had held our right in check for two days was only an outer line and not held in strong force, and that from the character of the ground and the necessities of the enemy's position the salient of his main line was opposite General Morgan's center. This position was, however, a small branch of the Utoy Creek. I determined to make the attempt to carry this outer line by assault near its point of junction with the main line, in the hope of cutting off the force to our right of the point of attack, and thus being able to gain the enemy's main line before his troops could retire into it. General Reilly's brigade, supported by the whole of Cox's division, was ordered to make the assault. The order was gallantry executed. Some of the men actually reached the enemy's parapet in spite of all obstructions, but the abatis and entanglements were such as to render success impossible, and the gallant brigade was compelled to retire with heavy loss. Being compelled to abandon this plan and content myself with a smaller measure of success, Hascall's division was detached from the right and ordered to find and turn the enemy's left. He crossed the main Utoy Creek about a mile and a half to our right, drove back a large force of the enemy's left rested on Utoy Creek, but darkness and a heavy rain-storm rendered further operations impossible. The next morning developed the fact that the enemy had abandoned his position in the night and drawn back his left into his main works. We now pushed forward our whole line from Morgan's center, intrenched our lines confronting those of the enemy, and extended them as much as possible, preparatory to an effort to turn the flank of the enemy's main line near East Point. The line of the Fourteenth Corps was extended to Utoy Creek, about two and a half miles from East Point, and the Twenty-third Corps crossed the creek and reconnoitered toward the railroad, between East Point and Red Oak. It was ascertained that the enemy's line, strongly fortified and protected by abatis, extended beyond the railroad and far beyond the reach of a single corps, unless it were detached to an unsafe distance from the main army. The Twenty-third Corps was intrenched upon the south bank of the Utoy, forming a strong right flank for the army, and a safe pivot upon which the grand movement then contemplated could be made.

Until the commencement of the movement of the army against the Macon railroad, August 25, nothing further was done upon the right except daily demonstrations against the enemy's extreme left to cover the operations of our cavalry. While the Armies of the Cumberland and Tennessee were withdrawing from their trenches about Atlanta and commencing their movement toward the enemy's rear, my command maintained its intrenched position on Utoy Creek. At noon on the 28th it withdrew from its position and followed the Army of the Cumberland to Mount Gilead Church, on Camp Creek, covering the left flank and trains of the main army. On the following day we crossed Camp Creek and took position on the left, immediately on the south bank of the creek. On the 30th we moved onto the railroad at Red Oak, and thence toward East Point about one mile and a half, where we took and intrenched a strong position, covering the movement of the army and trains, and at the same time threatening East Point, which the enemy still occupied in force. At daylight the next morning we moved rapidly to Morrow's Mill, on Flint Creek, making a junction with the Fourth Corps; crossed the creek in conjunction with that corps and moved upon the Macon