HEADQUARTERS FIFTEENTH
ARMY CORPS,
EASTPoint, GA., September 11, 1864.
Officers and Soldiers of the Fifteenth Army Corps:
You have borne your part in the accomplishment of the object
of this campaign, a part well and faithfully done.
On the 1st day of May, 1864, from Huntsville, Ala., and its
vicinity, you commenced the march. The marches and labors performed by you
during this campaign will hardly find a parallel in the history of war. The
proud name heretofore acquired by the 15th Corps for soldierly bearing and daring
deeds remains untarnished—its lustre undimmed. During the campaign you
constituted the main portion of the flanking column of the whole army. Your
first move against the enemy was around the right of the army at Resaca, where,
by your gallantry, the enemy were driven from the hills and his works on the
main road from Vilanaw to Resaca. On the retreat of the enemy, you moved on the
right flank of the army by a circuitous route to Adairsville, in the same
manner from there to Kingston and Dallas, where, on the 28th day of May, you
met the veteran corps of HARDEE, and in a severe and bloody contest you hurled
him back, killing and wounding over two thousand, besides capturing a large
number of prisoners. You then moved around to the left of the army, by way of
Acworth, to Kenesaw Mountain, where again you met the enemy, driving him from
three lines of works, capturing over three hundred prisoners. During your stay
in front of Kenesaw Mountain, on the 27th of June, you made one of the most
daring, bold and heroic charges of the war, against the almost impregnable
position of the enemy on Little Kenesaw. You were then moved, by way of
Marietta, to Nickajack Creek, on the right of the army, thence back to the
extreme left by way of Marietta and Roswell, to the Augusta railroad, near
Stone Mountain, a distance of fifty miles, and after effectually destroying the
railroad at this point, you moved by way of Decatur to the immediate front of
the Rebel stronghold, Atlanta. Here, on the 22d day of July, you again performed
your duty nobly, “as patriots and soldiers” in one of the most severe and
sanguinary conflicts of the campaign. With hardly time to recover your almost
exhausted energies, you were moved again around to the right of the army, only
to encounter the same troops against whom you had so recently contended, and
the battle of the 28th of July, at Ezra Chapel, will long be remembered by the
officers and soldiers of this command. On that day it was that the 15th Corps
almost unaided and alone, for four hours contested the field against the Corps
of HARDEE and LEE.. You drove them discomfited from the field causing them to
leave their dead and many of their wounded in your hands. The many noble and
gallant deeds performed by you on that day will be remembered among the
proudest acts of our nation's history. After pressing the enemy closely for
several days, you again moved to the right of the army, to the West Point railroad,
near Fairburn—after completely destroying the road for some distance, you
marched to Jonesboro, driving the enemy before you from Pond creek, a distance
of ten miles. At this point you again met the enemy, composed of LEE's and
HARDEE's Corps, on the 31st of August, and punished them severely, driving them
in confusion from the field, with their dead and many wounded and prisoners
left in your hands. Here again by your skill and true courage you kept sacred
the reputation you have so long maintained, viz.: “The 15th Corps never meets
the enemy but to strike and defeat him.” On the 1st of September, the 14th
Corps attacked HARDEE, you at once opened fire on him, and by your co-operation
his defeat became a rout. Hood, hearing the news, blew up his ammunition
trains, retreated, and Atlanta was ours.
You have marched during the campaign, in your windings, the
distance of four hundred miles, have put “hors-du-combat.” more of the
enemy than your corps numbers, have captured twelve stands of colors, 2,450
prisoners and 210 deserters.
The course of your march is marked by the graves of patriotic
heroes who have fallen by your side; but at the same time it is more plainly
marked by the blood of traitors who have defied the constitution and laws,
insulted and trampled under foot the glorious flag of our country.
We deeply sympathize with the friends of those of our comrades-in-arms
who have fallen; our sorrows are only appeased by the knowledge that they fell
as brave men, battling for the preservation and perpetuation of one of the best
governments of earth. “Peace be to their ashes.”
You now rest for a short time from your labors; during the respite
prepare for future action. Let your country see at all times by your conduct
that you love the cause you have espoused; that you have no sympathy with any
who would by word or deed assist vile traitors in dismembering our mighty Republic
or trailing in the dust the emblem of our national greatness and glory. You are
the defenders of a government that has blessed you heretofore with peace,
happiness and prosperity. Its perpetuity depends upon your heroism,
faithfulness and devotion.
When the time shall come to go forward again, let us go with
the determination to save our nation from threatened wreck and hopeless ruin,
not forgetting the appeal from widows and orphans that is borne to us upon
every breeze to avenge the loss of their loved ones who have fallen in defense
of their country. Be patient, obedient and earnest, and the day is not far
distant when you can return to your homes with the proud consolation that you
have assisted in causing the old banner to again wave from every mountain's top
and over every town and hamlet of our once happy land, and hear the shouts of
triumph ascend from a grateful people, proclaiming that once more we have one
flag and one country.
John A. Logan,
Major General
Commanding.
SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an
Illinois Soldier, p. 301-3
