Saturday, 11th–Had a light shower yesterday, while today it rained nearly all day. We formed a line of battle this morning and moved forward. There was some sharp skirmishing, and our cannons were active, but the rebels did not reply. We advanced about a half mile and the rebels fell back inside of their rifle pits, a mile distant, at the foot of Kenesaw mountain. Each regiment then went to work throwing up its own rifle pits. There was some more sharp skirmishing, the rebels attempting to turn our left, but we drove them back. The railroad is now in operation up to our army, and the first train came in to Big Shanty[1] today. News came that Lee had evacuated Richmond, but we could not believe the report.
[1] This is the station where Andrews and his band captured an engine with tender one Sunday morning and started up North, but he and his men were all captured, and some of them were executed, while others were set at liberty. —A. G. D.