On the 15th of June, 1864, at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, a large portion of Johnston's Army was in a well-defended position a few miles north of Marietta, Ga. The Forty-sixth Ohio had been ordered to make an assault on the works, supported by troops from General Morgan Smith's command, while troops of General Logan's command were to make a feint to the left to divert the attention of the enemy and draw his fire.

      "The carrying out of the plan was according to orders," says Private James K. Sturgeon, "and at the outset the Forty-sixth Ohio made a charge over a hummocky field. The breastworks were ably defended and during our short plunge we were under heavy fire, but we were not to be stopped and up over the works we went. At once there was a scattering. Some of the Confederates surrendered immediately, while others, running to the rear, concealed themselves in the tall grass and underbrush of a ravine which they entered. Fortunately for us most of the Southerners threw away their guns in their flight. While our regiment was busy securing the captives, three of my comrades and I went out beyond the works and followed the fleeing Confederates. We picked up the frightened Johnnies everywhere, from behind stumps and logs, in the grass and in the bush. We continued this work until we had rounded up some thirty odd prisoners, when we marched them back to our lines." (Beyer 360)

      Alonzo P. Webber, of the Eighty-sixth Illinois Volunteers, Principal Musician of his regiment when it was engaged at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 27, 1864, distinguished himself by voluntarily advancing as a sharpshooter.

      Seeing the desperate situation of his regiment, with no chance to advance, he obtained permission from Colonel Fahnestock to "go in" as a sharpshooter. With a Winchester rifle and 120 rounds of ammunition, he succeeded in advancing to within twenty-seven feet of the rebel line of battle, which was formed in V shape. There he found shelter behind a tree, and although he was at the apex, with the enemy on both sides of him, he stood his ground from nine o'clock in the morning until six o'clock in the evening. Being an excellent shot he brought down a number of the enemy, while the Union forces lay behind him at the distance of a city block or more, unable to get closer to the enemy's line.

      Webber's courage on that day won him the admiration of his whole regiment, none of whom had expected to see him return alive from his dangerous position. (Beyer 372)