General Thomas occupied a house on Marietta Streets which had a veranda with high pillars.  We were sitting there one evening, talking about things generally, when General Thomas asked leave to send his trains back to Chattanooga, for the convenience and economy of forage.  I inquired of him if he supposed we would be allowed much rest at Atlanta, and he said he thought we would, or that at all events it would not be prudent for us to go much farther into Georgia because of our already long line of communication, viz., three hundred miles from Nashville.  This was true; but there we were, and we could not afford to remain on the defensive, simply holding Atlanta and fighting for the safety of its railroad.  I insisted on his retaining all trains, and on keeping all his divisions ready to move at a moment’s warning.  All the army, officers and men, seemed to relax more or less, and sink into a condition of idleness.  General Schofield was permitted to go to Knoxville, to look after matters in his Department of the Ohio; and Generals Blair and Logan went home to look after politics.  Many of the regiments were entitled to, and claimed, their discharge, by reason of the expiration of their term of service; so that with victory and success came also many causes of disintegration.

The rebel General Wheeler was still in Middle Tennessee, threatening our railroads, and rumors came that Forrest was on his way from Mississippi to the same theatre, for the avowed purpose of breaking up our railroads and compelling us to fall back from our conquest.  To prepare for this, or any other emergency, I ordered Newton’s division of the Fourth Corps back to Chattanooga, and Corse’s division of the Seventeenth Corps to Rome, and instructed General Rousseau at Nashville, Granger at Decatur, and Steadman at Chattanooga, to adopt the most active measures to protect and insure the safety of our roads.

Hood still remained about Lovejoy’s Station, and, up to the 15th of September, had given no signs of his future plans; so that with this date I close the campaign of Atlanta, with the following review of our relative losses during the months of August and September, with a summary of those for the whole campaign, beginning May 6 and ending September 15, 1864.  The losses for August and September are added together, so as to include those about Jonesboro: 

Killed and Missing    Wounded    Total
Grand Aggregate..... 1,408             3,731    5,139

Hood’s losses, as reported for the same period, page 577, Johnston’s “Narrative:” 

Killed             Wounded     Total
482               3,223      3,705

To which should be added: 

Prisoners captured by us:............ 3,738

Giving his total loss ............... 7,440

On recapitulating the entire losses of each army during the entire campaign, from May to September, inclusive, we have, in the Union army, as per table appended: