This letter was written by James A. Beck (1843-1931) to his father, Irish emigrant James Beck of Gages Lake, Lake county, Illinois. James enlisted when he was 18 years old as a private in Co. B, 96th Illinois Infantry and served three years. He mustered out of the service on 10 June 1865. After he returned home from the war, James married Abigail E. Smith (1847-1939) and took up farming in Gurnee, Lake county, Illinois.

Beck’s letters describes the early engagements of the 96th Illinois Infantry on the Atlanta Campaign, including the harrowing, chaotic engagement and narrow escape at the Battle of Resaca on 14 May 1864 which he called “a damd hard fight.” As Joe Johnston’s forces mounted a strong counterattack under the command of Gen. John Bell Hood, the 96th Illinois and 115th Illinois Regiments (in the 4th Army Corps) found themselves outflanked by Confederate troops that led to a disorganized hasty retreat. According to the History of the Ninety-Sixth Regiment, nearly half of the men who survived emerged with bullet holes through their clothing. As stated in his letter, the Union flank was bolstered by the timely arrival of Joe Hooker’s 20th Army Corps.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Camp at Cassville, Georgia
May the 21st 1864

Dear father,

It is with much pleasure that I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am all right yet and I hope these few lines will find you all the same. We have had some damned hard times this month. I wrote a few lines to you when we was at Tunnel Hill and I sent 20 dollars and I have not had a letter from you since I have been in the company—that is, since I left the battery.

I told you about our skirmish at Rocky Face Mountain in front of Dalton. I told you that we had one killed in our company and two slightly wounded in our company. We had 2 killed in the regiment and 30 wounded that day. That was the 9th and the 12th the rebs had to evacuate for if they had a stayed one day longer, we would had them cut off. But they got out and on the 13th followed them right on. We came through Dalton on the 13th and on the 14th, we had a damned hard fight. We was about in the center of the line and they fell back to their breastworks and they thought to make a stand in the forenoon.

We heard a pretty heavy firing on our right and it kept working around till we got it before night for they massed their force on us and thought to break our lines. Our company was sent out on the skirmish line. We had one man killed in our company and pretty soon we was ordered to join the regiment and we did and we had another company go out and they got drove in and the rebs made a desperate charge on us and they had our regiment surrounded on three sides and they poured a volley into us from three ways and we give them our loads that we had in our guns and we had to get out. And we only had the one way to get out. We lost in all since we started on this campaign 11 killed, 35 wounded, and there is 3 missing.

I had one damned close call. I got a bullet hole through both pants legs but it did not happen to touch the hide. It tore a hole that I could stick my hand in but I thought it was close enough and I was damned glad to get out as well as that. We never could a got out if we had not been good on foot and I tell you, our battery just more than sent shells and canister in them. But Old Joe Hooker just came up with reinforcements then and saved us. I think if he had not come just as he did, that the biggest part of our brigade would have been captured.

And the next day was Sunday and it was about noon when Hooker got his corps there and they had a desperate fight. We had to support them. I tell you, it was a hard old thing. The bullets flew pretty thick around us. There was one struck Ney [Nate] Lamb [of Co. G] on the finger and he had to have it taken off. I believe our men got four pieces of artillery that day and I don’t know how many prisoners out of there and the next morning we followed them up. The first town we came to…[unfinished & unsigned letter]