n on the 24th, that on the 27th,
McPherson should assault near Little Kennesaw mountain (our
position,) and that Thomas should assault about a mile further
south, (to our left). Kennesaw was strongly entrenched, and held by
Loring's and Hardee's corps, Loring on the right, opposite
McPherson and Hardee on the left opposite Thomas. About 9:00 a.m.
of the 27th, the troops moved to the assault and all along the line
for ten miles a furious fire of artillery and musketry was kept up.
A part of Logan's 15th corps, formed in two lines, fought its way
up to the slope of Little Kennesaw, carried the confederate
skirmish pits and tried to go further, but was checked by the rough
nature of the ground, and the fire of artillery and musketry at
short range from behind breastworks. Logan's assault failed with a
loss of 600 men, and his troops were withdrawn to the captured
skirmish pits * * * The assault was over by 11:30 a.m., and was a
failure.

It was the most serious reverse sustained by Sherman during the
campaign. The entire Union loss was nearly 2,500.

Johnston admits a Confederate loss of 808 killed and wounded. That
ended Sherman's attempt to force our lines, and started his flanking
operations again. Soon we were ordered back southwest of the
Chattahoochee river, where we occupied a fort, overlooking the Western
& Atlantic railroad bridge, and were soon faced by the enemy with
infantry and artillery again entrenched, with a rifle battery on
opposite side of river three-quarters of a mile away. They would
occasionally try a little target practice at our fort. Our orders were
to refrain from firing unless an attempt was made to cross the river.
On our side there was merely infantry enough to picket the river.

The fort was an enclosed one, i.e., had parapet all around, and
embrassures in all directions, as if built to stand a siege even if
entirely surrounded by the enemy. Our four guns were its whole armament
however, fronting the river and its destroyed bridge below us.

We here bivouaced at ease. The slope in rear of fort had some shade
bushes and formed a comparatively safe camping grounds, but we lost one
man here who was in rear of, and outside of the fort. A rifle shell
just missed the front parapet, cut a furrow in the rear parapet, and
took off the head of a private, named Maner, another Georgian. Some of
us who were inside the fort saw his straw hat r