Litchfield enquirer., 1864-09-29

lF
 thsa1ntShitants stos go away, andI can only fe6ex nF offer of services to make their exo- dus in any direction as easy and comfortable as posdible. You Cannot qualify war in harsher terms than will
 War is cruelty and you cannot refine it ; aud tho1e Who brought war on the country deserve sll tke curses and maiedictions people can pouE out. Iknow had no hand in making tkis var. and I know will make more sacrif- ees to day than anysof you to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and division or our country. Ithe United States submits to division now, it will not stop, but will go on till we trap the fate of Mexico, which IS eter- nal war. The United States does ana must ussert its authority wherever it has power IL 1t fslaxes one bit to pressure it is gone. and know that sucb is not the national feeling. This feeling assumes various shapes, but al- Waye comes back to that of Union. Once ad- init the Union, once more acknowledge the autbority of the National Government, and in. stead of devoting your houses and streets and roads to the dread uses of war, I and this ar my, become at once your protectors and sup porters, shielding you from danger, let it come from what quarter it may. I know that few individuals cannot resist torrent of error and passion such as has swept the South into repel- lion; but you can point out so that we may know those who desire Government and those who insist on war and its desolation.
 You might as well appeal against the thun- der storm az against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home is to stop this war, which cap alone be done by admitting that it begahfn error and IS perpetuated m eHn Ma onk Or horses, or your houses or your ladd, or any thing you have but we do want and will have . just obedience to the laws of the United States. That we will have, and if it involves the destruction of your improvements, we can not help it. You have heretofore read public sentiment in your newspapers, that live by fhIsehoOd and excitement, and the quicker you seek for truth in other quarters the better fof you.
 repeat, then, that by the original compact of the government, the United States had cer- tain rights in Georgia which have never been relinquished, and never will be that the South began war by seizing forts, arsenals, hints cus- tom houses, etc., etc.. long before Mir. Lincoln was installed, and before the South had one tet or title of provocation. myselfhav seen in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missis- sippi. hundreds and thousands of women and children fleeing from your armies and despera- does, hungry and with bleeding feet In Mem- phis, Vicksburg, and Mississippi we fed thou cands upon thousands of the families of Rebel soldiers left oh our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that war comes home to you, you feel very diHerent-you deprecate its horrors. but did not feel them when you sent car loads of soldiers and ammunition and mol ded shell and shot to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, and desolate the homes of hun dreds and thousands of good people, who only asked to live in peace at their old homes, and under the government of their inheritance But these comparisons are idle. l want peace
 and believe it can only be reached through Union and war, and l will ever conduct war purely with a view to perfect and early success.
 But, my dear sirs, when that peace does come. you may call on me for anything. Then will share with you the last cracker and watch with you to shield your homes and families a. gainst danger from every quarter Now, you must go. and take with you the old and feeble feed and nurse them, and build for them in more quiet places proper habitatons to shield them against the weather, until the mad pas eions of men cool down, and allow the Union and peace once more to settle on your old homes at Atlanta. s--.----
 r . Yours, in haste.
 w. T. SHERMAN Major. Gen