Head Qrs 30^th Ills Infty

In Field Ga July 7^th 1864

 

Sister Sadie

                        I again attempt to write you a few lines to inform you of my good health &c &c I do not remember when I last wrote you but I remember that we were then on the extreme left. On the night of the 2^nd inst we evacuated our position and moved off quietly toward the right. Marched all night and next morning at daylight halted about an hour for breakfast, after which we continued our march toward the right wing of the Army, reaching that point and going into bivouack just before sundown on the evening of the 3^rd / On the 4^th our Brigade moved out about 3 miles to the front driving the Rebels before us. No other troops moved up on our flanks, and the consequence was that the Rebs were left on both flanks and in our rear. All communication except by squads large enough to protect themselves was cut off with the main Army. We had to fall back during the afternoon from one position we occupied the Rebs making their appearance in force on both flanks. We fell back across a small stream and threw up barricades. The enemy did not attack us and after dark we fell back noiselessly to our old position Had they known our force they might have almost annihilated us as they doubtless had four men to our one. I forgot to say / as the proper connexion that the flank movement made on the 2^nd and 3^rd forced them to evacuate their strong position on Kennesaw Mountain and fall back within a few miles of the river where they now occupy another strong position. On the 5^th we again moved to the right and about noon the advance of our Div. arrived at the Chattahoochee river without opposition. We found them however strongly posted on the opposite side of the river. We then moved to the left and joined on the right of Gen Greshams Division of our Corps. We are now lying in position with a heavy line of Rebel works in our immediate front. They shelled us quite vigorously from their fort as we were going into position but as we had the advantage of a high hill they did not do us much harm. / The works in our front are very strong. They not only have deep ditches in front but also have rails driven in at the bottom of the works, the ends sticking out about as high as a man's breast and sharpened. add to this the fact that there is an open field of a mile in width in their immediate front and I think it makes pretty strong works. On the 27^th of June our Div charged a line of Rebel works and captured them. Our Regiment moved through an open field and still had but slight loss. Our loss was (4) four killed and (15) fifteen wounded. The health of the men is rather poor owing to a certain extent to the scarcity of vegetables and the large amount of labor required by of them Our Regiment has been marching fighting and building breastworks ever since the 5^th of May. The country for 20 miles in our rear is cut up with breastworks in all directions sometimes 3 & 4 lines will be within a few rods of each other. I have good health so far a great many of our officers are sick Neither of our surgeons is able to be out of bed

 

You will have to excuse my disconnected letter as I have written in a great hurry My respects to any enquiring friends I have rec^d no letter from you since yours of June

D W P[?]k

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