_Companions and Gentlemen:_
It appears strange to me that an action which all who mention it--and they
are many--agree in characterizing as one of the most brilliant exploits of
a war as thickset with deeds of gallantry as a rose bush with its
blossoms, should not long since have had its adequate historian and
monographer.
The contest was so famous, the issue so glorious, the recollection of the
day still must be so vivid in the minds of the survivors, that I could not
anticipate any lack of material wherefrom to procure data to formulate a
reasonably satisfactory narrative of such a gallant feat of arms, and in
such detail as to give it life and color. But of all the war papers that
have been written on affairs great and small, none that I know has had
Allatoona for its special subject, and from the sources of information at
my command, I have found it quite impracticable to construct an account
that is not in some respect at variance with others made by authority. The
official reports, while giving the general features, of necessity exclude
most of the minor but equally interesting details, and the omissions,
inaccuracies and discrepancies, not important in some particulars and
material in others, for the purposes, at least, of a fully detailed and
authenticated narrative, cannot at this time be corrected. And even the
numbers engaged on each side, and of those who fell as victims, are not
known with certainty.
This paper, therefore, can pretend to be no more than an outline sketch,
which an abler hand must put itself to filling out and completing. When
the war records shall have been made fully public, as they will be
presently, and at least all the official material be available, the
historian of Allatoona, by extended research and correspondence with
survivors, should address himself to the task of preparing an
authoritative narration in order to preserve to posterity the record of a
memorable and typically American event.
For an event it was; a vital one, as it would appear, to the full success
of Sherman's campaign, and with the "March to the Sea" hung in the balance
and awaiting the issue.
* * * * *
The importance of a given moment in the world's history is not of
necessity to be estimated by the numbers occupying the stage at the time,
nor even with the degree of activity or turmoil with which their parts are
playing.
Much labor is wasted in the lives of men, and mountains of effort result
often in mere noise or discomfiture, making no real history. The center of
gravity of two worlds may be an immaterial point, and the earth itself
revolves upon a slender axis. So a turning point of history may be
concentrated upon a comparatively narrow field, while the reverberation of
its potency shall resound forever, as the silent nod of Jove lets loose
the thunders of Olympus to shake the earth and change the fate of nations.
Some preliminary remarks are in order, explanatory of the general
situation and its relation to the Battle of Allatoona.