9th. Remained in camp till 12 P.M. Left the sick and lame-footed men with the baggage wagons to move on to J, and took up the line of march from ... toward Rome. Struck the road over which we marched May 17, last. Encamped at Cunningham's, on the road from Cave Springs to Rome. Gen. Beauregard arrived at Cave Springs; he was heartily cheered by Cheatham's Corps.
10th. Moved by a wood road to near a ferry over the Coosa river. Arrived there at noon, but could not cross on the pontoon until the corps of Hardee had passed over. When my division was across we marched about three miles to Robinson's, at the gorge of the Texas Valley road. All over the country within a radius of ten or twelve miles of Rome the citizens have been robbed by the enemy of everything. Bureaus broken, women's clothing torn to pieces, children left in rags, mirrors broken, books torn, feather beds emptied in the road, stock driven off; and no effort left untried to distress the families.
On the 8th of this month Gen. John M. Corse, from Cartersville, near here, wrote Gen. Sherman that he could not now burn or abandon Rome because there were one thousand four hundred sick there. (War Records, page 150, Vol. 39, Part III.) I mention this to show that it was saved for a while but afterwards destroyed.
11th. This morning we crossed into Texas Valley, and marched to Amuch post office, where we encamped.
12th. Started this morning at 4 A.M., and after a tedious march all day struck the railroad one mile above Resaca. Gen. S. D. Lee took a position in front of the works at Resaca. It was garrisoned by five hundred men. Hood summoned the garrison to surrender. It refused to do so. Here Hood showed his good sense not to make the attack even with twenty thousand men. We did not want the place nor the garrison, and had no men to spare or lose in a useless fight. Allatoona was a warning to him. Stewart's Corps moved up the railroad about three and a half miles, and captured a blockhouse and a construction camp, and burned an immense amount of lumber. There was one company captured in the blockhouse, which, however, was a temporary structure of hewn timber. Worked all night destroying railroad.
13th. Moved my division up the railroad, and surrounded a very large and strong blockhouse at Tilton. It was garrisoned by the Seventeenth Iowa Regiment, commanded by Col. Archer. He refused to surrender. As it was, from its oaken walls, impregnable to field artillery, it resisted a long time. Gen. Stewart, hearing the firing, came on the field and also called on the commander to surrender. Again he declined. I had placed a field battery in position, and directing shells to be fired at the narrow loopholes, we succeeded in driving shells through them, which, exploding inside, filled the structure with a dense, suffocating smoke, and soon the white flag was waved. Seventy shells were fired. The garrison consisted of three hundred and fifty men. Col. Archer, not being well, was paroled. The plundering of the stores, especially the sutler's, was the work of a few minutes, and our hungry men obtained some articles not found in the Confederate commissary department. The sutler came to me with his books and begged me to keep them for him, as he had no other evidence of what was due him from the regiment. I introduced him to my quartermaster, and asked him to keep them for the sutler. To add to the quick confusion, Loring's division was passing by at the time and tried to obtain some of the sutler's stores. Burned everything but the transportation, arms, stores, etc., and then moved on to Dalton. I had now four hundred and fifty prisoners. Dalton was captured by Cheatham. It was garrisoned by negro troops.
14th. My division became the rear guard. We crossed the mountain at Dug Gap and encamped near Villanow. When I crossed the mountain ridge I found a large field of corn by the roadside. The roasting ears were fine. I halted the division; called the brigade commanders, and gave them half an hour to get dinner out of the cornfield. Wonderfully quick were the fires made, and the corn roasted and fried. The prisoners and men dined indiscriminately. The Yankees made themselves useful, and knew how to rob a cornfield. Encamped in an orchard, and had some cows driven up and shot for supper and breakfast in the morning.
15th. Cheatham in advance. Loring, Walthall, and I were in the rear. During the march most of the field and staff officers of the Seventeenth Iowa walked along with me. They were jolly, good fellows, and laughed heartily at their dinner of green corn, and warm cow beef for supper and breakfast, and one of them presented me with a silk sash. He insisted on my accepting it. He told me "that much stress was placed on starving us out, but from the experience they had in the past two days they did not think we could be starved out at all, and that they would write home and tell their friends that the starvation game was played out." They made no complaint, for they messed with our men.
16th. Left Treadway's Gap this morning. Gen. Sears's Brigade and Kolb's battery remained to defend the Gap. I moved on through Summerville and encamped at Rhinehart's. Ordered to move to Lafayette at 2 A.M. Pigeon Mountain looms up in sight, and the scenery is beautiful.
17th. Started to Lafayette, as ordered, but returned and went to the junction of the road from Lafayette and Rome with the Alpine road. Here Sears's Brigade joined the division. Encamped at Mr. Mosteller's.