the services rendered our country by that grand old hero, General W. T.
Sherman, but in military life, like civil life, a man may be very
valuable and great in one direction, and of very little value in
another. That general was not developed during the war for the
suppression of the rebellion, that could handle one hundred thousand men
in such a fine manner, keeping them all in hand, like General Sherman.
But when it came to fighting in a country the Atlanta campaign was
fought over, with the defenses his army had to meet, his corps
commanders, and his men generally, had very little confidence in his
judgment. This feeling, that he knew was quite general, was the
inspiration of the famous order that I have referred to before, issued
after the battle of Kennesaw mountain, June 27th, 1864. I have it on the
authority of Colonel Payne, that Generals Thomas, Logan, McPherson and
others of his generals on the campaign, persuaded him out of many an
assault he had ordered, that would have been as disastrous as that of
Kennesaw mountain. But that any of them had the ability to do as well as
he did I do not believe. General Thomas had the best of judgment in
fighting a battle and what men could do and should attempt, but he would
never have gotten his army there as Sherman did. Of course General
Sherman never _admitted_ his mistake in ordering the assault at
Kennesaw, but we all remember he never _repeated_ it during the
remainder of the campaign.
In the position in front of Kennesaw we saw trees twelve inches in
diameter cut completely off by the fire of musketry alone—simply bitten
out, piece by piece, until the trees would fall. You can imagine about
how much ammunition was expended?
On the third of July we found the rebels had again retired, and we
followed up, passing through Marietta. We made a short stop near the
Georgia State Military Institute. Some of us went up on one of the
buildings and had a fine view of the surrounding country. We marched in
all to the southward six miles this day, and turned in to get ready to
celebrate the glorious fourth, to-morrow. The morning of the fourth
opened with more than a national salute, and though we did not do much
fighting there was plenty of cannonading on our right, and it was
currently reported in camp that fifteen hundred prisoners had been
captured, which caused "the day we celebrate" to be indeed a glorious
fourth. The fifth we found the rebels had again abandoned their works in
our front, and our regiment deployed as skirmishers, and held the
advance of the division. We found, on the top of the hill that overlooks
the Chattahoochee river, a "_butternut_" that had evidently tired of the
southern confederacy, for, as Hood puts it, had "enlisted in the line."
He had bent down a sapling, fastened a piece of bark around "his
melancholy neck" and to the sapling, and then let go. He was one of
those lank, lean rebels that had not flesh enough on his bones to even
decay. He had dried up like a piece of beef, and was an elegant specimen
of a confederate mummy. This item of news in time of peace would,
undoubtedly, have furnished a sensational article for a Marietta paper,
but the boys cut him down and the line moved on.
In the afternoon, as we approached the river, from the top of a high
hill we saw Atlanta. It looked as good to us as the promised land did to
Moses, as there we saw the end of this terribly exacting and fatiguing
campaign. As we were driving the rebels down to the river, at the south
side of an open field, the rebels erected rail barricades, from which it
gave us some trouble to dislodge them. I thought by swinging the left of
our line around we could "gobble them in," and not expose our center to
their fire, protected as they were, and had sent word to that effect to
Captain Raidaie, who had charge of that portion of the line. About this
time General Tommy Wood, commander of our division, rode up, accompanied
by one orderly. Without waiting for me to carry out my little strategy,
or in fact consulting me at all, he at once ordered a charge. "Go in,
brave boys." "Go in, brave boys." We, of course, drove the Johnnies from
their rail barricade with the most perfect safety, as they put in all
the time we were "double quicking" across the field, shooting at "Old
Tommy;" fortunately the old general was in such a state of _spiritual
exhilaration_ that he was in no danger of getting hurt. That night we
drove the last rebel across the Chattahoochee river, and went into camp
for several days.
We had been on the campaign sixty-three days. The enemy had been flanked
out of four very strong positions, but nothing like a general engagement
had been fought, nothing like a decisive battle had been won. Owing to
the fact that where battles had been fought the enemy fought behind his
works, on very advantageous ground, our losses must have been very much
more severe than his. Our base of supplies was every day growing farther
away, and our line of communications therewith requiring more men to
guard. With the exception of the fact that we had run over some rebel
territory, that we left in a condition to feed no more rebels, what had
we gained.
The enemy during all these long weeks had been commanded by General
Joseph E. Johnston. Of all the defensive officers, developed by the war
on either side, I do not believe General Joseph E. Johnston had an
equal. In the face of a vastly superior army, he had held four
positions, fought many battles, and finally crossed the Chattahoochee
river, and General Sherman had not been able to force him into a
decisive engagement.
In all this defensive retreat General Johnston had not lost property to
the value of a cracker box. While the country we had so far advanced
over had been most favorable to a defensive campaign, nevertheless, I
doubt if the history of the world can furnish another example of so well
executed defensive work, as that conducted by General Joseph E.
Johnston, from Ringgold to the Chattahoochee river. But fortunately for
the right treason is not always associated with great ability. If the
civil administration of the confederacy had been conducted as ably as
the military, with all of its mistakes and blunders, the outcome would
have been a matter of grave doubt. But fortunately for the Union and the
cause of humanity, Mr. Jefferson Davis, the president of the
confederacy, had not the ability to appreciate the services of one so
able as the general that had so successfully opposed General Sherman on
the Atlanta campaign. Generals Johnston and Sherman were both educated
at our military academy at West Point, and were classmates. Each knew
the other very well; and it was the plan of General Johnston, knowing
the impetuosity of General Sherman, to destroy the union army by
suffering it to continually give him battle behind his impregnable
works, and from which continual mistakes General Sherman's able
lieutenants had saved him (to which I have referred heretofore). General
Johnston well knew, from the start, that he could not cope with the
union army in an open field engagement, and he had planned to have so
reduced Sherman's army, by the time he had reached and crossed the
Chattahoochee river, that the two armies would be on something like
equal terms as to men, and a more aggressive mode of warfare on the part
of the rebel forces would give better promise of success. But after the
confederate army had crossed the Chattahoochee river, the civil
authorities at Richmond became alarmed. The president of the confederacy
being the inspiration of the dissatisfaction that existed against
General Sherman's heroic opponent, General Johnston was removed and
General Hood placed in command of the rebel forces, and the sequel will
show with what success. Had General Johnston been supported by the civil
authorities at Richmond, as the good (or bad rather) of the confederate
cause demanded, in my humble judgment, the music and sentiment of
"Marching through Georgia," that so much amused the grand old general in
his declining years, would never have been written. But I must stop this
generalizing and return to the details of my narrative.
July 10th, 1864, again found us on the march to the left, and we moved
in that direction about seven miles to near the headquarters of the 23d
Corps, and on the twelfth, again struck tents, and moved down to the
river, crossing the same on a canvas-boat pontoon bridge, and went into
camp much nearer Atlanta than ever before. The next day we were again on
the move, but only made a short distance and went into camp, and
remained in camp until the seventeenth, when our brigade went to the
river above, drove the Johnnies away, and saw one of General Sherman's
pontoon companies put a bridge across the Chattahoochee river in just
one hour and a quarter, and the 14th Army Corps commenced crossing. The
next day we broke camp and started in the direction of Atlanta, General
Newton's division taking the lead. We found nothing but skirmishers
before us, who seemed entirely willing to fall back as fast as we came
on. The next day, the nineteenth, we moved up to Peach Tree creek, and
we found that a different commander was in charge of the rebels, for
they attacked the 20th Corps with great spirit. But it did not seem to
take the heroes of Lookout mountain long in an open field fight to do
the Johnnies, as they seemed to be very glad to get away from them. This
battle of Peach Tree creek was the first of Hood's battles, and in this
he was very badly punished. Our regiment was not engaged more than in
heavy skirmishing, but our captain, Sherburn B. Eaton, was badly, and in
fact very dangerously, wounded. He was serving on staff duty at division
headquarters at the time. The captain recovered from his wound, but not
sufficiently to permit of his returning to the service. Captain Eaton
was our first adjutant, and was as prompt an one as ever read orders on
dress parade. He was a very scholarly gentleman, and from him we learned
much; and if I remember correctly he learned some things from us. Some
of us country boys, on the start, thought our adjutant a little stylish;
but we found him brave in action, and that, like charity, covers a
multitude of other seeming defects in a soldier.
General Sam. Beatty's brigade of our division captured a large number of
men, and among them a number of officers. Though the burden of the
battle of Peach Tree creek fell on Hooker's Corps, many other
organizations bore quite important parts in the same. On the whole, we
were all highly pleased with the change in the rebel commanders, and
hoped he would keep up his present tactics. This open-field-battle
business was just what we wanted, and had been praying for all summer,
and only hoped Corporal Hood would indulge in them to excess.
On the twentieth of July we marched to the left, our division supporting
the first division to within three miles of Decatur, and within four
miles of Atlanta. Very heavy skirmishing in front, and McPherson
reported within two miles of Atlanta. Hood charged Newton's division and
Hooker's Corps, and was repulsed with great loss.
The twenty-first we broke camp very early, moved to the right, crossed
the Peach Tree creek, moved to the front, and put up good works.
Early the morning of the twenty-second Hardee's Corps moved back to the
east of Decatur, and struck McPherson's Corps on the left flank and
rear, completely turning the same. The gallant general was killed at the
front where he was trying to rearrange his line of battle, exposing
himself to the enemy's sharpshooters. We all felt that all the brave
general could have accomplished by his exposure was very poor recompense
for the grand life thus sacrificed. Everything seemed to promise victory
for the rebels until they had swept our line as far as the 15th Corps,
when they found that Logan had changed his front to rear, and instead of
there being anything like panic or confusion, they were met by a charge,
led in person by that gallant general, that sent them whirling back to
the place from which they started, leaving Logan in possession of the
field. We were moved over to the left to the support of the 15th Corps,
but were not put into the action; and I think could not have been
without being mounted, such was the fury of Logan's charge. This was the
third of Corporal Hood's battles before Atlanta, each one of which had
resulted in defeat and great disaster. But our loss was terribly severe,
as we lost one of our best corps commanders, which cast a gloom over the
entire army. General James McPherson was not only loved by the army of
the Tennessee, but was admired by all the men and officers that were so
fortunate as to have formed his acquaintance.
The twenty-second we advanced our lines nearer the city and threw up
very heavy intrenchments, and the next day strengthened them and put up
a line of abatis in front. Our batteries spent their time in throwing
shells into the city. I should say our skirmish line was out a mile from
the ridge occupied by our works. We remained in this position for a
number of days, and on the twenty-seventh moved out and marched around a
hill to the left, seemingly a thousand and one times, to make the rebels
believe we were moving to the left; but I guess we did not fool them
much, as I never saw that anything ever came out of our demonstration.
On this position, at the left of our regiment and company, there was a
battery of ten pound Rodman guns posted. These guns were rifled and were
capable of throwing a shell five miles, they made us believe at least,
and they spent their time throwing shells into Atlanta. Once every five
minutes they dropped a shell into the city, which must have rendered it
a very unpleasant place for a summer resort. The strangest thing about
this whole business is, that we could lie down and go to sleep "in our
little beds," and not hear those five minute guns _once_ all night long.
Such is the power of habit.
At this position we received news that Sergeant Japhet Sooy had died at
Chattanooga the sixteenth of July. Sergeant Sooy was one of the best of
soldiers, and his great mirthfulness not only made him a great favorite
with his own company, but with the entire regiment. All knew him to be
brave and kind, as well as faithful and obedient. We also received word
that Timothy Powers was buried at Chattanooga the twenty-eighth of July.
The news of these sad losses caused us to reflect on the condition of
Company B that left Cleveland, Ohio, with one hundred strong and able-
bodied men. Now twenty-five of them were under the ground, filling
honorable, but many of them unknown, graves. I have not the record now
before me, but I am certain that the other nine companies of this
fighting regiment suffered equally as severe losses.
On the third of August the skirmish line in the front of our brigade
left their pits, drove the rebel skirmish line back, and captured thirty
of the Johnnies; and so persistently did our fellows hold the advanced
position by them taken, that the rebels had to bring up a line of battle
before they could restore their skirmish line. In this affair our
regiment did not lose a man. This little action came about by our
general officers thinking there were no rebels but a skirmish line in
our front, and there was nothing to hinder us from going to Atlanta; but
they soon found out there were plenty of those selfsame rebels between
our line and the city we sought. We remained in this position a long
time, doing more camp than field duty. General Sherman brought up a
number of heavy siege guns from the rear and planted them to our right,
and threw one hundred pounds of iron into the city at every discharge.
What good this bombardment did I cannot now tell, save the destruction
of a rebel city, which I have now come to regard as the right thing to
do under the circumstances, and should have been commenced sooner.
Somehow rebel cities seemed to suffer wherever General Sherman went, for
which I entertain for his memory the profoundest respect.
While at Atlanta we lost the 9th Ind. from our brigade. Colonel Campbell
had orders to report to Indianapolis for muster-out. We were sorry to
part with the 9th as they were in every respect a first-class regiment,
and could be always depended upon to take care of their part of the
line. But they were now going home, after serving since 1861, having
done their full share of service for their country.
August 26th, at about eight o'clock a. m., we commenced the movement to
the right. This was the most terribly hot weather we had encountered; we
marched not over eight miles, but more than half of our regiment fell
out, completely overcome by the intense heat. That night our regiment
was ordered on the skirmish line. The next day the regiment was ordered
to move to the right, and marched about four miles. The next day the
14th Corps and its train passed us, and the general tendency of the army
seemed to be to the right. The next day we struck what we called the
Montgomery railroad. We destroyed about a mile of it pretty effectually.
We turned the road over, built large fires, put in the rails, heated
them hot, and then twisted them around trees and stumps. I have since
thought of what sort of language the section-boss used, when he was sent
to repair that track. I wonder if what we did that day made the
confessional more expensive for him.
August 30th we moved out early, to a position near where we had been
wrecking railroad; then marched in a southeasterly course to within four
miles of the Macon railroad, as we called it at the time. We were
offered very little resistance from the enemy, and this day we marched
about ten miles. We were making the grand flank movement around Atlanta,
so famous in history. On the last day of August we moved out from camp
to a position on a ridge, and commenced putting up works. Plenty of
enemy in our front. About eleven o'clock a. m. the rebels left their
works, and we immediately started in pursuit. The 1st division took some
prisoners. We struck the Macon railroad about four o'clock p. m. We saw
a train pass over the road just as we came up. We selected a position
and fortified it, and a detail destroyed the track. The next morning,
our brigade being in the rear, we moved out late and marched down the
railroad toward Jonesborough. Heavy cannonading at the front, and we
learned that the regular brigade had made an assault on the enemy's
position and had been repulsed; but we were also informed that General
Mitchell's brigade had renewed the assault, drove the rebels from their
works, captured a six gun battery and two thousand prisoners.
On the second day of September, 1864, we moved out early, marched
through Jonesborough, and found the enemy in position about three miles
south of town on the railroad. We formed in line of battle, and made an
attack on both his flanks, but failed, for some reason, to pass beyond
them. Here we learned that Atlanta had fallen and was in our possession,
and the rejoicing along our line was immense. The news was soon
confirmed by a circular from division headquarters, stating that the
rebels had blown up two of their trains of ammunition and seven siege
guns. This accounted for the noise, that sounded more like an explosion
than a battle, that we had heard the night before. For some reason
entirely unknown to your humble servant, General Sherman did not desire
to pursue Corporal Hood any further south, and our line of battle was
withdrawn. So Atlanta had fallen after a campaign of one hundred and
twenty-two days. The distance from Chattanooga to Atlanta by the
railroad is one hundred and thirty-eight miles, but we had marched,
undoubtedly, more than that distance by a great many miles, in the flank
movements we had made.
On the eighth day of September, 1864, we marched into and through the
"gate city of the south." We put on all the style of which our dirty and
ragged condition would permit, forming our regiments in column by
company, with our bands playing and colors flying. We marched down
Marietta street, and the few citizens we saw did not lay themselves out
to give us a cordial welcome. This street was the nearest _ruins_ of
anything west of the Atlantic. We saw one large sign that I suppose the
visitor could hardly find in the new Atlanta. It extended the entire
front of a block and read: "Slaves At Auction." We marched three miles
east of town and went into camp, and the Atlanta campaign was ended.
I have tried to give you, though very imperfectly, my recollections of
this, the greatest campaign ever made on the western continent. To the
general hearer it would have been more interesting, without doubt, to
have given the outlines of the campaign, omitting the details of each
day's movements with their dates; but as many of that old fighting
regiment (of which I had the honor of being a member) are still alive, I
thought it my duty to place upon record a detailed account of their
sufferings and triumphs. General Sherman had, indeed, broken the shell
of the confederacy; but I must say (and I think my comrades will agree
with me) it was, by all odds, the _toughest shell_ we ever helped to
crack.
For more than one hundred days, of the one hundred and twenty-two days
of the Atlanta campaign, we had been under fire. The graves of our dear
dead comrades are scattered thickly from Dalton to Jonesborough.
The red earth of our intrenchments marks the hillsides and beautiful
mountains of northern and central Georgia.
The campaign was the severest blow the rebellion had received up to that
time, and from Atlanta, General Sherman commenced his grand march to the
sea.
FROM ATLANTA TO NASHVILLE.
The campaign of Atlanta practically closed with the abandonment of the
city by the rebels, September 2d, 1864. The confederate forces still
occupied a position near Jonesborough, about thirty miles south of
Atlanta. The campaign had ended by the federal forces arriving at a
certain geographical point. The confederate forces, although somewhat
shattered and reduced by the battles dating from Peach Tree creek
forward, were still intact. The rebel forces were still in command of
Hood; and with him were some able fighting officers, in the persons of
Cleburne, Hill, Hardee, Adams and others.