Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-11-23
ATLANTA BEFORE IFS EVACUATION.
Vivid Description Of the Closing Scenes
Before its Destruction.

The correspondent of the Cincinnst
Commercial, after having reached Nash
vile, thus describes the closing scenes il
tae destruction Of Atlanta, Gal;
The scene arJund the depot for days
previous TO its final abandonment, wss
heart-rending in the extreme Old age
snd toaering infancy huddled together
I awaiting their chance of escape. They
cast many long and lingering look al
their once happy home, which they were
now about to abandon, perhaps forever.
Men who were almost millionaires 8
short time since, were reduced to g few
dollars, and eagerly sought to Ay from the
tender mercies of the Southern soldiers
L was sad and feeling soene-home-ties
home-associations, were all severed. Some
too old or sickly to travel had to remain at
home, and wrung their hsnds and wept
ss they parted from their children, who
preferred struggling for their subsistence
IN safety than await the unbridled inse-
Ienee Of rude guerrillss and rebel bands
have seldom witnessed more affecting
scene Of separation; how forcibly 1t called
to my mind tie parting Of the poor Irish
emigraniS from home and friends.
1 must say that General Easton and
Colonel Taylor did all in their power to
afford them all the comforts and facilities
they possibly could. On the other hand,
some employees and railroad conductors
rufians, who would trade on their fathers
bones-made rich harvest out of their
sufferings. The rush was SO great, that it
took some days to get them all off The
L. a.
thought Of being loft behind threat
which was, probably, held Oui TO them by
the aforesaid shRrks-thst sorne gave their
last dollar, as bribe, TO get away. I have
got the names Of some Of those, and may
yet use them. have been informed OF
cases where the parties paid $500 to get
of, though they had, at the time, free pass
&c, Issued by order of General Esston.
Private baggage and furniture had to be
Tell paid for, and Government stores ara
said to have been abandoned in order to
carry them.
General Easton, understand, had some
placed under arrest, but then it is hard to
prove such charges, as it takes two wit
nesses and the principal TO support such
an allegation, and the rufbans managed
Jhe thing too covertly to be detected
when travelling 10 Chattanooga, there
wss on the top Of the car poor WORKOUT
old soldier, the veteran of many battle,
going home to die. I asked the conduc-
t0r, whose name was Hail, to let him in
side. He rudeiy and impsrtinenly refus-
ed, although he had several robust, strap
ping negroes, carefully screened from the
storm. The poor old soldier had not mo.
M GEf<nrr H.
me they bad done. have shared the bi-
yOusc, the hard g.ound for my bed, the
dangers of many battle-felds. 1 have
witnessed the unfinching courage, the
calm endurance, the ch0erfulness under |
Trials, sufferings and fatigue of the soldier;
that al these heroic qualities have made |
him sacred in my eyes. l Therefore gave the
veteran my rug and Overccat,
for well recOlleoted how often the soldier |
shared his hard crust and cup Of coffee
with me
The road from Atlanta to Chattanooga
is lined with debris of locomotives and |
cars. As you pass along 'this haunted, !
molly ground'-for every hill anu valley is |
a battle-feld-every mound the grave Of q |
patrioi-yOu plainly see the forts, redoabts, |
intrenchments and battle-helds, which have |
been disputed with such dogged obstinacy. |
Kenessw, Ailstoona and Rooky-face Ridge |
look such huge impossible barriers that |
yeu would feel surprised how a stern des-
perste Zee conld be driven from powerful
natural positions. You next pass nigh the
bloody field of Chickamaugs, and soon
Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain burst
upon your sig ht.
Lookout Mountain is seen to best advan- |
tsge travelling from Chattanooga to Nash |
vile. The train winds, seFpeltslike, around
its base. The beautiful Tennessee rolls
plsGdly along on your right, while, your
left, Lookout raises its towering head.
Far as the eye can reach along the lonely |
-iYer, ridge Of gray rocks, covered with !
timber, extends-and scene uasuF )sssed !
fcr wild, natural, picturesque beauty bursts
upon your sight
Lovely valleys, dotted with home5teads,
and the village with its hum of busy life;
high hills, above which towers the green
brow Of Lookout Mountain, with the broad,
Tennesses winding through.
These are the pictures that make up this
sublime panorama,
In future ages, when the pyramid shall
have crpmbled In the dust, when bronzsd
statues shall have melted away, and his
tory itself sunk into fable, the historian
when he nsrrates the battle Of Lookout |
Mountain, viii stand amazed aud say:
"Thers must have been demi-goIs in |
those days, for degenerate man could never |
hurl an army from such rocky barriers and
towering nights"
The most costly monument though
fashioned of marble or bronze, viii be
only mOckery beside the huge boIlders
that cap Lookout Mountain.
By the way, 1 would suggest that 1t be
called Hooker Mountain and the edge
where General Gesry halted to rest and
rally his men before their headlOng charge
be called Gearys Ridge"