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PART OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF KESAOA, FROM A WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPH
Gap, and out into Sugar Valley. He found tlie gap unoccupied; and so, with-Kilpatrick’s small cavalry detachment ahead, ]i followed closely hy Dodge’*’Sixteenth Corps, with Logan’s Fifteenth well closed up, he emerged from d |(!mountains on the morning of the 9 th, at the eastern exit.
Immediately there was excitement — the cavalry advance stumbled up 011Confederate cavalry, which had run out from Resaca to watch this doorway*Our cavalry followed up the retreating Confederates with dash and persist'ency, till they found shelter behind the deep-cut works and guns at Resaca-In plain view of these works, though 011 difficult ground, Logan and Dodg epressed up their men, under orders from McPherson “ to drive back th°enemy and break the railroad.” And pray, why were not these plain orderscarried out f McPherson answers in a letter that night sent to Sherman*“They [probably Polk’s men] displayed considerable force and opened *] 11us with artillery. After skirmishing [among the gulches and thickets] tunearly dark, and finding that I could not succeed in cutting the raih'oa*before dark, or in getting to it, I decided to withdraw the command aimtake up a position for the night between Sugar Valley and the entrance to
j) Lieutenant, James Oates wrote to the editors onJuly 8th, 1887, from Cincinnati , Ark., as follows:
“ General Howard in in error in the above statement.On May 1st the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry brokecamp at Decatur, Alabama, to take part, in the Atlanta campaign. On the afternoon of May 8th the regimentcame up with General McPherson at, Villanow. Lieu-tenant-Colonel ,T. J. Phillips, who was in command, re-ceived orders to take the advance of the Army of theTennessee, and did so at once, Company 4 K,’ Lieuten-ant James Oates in command, taking the lead throughSnake Creek Gap. We advanced down In to the opencountry of Sugar Valley on the evening of May 8th.No part of General Kilpatrick's command was therewhen we passed through Snake Creek Gap. On the
morning of the 9th of May our regiment took th° ”vanco without any other cavalry support. The intkj ■y ](was a considerable distance in t he rear. Very <MI 'the morning we engaged tlio Confederate cavalry ^several men in killed and wounded —among the l* 1Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips. The infantry came bl^,double-quick to our support and ended theregimcntfollowedup the retreating Confederate#dash and persistency.’ Tt was during the advance ^day that we came in contact with the Georgia Cafrom the Military Institute at Marietta, who hud pm*out from the woods at, Resaeu and formed thenbehind it, rail fence. After a volley from the Ca *■ *
which killed several of our men, our regiment chu ^them and did not give up the chase until it ran ngathe works at Kcsaca,”