There was but little delay in getting down to work. By 2 in the morning a
rapid fire was opened on the skirmish lines South of the post, as though
the enemy were pushing up the railroad straight at the stores.
Tourtellotte immediately dispatched the 18th Wisconsin to reinforce the
outposts in that direction, and an hour later Corse threw out a battalion
of the 7th Illinois in further support. Five companies of the 93rd
Illinois were also sent out to the Westward near the outlying works
already referred to.
At daybreak, under cover of a strong skirmish line, Corse withdrew the
troops from the open ground in the vicinity of the village to the summit
of the ridge, placing the 4th Minnesota and the 12th and 50th Illinois in
the redoubt, and intrenchments on the East side of the railway cut, under
the immediate command of Tourtellotte, and himself occupying with the rest
of his force, under the immediate command of Rowett, the Western side,
upon which it was evident the weight of the attack must fall. The 7th
Illinois and the 39th Iowa, on the left and right respectively, facing
West, were ordered to occupy the line of rifle-pits crossing the ridge
about 250 yards in advance of the redoubt. As no defences intervened
between this line and the ditch encompassing the redoubt itself, it was of
vital importance to hold it and keep the enemy in check to the last
moment, and the two regiments were instructed to maintain their position
at all hazards. The event proved with what fidelity and devotion the trust
was discharged.
Three companies of the 93rd Illinois were stationed in the rifle-pits
adjacent to the West redoubt, and the remainder of the troops were
distributed forward on skirmish and outpost duty. The six guns of the
battery were equally divided, two being stationed in each redoubt, with
the third outside behind a low parapet.
The day broke calm and clear, with the crisp air and bright warm sun of
that superb mountain region. Sherman, on Kenesaw, takes occasion to record
it as a "beautiful day" with some vague consciousness in his mind,
perhaps, of the contrast between the shining peace that reigned above and
the devil's work that in smoke and fury waged below. At half-past six a
rebel battery of 12 pieces opened from an elevation three-quarters of a
mile South and East of Allatoona, and for two hours maintained a furious
cannonade, that, concentrated upon the two redoubts, filled the air with
smoke and fragments of shell, and deafened the ear with almost incessant
detonations. Meanwhile French's skirmish lines were vigorously pushed
round to the West and North until, with the exception of the steep and
timbered valley of Allatoona Creek on the extreme East, the garrison was
completely invested.
At 8:30, amid a temporary lull of the uproar that had prevailed, a flag of
truce was sent in bearing the following message: It was dated
Around Allatoona, Oct. 5, 1864, 7 A. M.
Commanding Officer, U. S. Forces, Allatoona.
Sir:
I have placed the forces under my command in such position that you
are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood, I call on
you to surrender your forces at once and unconditionally. Five
minutes will be allowed you to decide. Should you accede to this, you
will be treated in the most honorable manner as prisoners of war. I
have the honor to be
Very respectfully yours,
S. G. FRENCH, Maj.-Gen'l C. S. A.
In making his report subsequently, French endorses on a copy of this
summons, the following:
Maj. Sanders, the bearer of this communication, was attacked while
bearing the flag of truce. He delivered the communication to an
officer and told him he would wait outside the works fifteen minutes
for an answer. None came; none was sent, and so the attack was made.
S. G. F., Maj.-Gen'l, Commanding.
Whatever may have been the external conditions that led to this view of
the matter on the part of General French, there is no question that Corse
did reply, and promptly and to the point. He wrote his answer on the top
of a neighboring stump, and a splinter or two may have gotten in it:
Maj.-General French, C. S. A., etc.:
Your communication demanding surrender of my command, I acknowledge
receipt of, and respectfully reply that we are prepared for the
'needless effusion of blood' whenever it is agreeable to you.
I am very respectfully your obedient servant,
JOHN M. CORSE,
Brigadier-General, Commanding U. S. Forces.
When this reply had been dispatched, Corse remarked, "They will now be
upon us," and nothing remained but to notify the several commands of the
purport of the correspondence, and to prepare for the bloody work that lay
before them.
* * * * *
French commanded a division in the corps of Lieutenant-General Stewart,
which had been dispatched by Hood Eastward from Dallas to destroy the
railroad, as witnessed by Sherman from the summit of Kenesaw, and his
report, dated Nov. 5, from which the following particulars of his
movements are derived, is of great interest.
Stewart had struck the railroad at Big Shanty, four miles North of Kenesaw
on the evening of October 3rd, and his three divisions labored all night
at their task, completing it as far as Acworth. This work accomplished,
French's division was sent Northward under direct orders from Hood, which
are given in French's report, and have some peculiar features. Both orders
are dated October 4th, and were handed to French at Big Shanty by Stewart
at noon. The earlier one said that French "Shall move up the railroad and
fill up the deep cut at Allatoona with logs, brush, dirt etc." Also that
when at Allatoona, French was, if possible, to move to the Etowah Bridge,
the destruction of which would "be of great advantage to the army and the
country." The second order again urged the importance of destroying the
Etowah Bridge, if such were possible, and that as the enemy (Sherman),
could not disturb him before the next day, he was to "get his artillery in
position and then call for volunteers with 'lightwood' to go to the bridge
and burn it."
The curious points about these instructions are, in the first place, the
absurdity of a wearied body of troops undertaking such a task as that of
filling up a railway cut 65 feet deep and some 300 or 400 yards long, in
the way described, with "logs and dirt" and the futility of doing it, if
it were possible. It would have taken French several days to fill up that
cut, even assuming him to be uninterfered with, and one day's labor would
open it again.
The second point is the absence of any reference to a garrison at
Allatoona, or to the accumulation of stores there. French was a good
soldier, and after stating in his report that as both he and Stewart knew
the facts in the case and were aware of the large amount of stores, they
considered it important that the place be captured, contents himself with
saying, dryly, "It would appear, however, from these orders, that the
General-in-Chief was not aware that the Pass I was sent to have filled up
was fortified and garrisoned." The fact is that it requires something more
than mere courage to command an army, and it seems likely that a few such
specimens of leadership cost Hood the confidence of his subordinates, and
thoroughly justified Sherman in a disparaging remark he made respecting
him a day or two later.
Stewart gave French 12 pieces of artillery under Major Myrick and at 3:30
P. M. of the 4th he marched away to Acworth, but was detained there until
11 at night by lack of rations. The night was dark, the roads bad, and he
didn't know the country. From Acworth he reports seeing night signalling
between Kenesaw and Allatoona, and fearing that reinforcements might be
sent from the Northward, he dispatched a small cavalry force to reach the
railroad as close to the Etowah as possible and take up the rails. It was
a wise precaution, but undertaken too late, as Corse was at Allatoona by
midnight. French arrived there about 3 in the morning, and, as he writes,
"Nothing could be seen but one or two twinkling lights on the opposite
heights and nothing was heard except the occasional interchange of shots
between our advance guards and the pickets of the garrison in the valley
below." He placed his artillery in position at Moore's, 1300 yards south
and east of the Post, an admirable location for the purpose intended,
having an open view of the defences across the intervening hollow, left
with it the 39th North Carolina and the 32nd Texas, of Young's brigade, as
supports, and sought to gain the ridge west of the fortifications,
intending to attack at daybreak, but after floundering in the Egyptian
darkness of the forest, with no roads and over a rugged country, and
unavailingly seeking, notwithstanding the aid of a guide, to get upon the
ridge westward of the works, was compelled to wait for daylight. Finally
at 7:30 the head of the column arrived about 600 yards distant from the
West Redoubt, and here French got his first view of the works, which
impressed him at once as much more formidable than he had anticipated.
Instead of one small redoubt on each side of the railroad cut, as he had
been led to believe, he declares he saw no less than three on the west
side and a "Star Fort" on the east, with outworks and approaches, defended
to a great distance by abattis, and nearer the forts by stockades and
other obstructions. It may have been the weariness of a long night march,
or perhaps the too early morning air, that conjured these formidable
defences to French's eyes, or possibly, it is the exterior aspect of these
works that to a covetous and hostile apprehension enlarges their numbers
and proportions.
It must be admitted that from the interior standpoint they shrunk
mightily from French's description, and the defenders at least would have
been hugely gratified could they have had the privilege of occupying what
French thought he saw.
He rapidly made his dispositions for assault, sending Sear's Mississippi
Brigade round by the left to gain the north flank of the works, while
Cockerell's Missouri Brigade formed line across the ridge, with Young's
Texas Brigade behind it to support and follow up the attack. Myrick had
been ordered to open up with his guns and continue his fire until the
attacking troops were so close up to the works as to prevent it. Sears,
having the longer distance to traverse, was to begin the assault when
Cockerell would immediately move forward. Sears was delayed by the
ruggedness of his route to the north side of the works, and in fact for a
time lost his bearings among the wooded hills, and was not in position
until 9 a. m. by French's time. French says that when he sent his summons
to surrender, the Federal officer entrusted with the missive was allowed
17 minutes within which to bring the answer, and this time expiring, Maj.
Sanders returned without any. Nothing is said in the report as to the
firing upon him, noted in the endorsement on the copy of the summons
already mentioned.