PERSONAL NARRATIVE--ATLANTA
General Bragg was defeated by General Grant at Chattanooga in November
1863, and early in the following month he was, at his own request,
relieved of the command of the Confederate army. He was called to
Richmond to act for a while as military adviser to President Davis. His
life subsequent to the war was quiet. He was a God-fearing man in peace
and in war. He died in 1876.
He was succeeded in the command by General Joseph E. Johnston, whose
army was encamped in and around Atlanta. Soon afterward I secured the
use of a Methodist Church building on the corner of Garnet and Forsyth
Streets, assembled a congregation, held services and instituted a work
which resulted in the establishment of St. Luke's Parish.
A suitable lot was soon obtained and with the help of men detailed from
the army, a building was speedily erected. It was a most attractive
building, handsomely furnished, and although somewhat "Confederate" in
style, would have compared favorably with most churches built in the
days of peace and prosperity.
Within its portals devout worshippers,--many distinguished Confederate
officers among them,--were delighted to turn aside from the bloody
strife of war and bow themselves before the Throne of Grace.
On the 8th of May, 1864, while I was in Atlanta in charge of St. Luke's
Church and in attendance upon the hospitals, the following telegram came
to me from Major Henry Hampton: "Can't you come up tomorrow? General
Hood wishes to be baptized." It was impossible for me to go, but it was
a great pleasure for me to learn afterwards that General Polk arrived
with his staff that day and that night he baptized his brother General.
It was the eve of an expected battle. It was a touching sight, we may be
sure,--the one-legged veteran, leaning upon his crutches to receive the
waters of baptism and the sign of the cross. A few nights later, General
Polk baptized General Johnston and Lieutenant-General Hardee, General
Hood being witness. These were two of the four ecclesiastical acts
performed by Bishop Polk after receiving his commission in the army.
I was then Chaplain-at-Large under the appointment of the General
Commanding. Being anxious for the Bishop of Georgia to consecrate the
new church, I arranged for him to visit that portion of the army then at
Dalton. At Dalton I baptized Brigadier-General Strahl in his camp in the
presence of his assembled brigade, and at night we held services in the
Methodist Church at Dalton.
The church was so densely packed that it was impossible for Bishop
Elliott and myself to enter by the front door. Fortunately there was a
small door in the rear of the Church, opening into what I should call
the Chancel. We were obliged to vest ourselves in the open air. I
crawled through the little doorway first, and then taking the Bishop by
his right hand, did all I could to help him through.
I read Evening Prayer and the Bishop preached; after which I presented a
class for confirmation in which were General Hardee, General Strahl, two
other Generals, a number of officers of the line and many privates.
The next day I accompanied the Bishop to Marietta where he held an
ordination service at which I preached the sermon. And the day following
he consecrated to the service of Almighty God, St. Luke's Church,
Atlanta. In the afternoon of that day I presented a class of five
persons to the Bishop for confirmation,--the first-fruits of my labors
in St. Luke's parish.
It was about this time that I prepared some little books adapted to the
use of the soldiers as a convenient substitute for the Book of Common
Prayer. I also prepared a booklet, entitled, "Balm for the Weary and
Wounded." It was through the great kindness and generosity of Mr. Jacob
K. Sass, the treasurer of the General Council of the Church in the
Confederate States, that I was enabled to publish these two little
volumes. The first four copies of the latter booklet that came from the
press were forwarded to General Polk and he wrote upon three of them the
names of General J. E. Johnston, Lieutenant-General Hardee and
Lieutenant-General Hood, respectively, and "With the compliments of
Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk, June 12, 1864." They were taken from
the breastpocket of his coat, stained with his blood, after his death,
and forwarded to the officers for whom he had intended them.
On the 14th of June, I telegraphed to General Polk from Atlanta that I
would visit him at his headquarters and give him the Blessed Sacrament.
Two telegrams came to me that day. One was from Major Mason and read as
follows: "Lieutenant-General Polk's remains leave here on the 12 o'clock
train and will go directly through to Augusta." The other was as
follows: "To the Rev. Dr. Quintard, Atlanta, Georgia. Lieutenant-General
Polk was killed to-day by a cannon ball. His body goes down to Atlanta
to-day. Be at the depot to meet it and watch the trains. Douglass West,
A. A. G." I was never more shocked and overwhelmed.
On reaching Atlanta the body of the dead Bishop and General was escorted
to St. Luke's Church, and placed in front of the altar. He was dressed
in his gray uniform. On his breast rested a cross of white roses and
beside his casket lay his sword.
Throughout the following morning, thousands of soldiers and citizens
came to pay their last tribute of affection. At noon, assisted by the
Rev. John W. Beckwith, of Demopolis, (afterwards Bishop of Georgia), I
held funeral services and made an address. The body was then escorted to
the railway station by the dead General's personal staff, together with
General G. W. Smith, General Wright, General Ruggles, General Reynolds,
Colonel Ewell and many officers of the army, soldiers and citizens, and
a committee representing the city of Atlanta.
At Augusta the body remained two days at St. Paul's Church and lay in
state at the City Hall until St. Peter's day, June 29th, when the final
rites were held in St. Paul's Church. The Bishops of Georgia,
Mississippi and Arkansas officiated. The sermon was by the Bishop of
Georgia. The burial was in the chancel of the church.
Bishop Polk's was the first funeral to take place in St. Luke's Church,
Atlanta. There was but one other, that of a child named after and
baptized by Bishop Elliott, for whom Bishop Polk had stood as sponsor
but a short time before.
In August, 1864, I was in Macon, Georgia, not knowing precisely what to
do or where to go. The times were very distressing. I took charge of the
church and parish in Macon for the rector who had been sick but was
slowly recovering. This was in accordance with a letter from the Bishop
of Georgia, who had written me about the middle of the previous month,
that I had been sadly tossed about and needed rest and that I might go
to Macon for that purpose. But a few days later I was with Bishop Lay of
Arkansas, in Atlanta, and with the army again, though compelled to go on
Sundays to Macon to officiate for the sick rector at that place.
I remained at General Hood's headquarters in Atlanta, expecting to move
with the General into Tennessee. The city was being shelled by the
Federals, and some of the shells fell very thickly about the General's
headquarters. I thought the locality seemed very unhealthy, but as the
General and his staff did not seem in the least disturbed, Bishop Lay
and I concluded that everything was going on all right according to the
art of war and we stood it with the best of them. On one particular day
when more shells were thrown than in all the other days put together,
there were, strange to say, no casualties.
On the 10th of August, at headquarters, I presented a class to Bishop
Lay for confirmation. It included General Hood and some officers of his
staff. In speaking to me the night before his confirmation, the General
said: "Doctor, I have two objects in life that engage my supreme regard.
One is to do all I can for my country. The other is to be ready and
prepared for death whenever God shall call me."
Learning that St. Luke's Church had been injured in the bombardment of
the city, Bishop Lay and I made a visit to it. We looked in wonder at
the sight that met our eyes upon our entering the sacred edifice. One of
the largest shells had torn through the side of the building and struck
the prayer desk on which the large Bible happened to be lying. The
prayer desk was broken and the Bible fell under it and upon the shell so
as apparently to smother it and prevent its exploding. I lifted up the
Bible and removed the shell and gathered up all the prayer books I could
find for the soldiers in the camps.
Before leaving the church I sat in one of the seats for a few moments
and thought of the dear friends who had assisted in the building of the
church, and who had offered up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving
in that place; of the Bishop who had but a short time before consecrated
it; of the Bishop-General over whom I had said the burial service there;
of the now scattered flock and the utter desolation of God's house. As I
rose to go, I picked up a handkerchief that had been dropped there at
the child's funeral, which was the last service held there. I wrote a
little story subsequently about "Nellie Peters' Pocket Handkerchief, and
What It Saw," and it was published in the columns of the "Church
Intelligencer."
This was the last time I visited St. Luke's Church of which I have such
tender memories. It was destroyed in the "burning of Atlanta."
On the 6th of September, 1864, a general pass was issued to me by order
of General Hood and signed by General F. A. Shoup, his Chief of Staff.
This pass is an interesting relic of my early associations with one who
subsequent to the war came under my jurisdiction as a priest of the
Church when I was Bishop of Tennessee. He married a daughter of Bishop
Elliott, took orders in the Church, so distinguished himself in the
ministry as to receive the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and was for a
long time my neighbor at Sewanee, where he was a Professor in The
University of the South.