Weekly Trinity journal., 1864-01-16
The Horrors of War.

One of the editors of the atlanta (Ga.) Intel
Igencer, who visited the field of Chattanooga,
ten days after the battle, writes to his paper an
account of his observations, from which we take
the following extracts
We leave the Chattanooga road and turn to
the right. We ride along the avenue, and on
every side, thickly strewn, are the marks of the
sharpshooters' skill and the terrible effects of
shell and grape from the masked battery. The
loss not alone, however, with US, but the
foe met his fate also. He has left the dreadful
evidence of many dead bodies In the woods
near the upper end of this opening, we saw one
of the biue-habited dead, sitting with his back
against log, his his knees, and his
fingers dovetailed together. Apparently he had
sat down deliberately to die. The worms were
fcasting on him. His jaw was hanging down
his black and glistening body, which had swol-
len until it burst off his clothing one of the
most horrible and disagreeablc sights we ever
witnessed.
Close by another had crawled upon log and
placing his back against bush and resting his
head on his hand, the elbow bent, the body in a
reclining position he had pulled his cap over
field. x
At the back part of the field, sweeping east
ward and south of east, was large and dcstruc-
tive battery. The worn places where each gun
placed indicate that ten more guns were
in battery there. The dead horses and Yankees
lying about tell how vengeful the assault was,
and how successful But from the hill where
this battery cast its storm and rain of shot and
she'll and canister and grape, the evidences of a
terrific fire are more apparent here than any
where else on the field. The woods are very
thick in trees and bushes and the limbs, trunks
and branches. as they lie cut off and torn in all
directions, made an abattis through which our
forces rushed and charged to silence the loud
throated voices of those death-dealing engines
We pass through the path of the artillery
storm, and here and there are graves of our
soldiers. Onthe second hill, with trees and limbs
lying thick about, evidences of the terrible pas
sion of man. the graves of many brave Texans
the oath and others, rest calmly, marked by the
careful hands of friends back of these are a
number of GeOrgians.
Thence we turn to the left and follow the Sa-
vannah road. At intervals the open woods show
signs of the conflict being more severe than in
the thickly wooded spots. 1t is along here, we
are told, that Gen. Hood and his men made such
a terrible onset and slaughter. They and that
portion of our army which advanced from the
Red House, and along the road to the right of
the sawmill, did execution which is perfectly
fearful. The carnage was awful Every avenue
has been swept as by = broad be som of destruc-
structon in the hands of Hecate Battery paths
are innumerabe. Here they fought-there they
misunderstanding dead horses, men, broken
caissons, piles of ammunition, rent clothes, and
destruction generally
On one point on the rise of a hill, we saw the
bones of immense Newfoundland dog. He
evidently was the pet of some battery, and
shot while following it up. Close by him we
counted thirty-eight dead Yankees-nearly thir-
ty dead horses-saw more than ton of shell
shot and canister, and all the broken aud aban-
doned paraphernalia of strong battery-all
within the space of eight feet square.