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Regiment: 15th Michigan Infantry
Battles Mentioned: Atlanta, Georgia; Ezra Church, Georgia; Jonesborough, Georgia; Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia; Resaca, Georgia
Historical Figures: John A. Logan, John M. Oliver, Robert E. Lee, William J. Hardee
Headquarters Fifteenth Army Corps,
East Point, Ga., Sept. 11, 1864.
Officers and Soldiers of the Fifteenth Army Corps:
You have borne your part in the accomplishment of the object of this cam-
paign, a part well and faithfully done.
On the 1st day of May, 1864, from Huntsville, Ala., and its vicin-
ity, 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 15
th Corps for soldierly bearing and daring deeds re-
mains 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 Vilanow 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 28
th 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 27
th 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
22
d 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 28
th of July, at Ezra Chapel, will
long be remembered by the officers and soldiers of this command. On that day
it was that the 15
th 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 31
st 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 15
th Corps never meets the enemy but to strike and defeat him.” On the
1
st of September, the 14
th 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.
2
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 govern-
ments 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, happi-
ness 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 determina-
tion 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 loves ones who have fallen in defense of their country.
Be patient, obedient and earnest, and the day is not far distant when you can re-
turn 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.
(Official)
Assistant Adjutant General.
