until opposite the enemy's intrenched position, and then filed to the left across an open field within plain
view of his
works.
The march of the column was impeded by deep ditches, which it was necessary to bridge, during which time we were
exposed to
a raking fire from the enemy's batteries less than three-quarters of a mile distant.
One shell exploding in our midst killed 2 and wounded 4 men. We moved forward and took position under cover of a
skirt of woods within less than a half mile from the enemy, where we remained until 2 p. m. We then formed in
line of battle, the Ninety-eighth Ohio deploying as skirmishers, and the One hundred and thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry being in the front line, with
the Seventy-eighth Illinois on the right, and the balance of the brigade in
the rear as support.
Orders were then received to storm the rebel works in our front.
The line crossed a corn-field into a deep ravine, where our progress was impeded by deep ditches and a thick
canebrake.
These obstacles being overcome, the line was well dressed up and again ordered forward.
The men pressed on rapidly, and as we neared the enemy I ordered them forward on the double-quick.
In an instant we were over the works, and our lines were thrown into considerable confusion by the rush of
prisoners to the
rear.
There must have been from 100 to 150 prisoners passed through my command.
We continued to move straight to the front until we captured 2
Parrott
guns, limbers, ammuniton, and ammunition-wagon and 4 fine mules, which the enemy could not take away in
his flight.
We advanced until we were enfiladed by the enemy's fire and our own, the enemy still firing from the front.
I halted the line and directed the men to lie down until I could get further orders.
We then were ordered to fall back to the works just passed over, where we remained until nearly dark, when an
order came to
relieve the One hundred and twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, their
ammunition being nearly exhausted.
We moved to the right across a deep ravine up to the crest of a hill under a sharp fire from the enemy.
A constant fire was kept up until about 9 p. m.. when the firing ceased.
Here we captured the battle-flag of the Third Confederate Regiment, inscribed
with the names of seven different battles.
The next morning I fired a salute with canister from the guns captured by the Seventy-eighth Illinois, but received no response from the enemy.
They had left during the night.
None but the dead and a few wounded were found on the field.
September
2
, we moved into
Jonesborough, and our fighting campaign was ended.
Our casualties in this engagement were small in comparison with the exposure.
Our loss was 3 killed and 7 wounded.
I submit the following table, which recapitulates the casualties during the entire campaign:
Zzz
To
Capt.
Otway
Watson
, who acted as second in command, I am much indebted for his cordial co-operation and active assistance
in the management of the regiment.
In conclusion, I can only say that every officer and man of the regiment during the time it was under my
command, and, so
far as my own observation extends, during the entire campaign, exhibited under all circumstances a willingness
to perform
any duty and incur any danger for the common good, which should secure for them any reward those in authority
can bestow upon
the brave man, as he will unquestionably obtain the gratitude of posterity.
To them all my most earnest gratitude is due and my warmest thanks extended.
All of which is most respectfully submitted.