The Atlanta (Georgia) Campaign: May 1 - September 8, 1864., Part I: General Report.
Maj. George B. Davis, Mr. Leslie J. Perry, Mr. Joseph W. Kirkley, Ed.

[385] labor, be considered; if the number and extent of its actual battles: and separate conflicts and the great number of days the troops were in the immediate presence of, and under a close fire from, the enemy be remembered; if the vast amount of labor expended in the construction of intrenchments and other necessary works be estimated; if the bold, brilliant, and successful flank movements made in close proximity to a powerful enemy be critically examined, and if the long line of communication over which vast and abundant supplies of every kind for the use of this great army were uninterruptedly transported during the entire campaign be regarded, it must be admitted that the late campaign stands without a parallel in military history. The campaign was long and laborious, replete with dangerous service, but it was brilliant and successful. No adequate conception can be formed of the vast extent of labor performed by the troops except by having participated in it. Whether by day or by night this labor was cheerfully performed, and it affords me high satisfaction to bear official testimony to the universal good conduct of the officers and men of the division.

For the numerous instances of good conduct of officers and men deserving special commendation, 1 must refer to the reports of brigade and regimental commanders. To the various brigade commanders who served in the division during the campaign, my thanks are specially due for zealous and intelligent performance of duty and hearty co-operation throughout. I have already noted that Brigadier-General Willich, commanding First Brigade, was severely wounded at Resaca. The command of the brigade devolved on Col. William H. Gibson, Forty-ninth Ohio, who performed the duties with zeal and ability till the expiration of his term of service on the 24th of August. Colonel Hotchkiss, Eighty-ninth Illinois, succeeded Colonel Gibson in command of the brigade and performed the duties well to the termination of the campaign. Col. P. Sidney Post succeeded Brigadier-General Hazen in the command of Second Brigade on the 17th of August, and thence to the end of the campaign performed all the duties of the position most zealously, intelligently, usefully, and gallantly. Since my injury Colonel Post has attended to all the field duties of the division commander and performed them well. Early in the campaign Brigadier-General Beatty, commanding Third Brigade, was disabled by sickness from exercising command of his brigade, and it devolved on Colonel Knefler, Seventy-ninth Indiana, and well and ably has he performed all the duties of the position. Cheerful and prompt when labor was to be performed, ready with expedients when the necessities of the service demanded them, gallant and sensible on the field of conflict, he has so borne himself throughout the campaign as to command my highest approbation.

It is due to the members of my staff that I should commend their good conduct and confide them to the kindly consideration of my seniors in rank. To them, by name, I return my sincere thanks. Capt. M. P. Bestow, assistant adjutant-general; First Lieut. George Shaffer, Ninety-third Ohio Volunteers, aide-de-camp; Maj. A. R. Z. Dawson, Fifteenth Ohio Volunteers, chief of outposts and pickets; Capt. J. R. Bartlett, Forty-ninth Ohio V olunteers, inspector-general; Capt. C. R. Taft. Fifteenth Ohio Volunteers, provost-marshal; Second Lieut. H. H. Townsend, Ninth Kentucky Volunteers, topographical engineer; Capt. L. D. Myers, assistant quartermaster; Capt. H. C. Hodgdon, commissary of subsistence, and First Lieut. P.