The Tidings of Victory at Washington—The President’s Messages to
the People and to the Army—General Sherman congratulates his
Battalions—The Rebel General is indignant—The Correspondence
between him and General Sherman—The authorities of Atlanta also
unreconciled to the new order of things—The noble Letters and
Conduct of the Conquerer.
“ATLANTA has fallen!” flew on lightning-wing over the country, making
the wildest rejoicing of the loyal millions, and darkening with
despondency and wrath the faces of traitors in their own camps and those
among the patriots of the north. “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won!” was
the sublimely simple message of General Sherman. The importance and
grandeur of the achievement called forth an enthusiastic expression of
rejoicing in the Executive mansion, and of gratitude to God.
We can almost imagine our calm and excellent President gathering about
him his Cabinet, and proposing three cheers for Sherman; then retiring
to his private apartment, raising his tearful eye upward to the “King of
kings,” in thankful recognition of the source of strength and conquest,
before he took the pen to send over the land the brief and stirring
messages given below:
“_To Major-General Dix, New York_:
“The President has issued the following recommendations and
orders in relation to the recent successes by the United States
forces at Mobile and Atlanta.
“EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.”
“EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON CITY,
_September 3, 1864_.
“The signal success that Divine Providence has recently
vouchsafed to the operations of the United States army
and navy in the harbor of Mobile, and the reduction of
Forts Powell, Gaines, and Morgan, and the glorious
achievements of the army under Major-General Sherman in
the State of Georgia, resulting in the capture of the
city of Atlanta, call for devout acknowledgments to the
Supreme Being, in whose hands are the destinies of
nations.
“It is therefore requested that on next Sunday, in all
places of public worship in the United States,
thanksgiving be offered to Him for His mercy in
preserving our national existence against the insurgent
rebels who so long have been waging a cruel war against
the Government of the United States for its overthrow,
and also that prayer be made for the Divine protection
to our brave soldiers and their leaders in the field,
who have so often and so gallantly perilled their lives
in battling with the enemy, and for blessings and
comfort from the Father of Mercies to the sick, and
wounded, and prisoners, and to the orphans and widows of
those who have fallen in the service of their country,
and that he will continue to uphold the Government of
the United States against all the efforts of public
enemies and secret foes.
“ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
“EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 3_.
“The national thanks are tendered by the President to
Major-General William T. Sherman, and the gallant
officers and soldiers of his command before Atlanta, for
the distinguished ability, courage, and perseverance
displayed in the campaign in Georgia, which, under
Divine favor, have resulted in the capture of the city
of Atlanta.
“The marches, battles, sieges, and other military
operations that have signalized this campaign, must
render it famous in the annals of war, and entitle those
who have participated therein to the applause and thanks
of the nation.
“ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
“EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 3_.
“Ordered—_First_. That on Monday, the 5th day of
September, commencing at the hour of twelve o’clock
noon, there shall be given a salute of one hundred guns
at the arsenal and navy yard at Washington, and on
Tuesday, the 6th of September, or the day after the
receipt of this order, at each arsenal and navy yard in
the United States, for the recent brilliant achievements
of the fleet and the land forces of the United States in
the harbor of Mobile, in the reduction of Fort Powell,
Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan. The Secretary of War and
Secretary of the Navy will issue the necessary
directions in their respective Departments for the
execution of this order.
“_Second._ That on Wednesday, the 7th day of September,
commencing at the hour of twelve o’clock noon, there
shall be fired a salute of one hundred guns at the
arsenal at Washington, and at New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Newport, Ky., and
St. Louis, and at New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Hilton
Head, and Newbern, the day after the receipt of this
order, for the brilliant achievements of the army under
the command of Major-General Sherman in the State of
Georgia, and the capture of Atlanta. The Secretary of
War will issue directions for the execution of this
order.
“ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
The glad tidings swept over the broad belt of hostile soil to the
headquarters of the lieutenant-general, who sent back a laconic, but
noble response:
“CITY POINT, VA., _September 4–9_ P. M.
“Major-General SHERMAN:
“I have just received your despatch announcing the capture of
Atlanta. In honor of your great victory I have just ordered a
salute to be fired with shotted guns from every battery bearing
upon the enemy. The salute will be fired within an hour, amidst
great rejoicing.
“U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.”
The gallant chieftain of the conquering battalions, followed with his
official congratulations to the proud and exultant columns which had
pierced, like a wedge, the “heart of the Confederacy.” It is a finished
and eloquent order:
“HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF MISSISSIPPI, }
IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., _Sept. 8, 1864_. }
“The officers and soldiers of the Armies of the Cumberland,
Ohio, and Tennessee, have, already received the thanks of the
Nation, through its President and Commander-in-Chief, and it now
remains only for him who has been with you from the beginning,
and who intends to stay all the time, to thank the officers and
men for their intelligence, fidelity, and courage displayed in
the campaign of Atlanta.
“On the 1st of May our armies were lying in garrison, seemingly
quiet from Knoxville to Huntsville, and our enemy lay behind his
rocky-faced barrier at Dalton, proud, defiant, and exulting. He
had had time since Christmas to recover from his discomfiture on
the Mission Ridge, with his ranks filled, and a new
commander-in-chief, second to none of the Confederacy in
reputation for skill, sagacity, and extreme popularity. All at
once our armies assumed life and action, and appeared before
Dalton; threatening Rocky Face we threw ourselves upon Resaca,
and the rebel army only escaped by the rapidity of its retreat,
aided by the numerous roads with which he was familiar, and
which were strange to us. Again he took position in Allatoona,
but we gave him no rest, and by a circuit toward Dallas and
subsequent movement to Ackworth, we gained the Allatoona Pass.
Then followed the eventful battles about Kenesaw, and the escape
of the enemy across Chattahoochie River.
“The crossing of the Chattahoochie and breaking of the Augusta
road was most handsomely executed by us, and will be studied as
an example in the art of war. At this stage of our game our
enemies became dissatisfied with their old and skilful
commander, and selected one more bold and rash. New tactics were
adopted. Hood first boldly and rapidly, on the 20th of July,
fell on our right at Peach Tree Creek, and lost. Again, on the
22d, he struck our extreme left, and was severely punished; and
finally, again on the 28th he repeated the attempt on our right,
and that time must have been satisfied; for since that date he
has remained on the defensive. We slowly and gradually drew our
lines about Atlanta, feeling for the railroads which supplied
the rebel army and made Atlanta a place of importance. We must
concede to our enemy that he met these efforts patiently and
skilfully, but at last he made the mistake we had waited for so
long, and sent his cavalry to our rear, far beyond the reach of
recall. Instantly our cavalry was on his only remaining road,
and we followed quickly with our principal army, and Atlanta
fell into our possession as the fruit of well-concerted
measures, backed by a brave and confident army. This completed
the grand task which had been assigned us by our Government, and
your general again repeats his personal and official thanks to
all the officers and men composing this army, for the
indomitable courage and perseverance which alone could give
success.
“We have beaten our enemy on every ground he has chosen, and
have wrested from him his own Gate City, where were located his
foundries, arsenals, and workshops, deemed secure on account of
their distance from our base, and the seemingly impregnable
obstacles intervening. Nothing is impossible to an army like
this, determined to vindicate a Government which has rights
wherever our flag has once floated, and is resolved to maintain
them at any and all costs.
“In our campaign many, yea, very many of our noble and gallant
comrades have preceded us to our common destination, the grave;
but they have left the memory of deeds on which a nation can
build a proud history. McPherson, Harker, McCook, and others
dear to us all, are now the binding links in our minds that
should attach more closely together the living, who have to
complete the task which still lies before us in the dim future.
I ask all to continue as they have so well begun, the
cultivation of the soldierly virtues that have ennobled our own
and other countries. Courage, patience, obedience to the laws
and constituted authorities of our Government; fidelity to our
trusts and good feeling among each other; each trying to excel
the other in the practice of those high qualities, and it will
then require no prophet to foretell that our country will in
time emerge from this war purified by the fires of war and
worthy its great founder—Washington.
“W. T. SHERMAN,
“Major-General Commanding.”
“All the corps, regiments, and batteries composing the army may,
without further orders, inscribe Atlanta on their colors. By
order of
“Major-General SHERMAN.
“L. M. DAYTON, Aide-de-Camp.”
I am sure you will read with lively interest the remarkable
correspondence between General Hood, with that of the city authorities,
and General Sherman. The favorite motto among literary men, “The pen is
mightier than the sword,” is not quite true perhaps of our hero; for he
excels in the use of _both_, as the Georgia campaign and letters will
show. The annals of war have no finer productions of cultivated genius
from the plains of death and victory. The following orders opened the
spirited battle of the chiefs with the weapons of intellect:
“HEADQUARTERS, MILITARY DIV. OF THE MISS., }
IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., _Sept. 4_. }
“1. The city of Atlanta being exclusively required for warlike
purposes, will at once be vacated by all except the armies of
the United States, and such civilian employés as may be retained
by the proper departments of Government.
“2. The chief quartermaster, Colonel Easton, will at once take
possession of buildings of all kinds, and of all staple article,
such as cotton, tobacco, &c., and will make such dispositions of
them as are required by existing regulations, or such orders as
he may receive from time to time from the proper authorities.
“3. The chief engineer will promptly reconnoitre the city and
suburbs, and indicate the sites needed for the permanent defence
of the place, together with any houses or other buildings that
stand in his way, that they may be set apart for destruction.
Colonel Easton will then, on consultation with the proper
officers of the ordnance, quartermaster, medical, and railroad
departments, set aside such buildings and lots of ground as will
be needed for them, and have them suitably marked and set apart;
he will then, in consultation with Generals Thomas and Slocum,
set apart such as may be necessary to the proper administration
of the military duties of the department of the Cumberland and
of the post of Atlanta, and all buildings and materials not thus
embraced will be held subject to the use of the Government, as
may hereafter arise, according to the just rules of the
quartermaster’s department.
“4. No general, staff, or other officer, or any soldier, will,
on any pretence, occupy any house or shanty, unless it be
embraced in the limits assigned as the camp of the troops to
which such general or staff belongs. But the chief quartermaster
may allow the troops to use boards, shingles, or other materials
of building, barns, sheds, warehouses and shanties, not needed
by the proper departments of Government, to be used in the
reconstruction of quarters and barracks as the troops and
officers serving with them require. And he will also provide, as
early as practicable, the proper allowance of tents for the use
of the officers and men in their encampments.
“5. In proper time, just arrangements will be made for the
supply to the troops of all articles they may need over and
above the clothing, provisions, &c., furnished by the
Government; and on no pretence whatever will traders,
manufacturers, or suttlers, be allowed to sell in the limits of
fortified places; and if they manage to come in spite of this
notice, the quartermaster will seize their stores and
appropriate them to the use of the troops, and deliver the
parties or other unauthorized citizens, who thus place their
individual interest above that of the United States, into the
hands of some provost-marshal, to be put to labor on the forts,
or conscripted into one of the regiments or batteries already in
service.
“6. The same general principles will apply to all military posts
south of Chattanooga.
“By order of Major-General W. T. SHERMAN.
“L. M. DAYTON, Aide-de-Camp.”
The message addressed to the enemy contained the following words, which
were like oil to the fire on the defeated General’s smothered wrath:
“All citizens are required to leave Atlanta and proceed either South or
North. The Government will furnish transportation South as far as Rough
and Ready, and North as far as Chattanooga. All citizens may take their
movable property with them. Transportation will be furnished for all
movables. Negroes who wish to do so may go with their masters. Other
male negroes will be put in Government employ. Negro women and children
will be sent out of the lines.”
The rebel General sent his indignant protest against the determination
of General Sherman to send the disloyal people of Atlanta where their
friends could support them. How well he talks of God and humanity!
“HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, }
OFFICE CHIEF OF STAFF, _Sept. 9, 1864_. }
“Major-Gen. SHERMAN, _Commanding United States Forces in Georgia_:
“GENERAL: Your letter borne by James W. Ball and James R. Crew,
citizens of Atlanta, is received. You say therein, ‘I deem it to
be to the interest of the United States, that the citizens now
residing in Atlanta should remove,’ &c. I do not consider that I
have any alternative in the matter. I, therefore, accept your
proposition to declare a truce of ten days, or such time as may
be necessary to accomplish the purpose mentioned, and shall
render all the assistance in my power to expedite the
transportation of citizens in this direction. I suggest that a
staff officer be appointed by you to superintend the removal
from the city to Rough and Ready, while I appoint a like officer
to control their removal further South; that a guard of one
hundred men be sent by either party, as you propose to maintain
order at that place; and that the removal begin on Monday next.
“And now, sir, permit me to say that the unprecedented measure
you propose transcends in studied and ingenious cruelty all acts
ever before brought to my attention in the dark history of war.
“In the name of God and humanity I protest, believing that you
will find that you are expelling from their homes and firesides
the wives and children of a brave people.
“I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. B. HOOD, General.
“_Official_—A. MCHUMMETT, Lieutenant, &c.”
Accompanying the above letter was one addressed to Colonel Calhoun,
Mayor:
“HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, _Sept. 9, 1864_.
“Hon. JAMES H. CALHOUN, _Mayor_:
“SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
touching the removal of the citizens of Atlanta, as ordered by
General Sherman. Please find enclosed my reply to General
Sherman’s letter. I shall do all in my power to mitigate the
terrible hardship and misery that must be brought upon your
people by this extraordinary order of the Federal commander.
Transportation will be sent to Rough and Ready to carry the
people and their effects further South.
“You have my deepest sympathy in this unlooked-for and
unprecedented affliction. I am, sir, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,
“J. B. HOOD, General.”
Like his polished sword, flashes with thought and patriotism the pen of
the victor in his reply:
“HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIV. OF THE MISS., }
IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., _Sept. 10, 1864_. }
“General J. B. HOOD, _Comm’g Army of the Tenn. Confederate Army_:
“GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter at the hands of Messrs. Ball and Crew, consenting to the
arrangements I had proposed to facilitate the removal South of
the people of Atlanta, who prefer to go in that direction.
“I enclose you a copy of my orders, which will, I am satisfied,
accomplish my purpose perfectly. You style the measures proposed
‘unprecedented,’ and appeal to the dark history of war for a
parallel, as an act of ‘studied and ungenerous cruelty.’ It is
not unprecedented, for General Johnston himself very wisely and
properly removed the families all the way from Dalton down, and
I see no reason why Atlanta should be excepted. Nor is it
necessary to appeal to the ‘dark history of war,’ when recent
and modern examples are so handy. You yourself burned
dwelling-houses along your parapet, and I saw to-day fifty
houses that you have rendered uninhabitable because they stood
in the way of your forts and men. You defended Atlanta on a line
so close to the town that every cannon-shot and many
musket-shots from our line of investment, that overshot their
mark, went into the habitations of women and children. General
Hardee did the same at Jonesboro’, and General Johnston did the
same last summer at Jackson, Miss.; I have not accused them of
heartless cruelty, but merely instance these cases of very
recent occurrence, and could go on and enumerate hundreds of
others, and challenge any fair man to judge which of us has the
heart of pity for the families of ‘a brave people.’ I say it is
kindness to the families of Atlanta to remove them now at once
from scenes that women and children should not be exposed to,
and the ‘brave people’ should scorn to commit their wives and
children to the rude barbarians who thus, as you say, violate
the laws of war, as illustrated in the pages of its ‘dark
history.’
“In the name of common sense, I ask you not to appeal to a just
God in such a sacrilegious manner.
“You who in the midst of peace and prosperity have plunged a
nation into war, ‘dark and cruel war;’ who dared and badgered us
to battle, insulted our flag; seized our arsenals and forts that
were left in the honorable custody of a peaceful ordnance
sergeant; seized and made prisoners of war the very garrisons
sent to protect your people against negroes and Indians, long
before any overt act was committed by the (to you) hateful
Lincoln Government; tried to force Kentucky and Missouri into
rebellion in despite of themselves; falsified the vote of
Louisiana; turned loose your privateers to plunder unarmed
ships; expelled Union families by the thousands; burned their
homes, and declared, by an act of your Congress, the
confiscation of all debts due to Northern men for goods had and
received! Talk this to the marines, but not to me, who have seen
these things, and who will this day make as great sacrifice for
the peace and honor of the South as the best Southerner among
you.
“If we must be enemies, let us be men, and fight it out as we
propose to-day, and not deal in such _hypocritical appeals to
God and humanity_. God will judge us in due time, and he will
pronounce whether it be more humane to fight with a town full of
women and the families of a ‘brave people’ at our back, or to
remove them in time to places of safety among their own friends
and people.
“I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
“W. T. SHERMAN, Maj.-Gen. Commanding.
“[Official copy:] L. M. DAYTON, Aide-de-Camp.”
The conquering chief humanely gives the rebels time to depart, declaring
a truce of ten days:
“HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION MISSISSIPPI, }
IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., _Sept. 10, 1864_. }
“1. Pursuant to an agreement between General J. B. Hood,
commanding the Confederate forces in Georgia, and Major-General
W. T. Sherman, commanding this army, a truce is hereby declared
to exist from daylight of Monday, September 12, until daylight
of Thursday, September 22—ten (10) full days—at a point on the
Macon Railroad known as Rough and Ready, and the country round
about or a circle of two (2) miles radius, together with the
roads leading to and from, in the direction of Atlanta and
Lovejoy station, respectively, for the purpose of affording the
people of Atlanta a safe means of removal to points South.
“2. The Chief Quartermaster at Atlanta, Colonel Easton, will
afford all the citizens of Atlanta who elect to go South all the
facilities he can spare to remove them comfortably and safely,
with their effects, to Rough and Ready station, using cars and
ambulances for that purpose; and commanders of regiments and
brigades may use their regimental and staff teams to carry out
the object of this order; the whole to cease after Wednesday,
21st instant.
“3. Major-General Thomas will cause a guard to be established on
the road out beyond the camp-ground, with orders to allow all
wagons and vehicles to pass that are used manifestly for this
purpose; and Major-General Howard will send a guard of one
hundred men, with a field officer in command, to take post at
Rough and Ready during the truce, with orders in concert with a
guard from the Confederate army of like size, to maintain the
most perfect order in that vicinity during the transfer of these
families. A white flag will be displayed during the truce, and a
guard will cause all wagons to leave at 4 P. M. of Wednesday,
the 21st instant, and the guard to withdraw at dark, the truce
to terminate the next morning.
“By order of Major-General W. T. SHERMAN.
“L. M. DAYTON, Aide-de-Camp.”
The letter of the authorities of Atlanta, referred to by Hood, and his
reply, are as follows:
“ATLANTA, GA., _September 11_.
“_Major-General W. T. Sherman_:
“SIR: The undersigned mayor, and two members of council for the
city of Atlanta, for the time being the only legal organ of the
people of the said city, to express their wants and wishes, ask
leave most earnestly, but respectfully, to petition you to
reconsider the order requiring them to leave Atlanta. At first
view it struck us that the measure would involve extraordinary
hardship and loss, but since we have seen the practical
execution of it, so far as it has progressed, and the individual
condition of many of the people, and heard their statements as
to the inconveniences, loss, and suffering attending it, we are
satisfied that the amount of it will involve in the aggregate
consequences appalling and heartrending. Many poor women are in
an advanced state of pregnancy; others now having young
children, and whose husbands are either in the army, prisoners,
or dead. Some say: ‘I have such a one sick at home; who will
wait on them when I am gone?’ Others say: ‘What are we to do? We
have no houses to go to, and no means to buy, build, or to rent
any—no parents, friends, or relatives to go to.’ Another says:
‘I will try and take this or that article of property, but such
and such things I must leave behind, though I need them much.’
We reply to them: ‘General Sherman will carry your property to
Rough and Ready, and General Hood will take it there on.’ And
they will reply to this: ‘But I want to leave the railroad at
such a point, and cannot get conveyance from there on.’ We only
refer to a few facts to try to illustrate in part how the
measure will operate in practice. As you advanced, the people
north of us fell back, and before your arrival here a large
portion of the people had retired south, so that the country
south of this is already crowded, and without houses to
accommodate the people, and we are informed that many are now
staying in churches and other out-buildings. This being so, how
is it possible for the people still here (mostly women and
children) to find any shelter? and how can they live through the
winter in the woods—no shelter or subsistence—in the midst of
strangers who know them not, and without the power to assist
them, if they were willing to do so? This is but a feeble
picture of the consequences of this measure. You know the woe,
the horror, and the suffering cannot be described by words.
Imagination can only conceive of it, and we ask you to take
these things into consideration. We know your mind and time are
constantly occupied with the duties of your command, which
almost deter us from asking your attention to this matter; but
thought it might be that you had not considered the subject in
all its awful consequences, and that on more reflection, you, we
hope, would not make this people an exception to all mankind,
for we know of no such instance ever having occurred—surely
none such in the United States; and what has this helpless
people done, that they should be driven from their homes, to
wander as strangers, outcasts, and exiles, and to subsist on
charity? We do not know, as yet, the number of people still
here. Of those who are here we are satisfied a respectably
number, if allowed to remain at home, could subsist for several
months without assistance, and a respectable number for a much
longer time, and who might not need assistance at any time. In
conclusion, we most earnestly and solemnly petition you to
reconsider this order, or modify it, and suffer this unfortunate
people to remain at home and enjoy what little means they have.
Respectfully submitted,
“JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor.
“E. E. RAWSON, }
“L. C. WELLS.” } Councilmen.
Here is General Sherman’s answer to the letter of Mayor Calhoun and the
Councilmen of Atlanta:
“HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, }
IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, _September 12, 1864_. }
“JAMES M. CALHOUN, _Mayor_, E. E. RAWSON _and_ S. C. WELLS,
_representing City Council of Atlanta_:
“GENTLEMEN: I have your letter of the 11th, in the nature of a
petition to revoke my order removing all the inhabitants from
Atlanta. I have read it carefully, and give full credit to your
statements of the distress that will be occasioned by it, and
yet shall not revoke my order, simply because my orders are not
designed to meet the humanities of the case, but to prepare for
the future struggle in which millions, yea, hundreds of millions
of good people outside of Atlanta have a deep interest. We must
have peace, not only in Atlanta, but in all America. To secure
this, we must stop the war that now desolates our once happy and
favored country. To stop the war, we must defeat the rebel
armies that are arrayed against the laws and Constitution which
all men must respect and obey. To defeat these armies, we must
prepare the way to reach them in their recesses, provided with
the arms and instruments which enable us to accomplish our
purpose.
“Now I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, and that we may
have many years of military operations from this quarter, and
therefore deem it wise and prudent to prepare in time. The use
of Atlanta for warlike purposes is inconsistent with its
character as a home for families. There will be no manufactures,
commerce, or agriculture here for the maintenance of families,
and, sooner or later, want will compel the inhabitants to go.
Why not go now, when all the arrangements are completed for the
transfer, instead of waiting until the plunging shot of
contending armies will renew the scenes of the past month? Of
course I do not apprehend any such thing at this moment, but you
do not suppose this army will be here till the war is over? I
cannot discuss this subject with you fairly, because I cannot
impart to you what I propose to do; but I assert that my
military plans make it necessary for the inhabitants to go away,
and I can only renew my offer of services to make their exodus
in any direction as easy and comfortable as possible. You cannot
qualify war in harsher terms than I will.
“War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought
war on our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a
people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war,
and I know that I will make more sacrifices than any of you
to-day to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division
of our country. If the United States submits to a division now,
it will not stop, but will go on till we reap the fate of
Mexico, which is eternal war. The United States does and must
assert its authority wherever it has power; if it relaxes one
bit of pressure it is gone, and I know that such is not the
national feeling. This feeling assumes various shapes, but
always comes back to that of _Union_. Once admit the Union, once
more acknowledge the authority of the National Government, and
instead of devoting your houses and streets and roads to the
dread uses of war, I and this army become at once your
protectors and supporters, shielding you from danger, let it
come from what quarter it may. I know that a few individuals
cannot resist a torrent of error and passion such as has swept
the South into rebellion; but you can point out, so that we may
know those who desire a Government, and those who insist on war
and its desolation.
“You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against
the terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only
way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace
and quiet at home, is to stop this war, which can alone be done
by admitting that it began in error, and is perpetuated in
pride. We don’t want your negroes, or your horses, or your
houses, or your land, or anything you have; but we do want and
will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States.
That we will have; and if it involves the destruction of your
improvements, we cannot help it. You have heretofore read public
sentiment in your newspapers, that live by falsehood and
excitement, and the quicker you seek for truth in other quarters
the better for you.
“I repeat, then, that by the original compact of government, the
United States had certain rights in Georgia which have never
been relinquished, and never will be; that the South began the
war by seizing forts, arsenals, mints, custom houses, &c., long
before Mr. Lincoln was installed, and before the South had one
jot or tittle of provocation. I myself have seen in Missouri,
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, hundreds and thousands of
women and children fleeing from your armies and desperadoes,
hungry, and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicksburg, and
Mississippi, we fed thousands upon thousands of the families of
rebel soldiers left on our hands, and whom we could not see
starve. Now that war comes home to you, you feel very
different—you deprecate its horrors, but did not feel them when
you sent carloads of soldiers and ammunition, and moulded shells
and shot to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, and desolate
the homes of hundreds and thousands of good people, who only
asked to live in peace at their old homes, and under the
Government of their inheritance. But these comparisons are idle.
I want peace, and believe it only can be reached through Union
and war, and I will ever conduct war purely with a view to
perfect and early success.
“But, my dear sirs, when that peace does come, you may call on
me for anything. Then will I share with you the last cracker,
and watch with you to shield your homes and families against
danger from every quarter. Now you must go, and take with you
the old and feeble; feed and nurse them, and build for them in
more quiet places proper habitations to shield them against the
weather, until the mad passions of men cool down, and allow the
Union and peace once more to settle on your old homes at
Atlanta.
“Yours, in haste,
“W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General.”
The next effort of his facile pen corrects a falsehood which had been
copied from a rebel paper:
“ATLANTA, _Sept. 24, 1864_.
“_To the Louisville Agent of the New York Associated Press_:
“Your press despatches of the 21st embrace one from Macon, of
the 14th, announcing the arrival of the first train of refugees
from Atlanta, with this addition, ‘that they were robbed of
everything before being sent into the rebel lines.’ Of course,
that is false; and it is idle to correct it so far as the rebels
are concerned, for they purposed it as a falsehood, to create a
mischievous public opinion. The truth is, that during the truce,
446 families were moved South, making 705 adults, 860 children,
and 479 servants, with 1,651 pounds of furniture and household
goods on the average for each family, of which we have a perfect
recollection by name and articles. At the end of the truce,
Colonel Warner, of my staff, who had general supervision of the
business, received from Major Clan, of General Hood’s staff, the
following letter:
“‘ROUGH AND READY, _Sept. 21, 1864_.
“‘COLONEL: Our official communications being about to
close, you will permit me to bear testimony to the
uniform courtesy you have shown on all occasions to me
and my people, and the promptness with which you have
corrected all irregularities arising in our intercourse.
Hoping at some future time to be able to reciprocate
your courteousness, and in many instances your positive
kindness, I am, with respect, your obedient servant,
“‘U. T. CLAN, Major and A.-G.-G. Gen. Hood’s Staff.’
“I would not notice this, but I know the people of the North,
liable to be misled by a falsehood calculated for special
purposes, and by a desperate enemy, will be relieved by this
assurance, that not only care, but real kindness has been
extended to families who lost their home by the act of their
male protectors.
“(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN,
“Major-Gen. Commanding.”
The congratulations of the heroic, devoutly Christian General Howard,
who is equally at home in the Sabbath school and in the smoke of battle,
will add to the interest of the records of this eventful time:
“It is with pride, gratification, and a sense of Divine favor,
that I congratulate this noble army upon the successful
termination of the campaign.
“Your officers claim for you a wonderful record—for example, a
march of four hundred miles, thirteen distinct engagements, four
thousand prisoners, and twenty stands of colors captured, and
three thousand of the enemy’s dead buried in your front.
“Your movements upon the enemy’s flank have been bold and
successful; first upon Resaca, second upon Dallas, third upon
Kenesaw, fourth upon Nickajack, fifth, via Roswell, upon the
Augusta Railroad, sixth upon ‘Ezra Church,’ to the southwest of
Atlanta, and seventh upon Jonesboro’ and the Macon Railroad.
Atlanta was evacuated while you were fighting at Jonesboro’.
“The country may never know with what patience, labor, and
exposure you have tugged away at every natural and artificial
obstacle that an enterprising and confident enemy could
interpose. The terrific battles you have fought may never be
realized or credited; still a glad acclaim is already greeting
you from the Government and people, in view of the results you
have helped to gain; and I believe a sense of the magnitude of
the achievements of the last hundred days will not abate, but
increase with time and history.
“Our rejoicing is tempered, as it always must be, by the
soldier’s sorrow at the loss of his companions in arms. On every
hillside, in every valley throughout your long and circuitous
route, from Dalton to Jonesboro’, you have buried them.
“Your trusted and beloved commander fell in your midst; his
name, the name of MCPHERSON, carries with it a peculiar feeling
of sorrow. I trust the impress of his character is upon you all,
to incite you to generous actions and noble deeds.
“To mourning friends, and to all the disabled in battle, you
extend a soldier’s sympathy.
“My first intimate acquaintance with you dates from the 28th of
July. I never beheld fiercer assaults than the enemy then made,
and I never saw troops more steady and self-possessed in action
than your divisions which were then engaged.
“I have learned that for cheerfulness, obedience, rapidity of
movement and confidence in battle, the army of the Tennessee is
not to be surpassed, and it shall be my study that your fair
record shall continue, and my purpose to assist you to move
steadily forward and plant the old flag in every proud city of
the rebellion.
“(Signed) O. O. HOWARD, Major-Gen.
“_Official_: SAMUEL L. TAGGART, A.-A.-G.”
The most decided and pleasing evidence of the manly and magnanimous
heart of the conqueror, is given by the enemy himself. In his
despatches, General Sherman sends the following note:
“ATLANTA, _Sept. 26_.
“The following, which belongs to the testimonials from the
authorities at Atlanta, has just been received in communication;
and in conclusion of the subject, I send you a copy of the
mayor’s letter.
“W. T. SHERMAN.
“‘ATLANTA, _Sept. 20_.
“‘On leaving Atlanta, I should return my thanks to
General Sherman, General Slocum, General Ward, Colonel
Colburn, Major Beck, Captain Mott, and other officers,
with whom I have had business transactions in carrying
out the orders of General Sherman for the removal of the
citizens, and in transacting my private business, for
their kindness to, and their patience in answering the
many inquiries I had to make on the duration of the
delicate and arduous duties devolving on me as mayor of
this city.
“‘Respectfully, JAMES M. CALHOUN.’”
Similar testimony appeared in the columns of rebel newspapers. The next
quotation is from the Macon _Telegraph_: “Refugees report generally kind
personal treatment from General Sherman and his officers. Whatever
exceptions may have occurred have been in violation of orders—instances
of individual pilfering, which cannot always be prevented in an army,
and in many cases have been detected and punished.
“A friend, whose wife was left an invalid in Atlanta, and came within
our lines a day or two since, says, that at her request General Sherman
came to see her, and finding her unable to attend to the arrangement of
her movables for transportation, had them all bound up nicely and
transported to our lines, even to her washtub.
“The Federal general had three hours’ conversation with her, and
justified at length his order for the removal, insisting that in his
exposed position, liable to be cut off and besieged, it was the part of
humanity to require that non-combatants should not be exposed to the
privations and perils to which his army must probably be subjected; and
worse, because he could not provide food for a large population. Goods
left behind were stored and duplicate receipts given, with the promise
that they should be safely returned.
“Refugees report that Sherman’s army is going North by thousands, and
his force is now very small. Whether this movement is confined to men
going out of service, or embraces reënforcements to Grant, they were
unable to say.”
I must give you a pleasant picture of the chief while marshalling his
troops at Atlanta: “While I was watching to-day the endless line of
troops shifting by, an officer with a modest escort rode up to the fence
near which I was standing, and dismounted. He was rather tall and
slender, and his quick movements denoted good muscle added to absolute
leanness—not thinness. His uniform was neither new nor old, but
bordering on a hazy mellowness of gloss, while the elbows and knees were
a little accented from the continuous agitation of those joints.
“The face was one I should never rest upon in a crowd, simply because,
to my eye, there was nothing remarkable in it save the nose, which organ
was high, thin, and planted with a curve as vehement as the curl of a
Malay cutlass. The face and neck were rough and covered with reddish
hair, the eye light in color and animated; but, though restless and
bounding like a ball from one object to another, neither piercing nor
brilliant; the mouth well closed but common, the ears large, the hands
and feet long and thin, the gait a little rolling, but firm and active.
In dress and manner there was not the slightest trace of pretension. He
spoke rapidly, and generally with an inquisitive smile. To this
_ensemble_ I must add a hat which was the reverse of dignified or
distinguished—a simple felt affair, with a round crown and drooping
brim—and you have as fair a description of General Sherman’s externals
as I can pen.
“Seating himself on a stick of cordwood hard by the fence, he drew a bit
of pencil from his pocket, and spreading a piece of note paper on his
knee, he wrote with great rapidity. Long columns of troops lined the
road a few yards in his front, and beyond the road, massed in a series
of spreading green fields, a whole division of infantry was waiting to
take up the line of march, the blue ranks clear cut against the verdant
background. Those who were near their general looked at him curiously;
for in so vast an army the soldier sees his commander-in-chief but
seldom. Page after page was filled by the general’s nimble pencil, and
despatched.
“For a half hour I watched him, and, though I looked for and expected to
find them, no symptoms could I detect that the mind of the great leader
was taxed by the infinite cares of a terribly hazardous military _coup
de main_. Apparently it did not lay upon his mind the weight of a
feather. A mail arrived. He tore open the papers and glanced over them
hastily, then chatted with some general officers near him, then rode off
with characteristic suddenness, but with fresh and smiling countenance,
filing down the road beside many thousand men, whose lives were in his
keeping.”
The truly great mind is magnanimous in the hour of victory; a selfish,
narrow one is arrogant and oppressive. We ought to be devoutly grateful
to God for leaders in this second life-struggle of freedom, who in
general character emulate our unrivalled Washington, and do not tarnish
the cause he loved by revengeful or unworthy deeds.