The 7th had done well. They had totally routed 
and scattered two brigades of elite rebel 
cavalry, nearly 1600 men, captured two pieces 
of artillery, about 70 prisoners, killed 125 
if not more; destroyed over 200 stand (pieces) 
of small arms (rifles, pistols). One stand of 
colors from a Texas Regiment was picked up. 
The ground was covered for miles with hats,
blankets, coats, guns and so on. 

The loss to the Brigade was 1 killed 
and 2 wounded.

JOHN EARNEST was the only Union soldier killed 
in that action. 

More than likely he was hit when the Seventh 
charged the artillery, and as he was preparing 
to strike with his saber, a rebel cannoneer shot 
him at point blank range with his pistol.

John was buried near Rome, Georgia where he 
fell at the edge of a woods, on a slight rise 
of ground overlooking a small creek and a 
cornfield, on October 14, 1864 the day after 
his death. In 1866, when the National Cemetery 
at Marietta, Georgia was established, John's 
remains were moved there to rest forever with 
other fallen Union soldiers. The cemetery at
Marietta was to be the final resting place for 
the dead of both the Union and Confederacy, 
however, the Confederate States refused to 
allow her sons to be buried in Southern soil 
with Union dead. Therefore, the National
Cemetery contains only Union dead.
----------------------------------------------
Epilogue:

Hardly anyone, in 1861, knew what war was like, 
but everyone would soon learn. The idea that war 
was all flags, drums, pretty uniforms, and that
marching and drilling were games soon gave way 
to the truth. This Civil War was just like all 
wars; hardship, boredom, disillusionment, 
danger, suffering and death...and the end of it 
could not come soon enough.

The war did end with the surrender on April 9, 
1865 at Appomatox Court House, although there 
was some action after that date.

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 
1865 by John Wilkes Booth.

William Earnest was released from prison camp 
at Andersonville in May of 1865, and returned 
to Catawissa and fathered 13 or 14 children 
and lived to be an old man.

John still rests in Georgia.