rough, and extremely difficult for wagons. He arrived at Adairsville about 12 midnight. Finding cars there he sent Belknap's DIVISION straight on the Resaca. General Raum, of General John E. Smith's DIVISION, was garrisoning that place. He had been able to show so bold a front that the enemy, probably still having Allatoona in mind, did not attack him except with a skirmish line. Hood, however, demanded the surrender of Resaca with a threat to take no prisoners in case of being obliged to carry it by assault. But, while he was parleying with the garrison at Resaca, large bodies of his army were on the railroad northward, where he captured the garrisons at Tilton and Dalton. The latter, under command of Colonel Johnson, of the Forty-fourth Colored Regiment, was surrendered by him without a blow. The railroad track was pretty effectually destroyed for upward of twenty miles in this vicinity.

The army, except Corse's DIVISION left at Rome, continued its march and arrived in Resaca on the 14th. Immediately the wagon bridge, which had been destroyed by a freshet, was reconstructed, and reconnaissance made toward Snake Creek Gap by a regiment of General Ransom's command, which came upon the enemy about six miles from Resaca, developing what appeared to be quite a strong force, probably the enemy's rear guard.

General Sherman arrived at Resaca on the evening of the 14th, where he issued Special Field Orders, Numbers 91. Pursuant to this the Army of the Tennessee marched on the morning of 15th, and came upon the enemy's rear guard, probably a small brigade, in intrenchments covering the mouth of Snake Creek Gap. General Stanley was moving to the right to pass over the ridge north of the gap, so that the Army of the Tennessee simply pressed the enemy's front with a skirmish line, waiting for his position to be turned by Stanley. The enemy's force, however, was so small that a simple threat upon his right flank as if to turn it caused him to abandon the position and run over the ridge and through the gap. On reaching its mouth we found the pass badly obstructed by felled trees; these obstructions continued for upward of five miles. The infantry not cease its march a moment, going over the trunks of trees and through the bushes, pushing forward as rapidly as possible, while general and staff officers, with dismounted orderlies and detachments of pioneers, as fast as they came up went to work vigorously to clear away the obstructions for the artillery and wagons. Smaller trees were thrown out bodily, the larger ones cut and cleared away with great rapidly, so that the pass was rendered practicable, and the head of the wagon train reached the western opening by 7 p. m. The army encamped for the night near this opening.

In accordanField Orders, Numbers 92, from your headquarters, the army marched toward Ship's Gap, the Fifteenth Corps, Major-General Osterhaus, leading. His First DIVISION, Brigadier-General Woods commanding, encountered the enemy's skirmishers not far from the summit of Taylor's Ridge. What is called Ship's Gap is a slight depression in the ridge over which the road winds in a circuitous manner, seeking a gradual ascent along the spurs. General Woods confronted their flank, capturing between 30 and 40 of them. The rest gave way and fled, whereupon the advance was pushed about a mile beyond the ridge and with the rest of the army went into camp for the night.

In accordance with Special Field Orders, Numbers 94, from headquarters Military DIVISION of the Mississippi, the command moved for-