The Chattahoochee was the Indian "river of the pictured rocks." Its
head-streams rise in the Blue Ridge in northeastern Georgia, and
flowing southwest and afterwards south, it forms the western boundary
of the State. Then uniting with the Flint River, the two make the
Appalachicola, which, crossing Florida, empties into the Gulf. The
Chattahoochee in its course passes, about seven miles from the Georgia
capital, Atlanta, the "Gate City," the metropolis of the "Empire State
of the South," and the chief Southern railway centre. Being largely a
growth of the railway system of the "New South," the city is
picturesquely situated on a hilly surface, elevated a thousand feet
above the sea, and is laid out in the form of a circle of about four
miles radius around the Union Passenger Depot, which is the central
point. The first house was built at this place in 1836, on an Indian
trail to the crossing of the Chattahoochee, whither a railroad was
projected, and for several years it was called, for this reason,
Terminus, being afterwards incorporated as the town of Marthasville,
and named after the Georgia Governor Lumpkin's daughter. In 1845, the
first railroads were constructed connecting it with the seaboard, and
soon becoming a tobacco and cotton-mart, it grew rapidly, and in 1847
was incorporated as the city of Atlanta, having about twenty-five
hundred people. During the Civil War it was a leading Confederate
depot of supplies, but its great growth has come since, and largely
through the development of the railway system and manufactures, so
that now the city and suburbs, which are extensive, have a population
approximating two hundred thousand. Its State Capitol is an impressive
building, costing $1,000,000, and it has many imposing business and
public structures and fine private residences. Joel Chandler Harris,
_Uncle Remus_, is a resident of Atlanta. Its great historical event
was the memorable siege during the Civil War. The geographical
position of the city made it of vital importance to the Confederacy.
General Sherman, in his advance southward from Chattanooga in the
spring and early summer of 1864, steadily fought and outflanked the
Confederates, until in July they fell back behind the Chattahoochee
and took a line covering Atlanta, General Hood assuming command July
17th. Sherman crossed the Chattahoochee and then Hood retired to the
intrenchments around the city. For several weeks there were
manoeuvres and battles around Atlanta, until near the end of August,
when Sherman had got behind the city, cutting the railways supplying
it. On the night of September 1st, Hood evacuated Atlanta, and next
day Sherman entered. In this great siege and in the previous contests
from Chattanooga the losses of the two armies were sixty-six thousand
men, each army having been repeatedly reinforced. This capture sealed
the doom of the Confederacy, although there were subsequent battles
and movements around Atlanta until November. Then Sherman, reinforcing
General Thomas at Nashville, and leaving him to take care of Hood, ran
back all the surplus property and supplies to Chattanooga, broke up
the railway, cut the telegraph behind him, burnt Atlanta November
12th, and on the 15th started on his famous "March to the Sea," to cut
the Confederacy in two, capturing Savannah in December. The
destruction of Atlanta was almost complete, every building being burnt
excepting a few in the centre, and a number of scattered dwellings
elsewhere. After peace came, however, the restoration of Atlanta was
rapid and thorough, and it is now one of the most progressive and
wealthy Southern cities. It was Sherman's "March to the Sea" which
furnished the theme for one of the most inspiriting songs of the Civil
War, "Marching Through Georgia":
"Bring the good old bugle, boys! we'll sing another song--
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along,
Sing it as we used to sing it fifty thousand strong,
While we were marching through Georgia.
_Chorus_--"'Hurrah! Hurrah! we bring the Jubilee!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the flag that makes you free!'
So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea,
While we were marching through Georgia.
"How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound!
How the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found!
How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground,
While we were marching through Georgia.--_Chorus_,
"So we made a thoroughfare for Freedom and her train,
Sixty miles in latitude--three hundred to the main,
Treason fled before us, for resistance was in vain,
While we were marching through Georgia."--_Chorus._
The railway leading north from Atlanta to Chattanooga exhibits,
throughout the line, relics of Sherman's protracted struggle with the
Confederates as he pressed southward, and they opposing him were
repeatedly outflanked and retired to new defenses. Long ranges of
hills cross the country from northeast to southwest, and on their
crests are the remains of massive breastworks and battlements which
time is gradually obliterating. Dalton, Resaca and Allatoona were all
formidable defensive works, and each in turn was outflanked. Rome, the
chief town on this route, now has seven thousand people and various
factories. To the westward of Atlanta the railway leads a hundred
miles to Anniston, Alabama, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge among
the rich beds of Alabama iron-ores, and then to Talladega, the Indian
"village on the border," where General Jackson fought one of his
severest battles with the Creeks. It is now a busy manufacturing town.
Beyond is the great industrial city of Birmingham with thirty-five
thousand people, founded in 1871, a phenomenal development of the "New
South," its industry being exhibited in enormous iron and steel
mills, foundries, and similar establishments. Near the city is its El
Dorado, the Red Mountain containing vast stores of hematite iron-ores,
with abundant coal and limestone, minerals which have made Alabama the
third iron-producing commonwealth in the United States, three-fourths
of it being made in the Birmingham district. Nearby is another iron
town of recent foundation, Bessemer, and a short distance to the
southwest the old Alabama city of Tuscaloosa, the seat of the
University of Alabama. This Indian word means the "Black Warrior," and
thus was named the river, Tuscaloosa being at the head of steamboat
navigation on the Black Warrior. The tradition is that before the
white man knew this region it was held by a proud and powerful Indian
tribe. When De Soto came along in 1540, searching for gold, he
encountered these Indians, whose sachem was the fearless and haughty
black giant Tuscaloosa. By stratagem De Soto captured the giant and
carried him off a hostage down to Mobile, whence he afterwards
escaped. This old city is shown on a French map of Louisiana published
in 1720.
Southeast of Atlanta is Macon, at the head of navigation on Ocmulgee
River, a prominent cotton-shipping city, with twenty-five thousand
people. Here is the Wesleyan Female College with four hundred
students, founded in 1836, and said to be the oldest female college in
the world. To the southward, at Andersonville, was the great Stockade
Prison of the Civil War, where large numbers of captured Union
soldiers were confined, being so badly treated that thirteen thousand
of them died. Henry Wirtz, a Swiss adventurer, was in charge, and the
Confederate authorities in two official reports attributed the
excessive mortality to the bad management of the prison. A military
court after the close of the war convicted Wirtz of excessive cruelty,
and he was executed in November, 1865. The prison-grounds are now a
park, a memorial monument has been erected, and in an extensive
National Cemetery the dead soldiers are buried. Southward of Atlanta
is Columbus, with thirty-five thousand people and large cotton,
woollen and flour-mills, one of the chief manufacturing cities of the
Southern States. It stands on the Chattahoochee, which here rushes
down rocky rapids, providing an admirable water-power improved by a
massive dam. The river is navigable to the Gulf, and its steamboats
have a large trade.