A Note:

Between John's last entry and this one, the 
brigade was engaged almost constantly in 
raids. The fighting was bitter and there were 
many casualties on both sides. The main purpose 
of these raids was to cut Confederate 
communication lines and railroads, and, 
secondly, to induce Hood to come out of his 
entrenchments and fight. One of the nastiest 
battles of this tactic took place at Lovejoy 
Station. General Judson Kilpatrick was in
command of the operation. Kilpatrick had a 
reputation as a hard-driving commander, and 
as so, the men called him "Kill Cavalry". Both 
armies threw everything they could at each 
other: artillery, canister (much like huge
shotgun ammunition fired from cannons, it was 
horribly destructive), rifle fire, and finally 
cavalry charges.
 
At last Hood retreated.
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Camp Near Atlanta
        Aug the 24   /64

we wer out on a Raid for five days and distroyed 
the Rail Road for twenty miles and had very hard 
fiting we lost 6 men of my Company and hour Capt 
we made a Saber Charge and drove the Rebs in Evry 
directions with there heds cut to Peses  they 
Said that they never was Wiped So bad as wat they
wer there and genral killpatrick at the head of 
the Charge  

we Captured four Peses of artilery But Could only 
bring one out and we lost to one busted and the 
other we Sunk in the River  the River was very hi  
the horses had to Swim a Cross and Raining all the 
time  iwas not dry fir three days Marching day and 
knight  

wen we went in the Charge idid not think of eny 
danger a tall  William was not a long  he is well 
now and he Said that he rote aleter to father to 
day he had bin on the raid at a town Called Jones 
town they was surounded by Rebs there and the olde 
Seventh had to cut a rode out of the Rebs they was 
all a Round them there 

the Rail Road Run up to the town and hour felars 
burnt the town to ashes and all wat was init

itell you wat the war is purty near playd out with 
the olde Seventh they lost fifty four kild and 
wonded and taken prisner just now we are where you
can hear the Canons all the time and the musketry 
going all the time and have bin So fir the last 
four Weeks
...................................................

End Notes:

The Captain who was killed at Lovejoy was Captain 
James G. Taylor.

"Jones town" is Jonesboro, Georgia. Here the Seventh 
was surrounded and made a last ditch saber charge 
and escaped through the lines to safety.

Casualties are beginning to mount among the brigade, 
but not so much in men, but in horses. During this 
part of the campaign they were literally being ridden 
to death. The Cavalry was losing 300 to 500 horses a 
day to exhaustion and starvation, as well as battle 
wounds. Once a trooper lost his horse, if he couldn't 
get another one, he became a foot soldier. These
men were called "dismounted cavalry".