, 1864-07-28

lFrcm or Special Coneeppndent,k
Nssnyn1x, July s5 1861
Atlanta Is orrs. Sunrfo n mover sent greet.
ing for the capture Of Isnnc] with more real
jsy than feel at this moment. The object
tSepoint Of the campaign has been reached.
Tie chief manufacturing city Of Georgia has
fallen into our hands. We have met and de-
ftated the rebels, In open ground, under a
commander chosen for the occasion, and
have rcaped the reward which ultimately
CROWDS the hero who is fighting for the right,
The rebels have been rcpulsed, rontcd; and
that too almost by single corps Of men,
chiefly from New England and New York.
TIFF PREL1M1NAREs.
Ihave alresdy forwarded you the preliml-
Iaries Of the battle Of the 20th, for 1t now
turns out that the three charges OF which
spoke, we're followed up BY another yet more
determined, and directed chiefly against
Hooker, who commanded the Goth corps,
which is composed of the old 11th End 18th
eorpe, once 60 famous in the Army cf the
Potomac. As have no further particulars
with reference to these fights will at once
lIocceG to review
THE SITUATION.
The position of the rebels is little II any
LIES 0EbpElAlG. EfEFt lIEltuEI-
ton had been abandoned; Johnston had re-
treated from point to point, till level coun-
try had been reached, where the combatauts
could meet on pretty near m equality; aud
there remained no alternative save fight, or
disastrous retreat, which: must end in the
utter decentralization Of the rebel army.
Sherman was acros6 the Chattahoochee, and
had taken possession Of the Augusta Rail-
road, completely cutting off Communication
on tie most direct road to Richmond. Rous.
Beau had reached Opelika, and severed com.
1bu1ication with Montgomery and Mobile,
Georgia, and was advancing from West Point
TO Join Sherman; stoneman was threatening
the railroad toward Macon, and little delay
would enable him to completely isolate tho
rebel amy from NIL the rest Of Dixie, aud
threaten 1t with annlhilation. At this juno
turc, .~.
BRAGG
reached the scene of operations, fresh from
the councils Of JET. Davis, md pregnant
/ with the ideas Of that distinguished rebel.
Although Bragg had been famous as re-
treater, be wsa unable to comprehend the
move rcarward, through q country, which,
of a11 others, WIS susceptible Of being de-
tended by small force. He accordingly
lecturcd Joe finely; but the latter individual
could NOT SEQ it,n and responded that he
failed to follow up Chickamauga, had better
he Silent about retreats" which so irritated
Bragg, who holds supreme control over the
viii of:JeG Davis, that the latter ct once, on
1ssln'ng ia The @ t:ets by i ,ttslegrapE M promoted
HOOD.
w6s naturally compelled to take diametrl-
| cal1y opposite course from his predecessor; ;
| but learn his appointment Was made be:
cauee he convinced Bragg of his abilities to
1out Sternan at any time, If an opp o1tuut-
II occurred, and because he censured john
ston beyond measure for his "coWardly"
| retrogTade movemente, aud therefore, When
he assumed command, he kuex his duty-he
| must fight; and not only fight, but ds SO
| soon. He assumed command on the 10th,
and on the 10th he gave battle, With what re-
s1lt The country has bcen made familiar by
Having made the reconnoissauces and at
tacks already related In my last letter, Hood
concentrated about tTo-thirds Of his army
in front Of
HooKER's CORPS
This vas late in the afternoon, between 8
and O'Clock. Hood, who has great deal
Of brass md but o small amount of brain,
Imagined himself q NAPOLEON, and ut once
tried the tactics Of that General; he concen-
trated everything against few divisions oi
our army, supposing himself able to break
our lines. But the silly rebel furgot that the
Union army had bGen wceded Of It's incompc-
tents; that its McClellans, Its Buelfs, its Fat:
when meeting US, he must Try steel with
Hooker, Th3Inas, Mcpherson, Logan, and
Howard; aud the result shows the couse-
I quences Of his raslness; proved that the
canton OF Bragg- and Johnston. in falling
bac,1 from the veteran army which advanced
from Nashville, was not oyer-cautiou, but
| that which Was dictated by common sense
srd sound military Judgment; for whnt sol.
Gicre, man to man, could stund agninst the
great, glorious, heroic veteran army Of Sher-
man? Well did the immortal Wellington
| once tell q Frenclman that Euch . host, II
confronted BY the best soldiers Of the En-.
pire, would sec nothing between them and
The horizon. But I vii! digress no farther.
TIE FIRST ONSET. -
Believing that the rebels were sufficiently
punished In their attacks early III the day,
our veterans began to believe TINT they Were
. cordipgly began to fortify-the old Roman
c1stom-leieurely; but they were mistaken
1or, about 5 O'Clock p. m, lines-compact
1tnes-ot 1hc rebels, sometimea as many aE
SIX deep, were seen advancing upon US
, They consisted Of Hardce's entire corps, ut
| rayed- to crush our advance, which consisted
Of the single division commanded by-Gen
Newton, and attached to the 4th cores, com
1nanded By Gen. Howard. The assatlant
E advanced with steadfnees a1most Withon
E I parallel. Our toEtidcatiors had been bu
: Just commenced, and therefore the partic
to our one. But the lines ofthe Union force
c could not be broken. The rebel of1lcere-
J driven to desperation-rodc mp and down th
> lines, urging their men on; and on the,
front; but 60 terrific was the fire, so blood.
c the reception, that they would break, despit,
4 officers, who, knowing the result of defeat
:: preferred defeat on the field to death on th
. Eallows. Once broken, the thick column
= Of the assailants fed like torrent, runnin!
: over officers, and seeking safety In the di5
:: tancc, 1T the top Of their speed.
Yet these men were not towards; be wh
says the hosts under fire on that daJ lacke
courage, knows little Of the nerve Of tn
men, and pays but poor compliment to tn
|. more than human efforts Of our brave ncr
but to no asail; they were continually beat
In until officers could do no more.
j. ATTACK ON TUE 20ru coRps
: That portion Of the e0th corps engaged CO:
sisted ol the divisions of Williams, Geary M
), Ward, placed in column from right to left
the order named. They had advanced to th
q crest Of tri0ing bill, where they wer
: ordered to foTttfy; but no sooner had the
halted than they eaw before them the corp
d of Stewart and Hood {two-thirds Of the ret
e el army exclusive Of cavalry advancing from
wood to give them battle. Neither of th
combatants possessed Notifications; every
4 thing was nearly equal save numbers, whtel
0 were decidedly in fagcr Of the rebels. "
n hnd slight advantage in the ground, an
: were acting on the defensive, aud the resul
. proves the disadvantages u1der which we Ia
q bored, from Dalton to they yChattaAoochee
e vi here We were psrpetually the assailants.
Ii The advance was 1uedc with slight Oh
lquity-fhe rebel left being from twenty-fv
to thirty rods in advance Of tie right. Neyel
| were nen more confident of eurceas thar
t the asEailahts. They knew that several hour
would be consumed in getting troops formed
to support Hooker, who was far In advance
9 and they, too, were four lines deep, while w,
E were but one; snd they hoped to crush US,
ere we could be reinforced. But their aspiE
ations were completely crushed, In less thar
: two hours; the scene In front Of Atlanta wa:
thirds Of the rebel army met with thrct
: bloody repu1ees, from but portion of {
single Corps Of our OWL He who has dis
, puted the courage Of Eastern troope, meet
only refer to this bloody, and glorious field
TO be convinced Of the mistake under WHICH
he laborcd.
. So close did the combatants close in, tha,
for half an b ur, less than rod separated
, them and often ina desperate bayone1
J contest, the lines Of each would be pene.
trated, for long distance, and the combat
ants would be compelled to face about II
meet their foe. DOES history, do the war
! Of Napoleon furnish parallel to this? u
: all my reading have never found one; have
!, never read an account Of conflict So des
perate-so bloody.
Dnsk found the combatants still engaged
: but complete darlness spread Itself over tn
silent field. red with human gore. The in
viuciblc veterans Of Hooker, held thei
ground, but the rebels rrtreated to thei
works at Atlanta, which, on the fo1loWfn!
| In1, fu1 In C{r