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592 Series I Volume XXXVIII-II Serial 73 - The Atlanta Campaign Part II

Page 592 THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. Chapter L.

three miles east of that place. The next morning the division was deployed into line and skirmishers sent out, who soon engaged those of the enemy, and we commenced slowly pressing him back into his strongholds. After considerable maneuvering our brigade marched up Rocky Face Ridge to the support of a portion of the Fourth Army Corps, where we remained during the remained of the day and night. About 11 a. m. the following day our brigade was relieved by one of the Fourth Corps, and we descended into the valley upon the east side of the mountain. We were then formed into line of battle, in connection with the other troops of this corps, and at 2.30 o'clock commenced the advance. The regiment was formed in the first line, on the left of the First Brigade. The skirmishers drove the enemy slowly, and by 4 o'clock we had advanced about one mile. At this time the line was advancing steadily, the Twenty-fifth Michigan in an open field and the remainder of the brigade in the woods. We were just rising the summit of a small hill, when suddenly a masked battery of the enemy opened upon this regiment, and for twenty minutes we lay under a most galling fire. In their excitement the rebels fired too soon for their own purpose. Had they waited five minutes longer the regiment would have passed over the hill and received their fire point-blank. As it was, most of the shells passed harmlessly over our heads and we luckily escaped a most murderous fire. The regiment was next moved into the woods on the right, and there we lay all night, not daring to build fires for fear of drawing the fire of the enemy's artillery, as we were now within easy range of their first line of main works. During this engagement the regiment suffered a loss of 1 killed and 3 wounded.

About 8 o'clock the next morning our lines commenced slowly falling back and took up a position at the upper end of the valley, where we remained until the morning of the 12th. The Twenty-third Corps was then ordered around to the rear of Dalton to co-operate with General McPherson and Hooker. Passed through Snake Creek Gap, and about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 13th instant took up a position in front of the enemy's fortifications near Resaca. At 1 o'clock the next day the engagement became general, and our division was ordered to charge a rebel fort. The First Brigade was formed in the front line with the Twenty-fifth Michigan on its left We advanced steadily until unmasked by the woods, when the enemy poured into our ranks a most deadly fire of artillery and musketry. For a moment the men wavered, but were quickly rallied by the officers, and with a shout rushed forward to the charge. Hotter and hotter grew the fire. Our men were falling rapidly; killed, wounded, or stunned by the near explosion of a shell; suddenly a barrier presented itself -a deep creek. The men plunged through; many took shelter under its banks. The lines which were ordered to support us broke and retired to the woods as soon as exposed to the enemy's fire. Twice they were reformed and urged forward to the assault, but neither threats nor entreaties could induce those troops to expose themselves to that terrible fire. We were now in a very peculiar position being between the two lines and within thirty rods of rebel fort. To advance with our weakened force and no support was preposterous, while to retire to our own lines would be equally destructive. There was no alternative but to remain where we were until something favorable occured, or until darkness veiled our movements. The men commenced a severe fire upon the rebel gunners, and in the course of an hour had the satis-


Page 592 THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. Chapter L.