06/04/2026
THIS DAY IN BISHOP HILL HISTORY
June 3, 1864
“J. G. P.” of Company D writes from north Georgia:
Rome, Georgia on the 3rd of June 1864.
We left Athens, Alabama, on the 30th of April to confront the enemy. The first day we covered 10 miles [Translator’s note: I will assume that the writer means American miles and not Swedish miles which would be 10 km each and longer than an American mile.] and the following day, we reached Huntsville, Alabama, a small beautiful town. The next day, we continued the march through the country, which consists of only woods and swamp, to Larkinsville, where we arrived early morning on the 4th of May. From there we took off to Chattanooga on steam wagons in order to catch up with the other part of the army; we arrived there the same day. On the 5th we continued the march to Chickamauga Creek. During this day’s journey, we also passed the great battlefield of Rosecrans, from where he was beaten back last autumn. The field consists only of forest and hills along the road. As far as we could see, there was hardly one single tree that was not broken in pieces by bullets and bombs. There are multitudes of graves along the road, some of which had names. In some graves, one could see both hands and feet of the person buried. It is horrible to see such places. It seemed as though not one single man got away, when one sees how the forest is split to pieces, and yet comparatively not so many get killed. We stayed there over Sunday; then we continued our way down the country, which is the most miserable that I have ever seen. Here there are no houses, no people, no fence and nothing resembling crops. We continued to Snake Creek Gap where we camped for the night on the 9th. Here our troops had also been beaten once before. On the way here, I was in a place and the wife in the house said that she would not wish to see so many of us back again, because she thought that Johnston would drive us back as before; but he got there too late this time. He had commanded 10,000 men to meet us in the pass, but we were completely through and we did not meet them until the second day, the 10th, early in the morning and began a lively skirmish with them. The 66th Illinois sharpshooters and the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry were the first to start and they drove them back 7 miles up to Resaca to the fortifications. We conquered 4 large hills right across from the fortress before evening, so close that we could see the fortress clearly within range of our cannons. We lay there until dark and then we pulled back 5 miles, where we stopped and started to build breastwork and entrenchments in order to protect our supply vans, in case they had thrown themselves to the sides to attack us. During this time, the battle of Dalton was going on, 15 miles from here. We could distinctly hear that they were being driven off. On the 15th, we received orders to march forward. Then the games began in earnest. Our skirmish lines met them some miles on this side, where we were last time, and drove them back and recovered our old position along with 6 24-pound grooved cannons. Our batteries were immediately lined up and began a strong fire. Silversparre’s battery was just opposite to the fortress. The enemy responded to the fire in a rather weak way and finally not at all, because our batteries dismounted their cannons, so that they had to take them out of the way. In the evening, it became quiet, but all stayed at their post. The next day began with the same monotonous tune as before. Before noon we received the intelligence that Grant had beaten Lee and won a great victory. This information ran through the whole army and there were three hurrahs shouted for General Grant’s army and three for that of General Sherman, which frightened Johnston and his whole army; there were hurrahs on one hill and then on another hill with caps and hats tossed into the air right in front of their eyes. But Johnston knew how to pull the wool over the eyes of his slaughter sheep. He stood up at night, took sound and delivered a speech to his soldiers and said that we had spread out printed leaflets all over the army saying that Grant had won a victory, in order to put us in good humor, but he assured them he knew the opposite and that Grant had gotten beaten instead. On the 14th, our brigade received orders to go further to the right to a river to lay down a pontoon bridge. Our batteries were positioned and they were soon in use, because the crossing there by our army, put us, all of us, right on their back. They tried all that they could, but they were driven away. On the 15th the bridge was completed and crossing was made. The enemy made several times bayonet attacks against us, but was each time beaten back and had to leave the place. Our brigade crossed over in the evening a little before dark and made camp right in front of the bridge. The whole night was spent working on breastwork in case they would want to return the next day. When Johnston discovered that he was in the trap, then he once again made a speech to his soldiers charging them to either fight or be taken prisoners, and threatened them that, in the latter case, they would be shot by us, and he executed a movement in the middle of the night between 11 and 12 to break through our lines and escape, which happened. At the same time, a terrible cannon thunder started, and musket fire was heard and it lasted for three quarters of an hour. Later all became quiet and Johnston started to run. The next day, we continued the hunt and drove them, but they had to defend their supply wagons, and therefore we had to fight them the whole day until dark, and also the day after in the morning, but since then we have not had especially much trouble from him. I have not heard how many were lost on our side, but in our regiment, 4 or 5 are injured and two are dead, but none in our company. Then we continued our march down Georgia to Adairsville, arriving here on the 19th. Here we stopped until 10 o’clock, then we continued our march the whole night to Kingston, where we camped until the 22nd when we received orders to march and we continued the march 15 miles here to Rome, where we now are in garrison with our brigade; but I do not know how long we shall stay here. Rome is a pretty city with many factories, which worked for the government of the South. Here there are unfinished cannons, which they have left behind, and torpedoes or large shells, which are about 22 inches in diameter, and a lot of other things. All stores and everything are destroyed. As many people as are at home are allowed to keep what they have; that which belongs to others the soldiers take and ruin. The rebels had thrown 4 of their cannons into a well, but our soldiers soon found them and they have already been fished out. They were large, beautiful bronze cannons, 12-pound parrotts.
J. G. P.
[“J. G. P.” (likely Jacob G. Peterson, a Chicago cabinetmaker. See Roger Kvist, “The Swedish Union Guards of Bishop Hill During the Civil War, Swedish American Genealogist 16:3 (Sept. 1996), p. 211), Rome, GA, 6/3/1865, to unnamed recipient, published as “Från Bishophill-kompaniet (D) i Ill. 57:de.,” Hemlandet (Chicago), 6/29/64, 2:2-3. Translated 2003 by Inez Tornblom.]
