The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-10-29
me Heroic Defense 81 AllatoOns

me Heroic Defense Of Allnto0no
-Gen. C0rso.
Correspondents WITH General Sherman
Y agree in characterizeng General sCorse's
defense Of A llatoona' as the bravest and
I noblest struggle in AL the war. General
Sherman thus characterizes it, and if any
body knows what heroic courage is. it is
General sherman. So ~
A correspondentaos the New York Epe-
I ss.s0 fes- writing. from the feld.i has the
following ~ isri asss
lss4ssf yA1uE OF ALLATcoNA.
In view o. the future possibilities, there
was Concentrated d million aud half of
rations q. Al.atoona. It now appears that
Y some women IN the place learned this and
gave information to the enemy. SO Gen.
Hood sends from Dallas French's division
Of Stewart's corps to surprise and capture
the place. Here was q prize Of priceless
value to Hood. with but seven days ra-
tons. and encamped in a barren country.
II he could have occupied Al,atoona win
IL, 600 men, such was the strength OF the
position, he could have held ten tunes his
force at bay so long as the supplies held
out. This Nigh. have necessitated the
evacuation of Atlanta, and tie costly fruit
of the ablest campaign Of thiswar, If not OF
all time, would have been wrested from
our grasp. a.#.a
But the same master hand yet held the
threads Of wool and warp in his hands.
Tuesday saw three columns OF troops with
fifteen days rations at their backs, moving
in conyerginE lines through the thick
woods. across swollen streams, surmOunt-
ing rocky ridges, and all directed towards
Dallas. Wednesday morning found STAN
ley with the 4,h colps resting his right on
Little Kenesow, while Cox with the Army
Of the Ohio, upon arriving at Marietta, was
to be moved around Big Kenesaw towards
AuatOona. Stanley was pushed forward
amidst the pelting rain to Pine Mountain.
which is situated IN the centre of a right
angled triangle, Kenesaw, Lost Mountain,
(held by the rebels) and Allatoona being
the three points.
.5zss es& SHERMAN IN THE FIELD.
y About noon General sherman assembled
7 Kenesaw. In the movements of large ar
4 mics ina broken country like this, the
general commanding necessarily cannot
direct uersonalfv the disposition of each
body Of troops. It witt be found often
that, even with the keenest foresight and
mos. perfect knowledge, one line will over
lap or fall short of another: when the mo-
ment of battle arrives, Il division which
9 should be ut a critical point will be far in
: the rear and golden opportunities escape
or battles are lost. This campaign has
witnessed many incidents OF this kind, but
here was one Of the most sublime specta-
cles the world has ever seen; here stood
the Commencing General on the noun
Z tain top, signaling each army as II ad-
i vanced, and there were no misnaps. From
Pine Mountain to the south and east, there
stretched one continuous line of hattie.
Meanw lille the Army OF the Ohio. which
49, had been the last to cross the river, had
isno. reached Marietta. - N
It was past noon, and the fog, dcvoured
by the SUMS warm rays, disappeared from
\ the forests and fields, revealing the Ala
toona Mountains in the distance. Then
{ for the srst time were seen puffs of white
smoke from one and another fort which
defend the pass and the town. Gradually
the fire slacken ed and ceased in one and
. another, untilit was confined TO single
redOubt which covered the whole line OF
defence. Finally that ceased followed by
column of black smoke rising to the left,
where the bridge crossing Pumpkin Vine
Creek was known to be.
THE Bate.
In agony of DOUBT, the signal station can
be seen through the telescope. but no an
I cav. IF Corse is there he will hold it to the
I last, says the General. II know the man."
4 And, thank Heaven, Corse was there. He
had received the signal message. and with
out moments delay had placed nine hum
dred men on board the cars and reached
moned by French to surrender in five
minutes in order to save unnecessary effu-
sion Of blood" he replied. /" shall not
surrender and you can commence the unne-
cessarys effusion Of blood whenever you
please" and SO the battle opened at eight
in the morning, and waged hotly until two
+ in the afternoon. Driven from one fort to
another, until they reached their last de-
tense, the brave garrison still kept the flag
flying. Corse was shot through the cheek
hone, cutting OFT his ear, in the early par;
\ Of the action. His men fought with fearful
desperation. AT one point fronting the fort
the rebels charged freq uently with the bay
Tie enemy's artillery played into the fort
with terrible effect, but our brave soldiers
replied with shot and shell until the rebels
! wered riven back with great loss Beaten
and disheartaned, for they had Information
v Of the arrival of two compounded of infantry
Y. sent forward the day before by Sherman
!; from the garrison At Marietta, and fearing
the flank movement of the head ofStanley's
!, column, tLen appearing At Pine mountain,
they withdrew towards Dallas, leaving in
our hands one hundred and fifty dead on
the field, five hundred prisoners, four hum
dred stand Of arms and three colors.-
The same night our cavalry brought In
Brigr der General Young, taken prisoner
on their retreat He reports that General
Steele was killed and 6eperal Cockrill
ia WOu0UeOs ana tnAt 6eVex1A OMCoxS W6Io
killed and wounded. ys
We lost some 600 killed, wounded and
prisoners, out Of . force Of ], 200 men, con-
sisting Of infantry and one six-gun bate
/. ~. Il was = hard-fought battle; with Sc
we're loss on both sides. In an entrench-
ment opposite our main fort, after the
fight, there waa found amongst the dead
both Union and rebel soldiers with bayO-
nets transfxed in each other. The town
was destroyed by shot and shell. All the
cavalry and artillery horses were killed,
but the valuable stores were saved, the
fort and pass were held.
The regiments engaged were the 18th
Minnesota, l6the Wisconsin. Esd, 9th and
5Oth Illinois, seth Iowa and 18th Wisconsin
= battery. N aa tss Nes
full death. conscious that liberty and their
country owes them an eternal debt of glory.
Brave Gen. Corse! Brave soldiers who
survive the battle, t. receive from their
a A.