The sun., 1864-12-16

Army Corps General Towards wing. with which
General Sherman moved. consisted Of the fiftcenth
aud Seventeenth Corps. The cavalry, which WAS
splcndldly organized and equipped, WAS command
ell by General Kilpstrck, and WAS proportonatoly
assigned TO each wing OF the army. The entire
force congs,ed Of not less than dfty thousand mon,
Every thing being In readiness the cities Of Rono
and Kingston were burned on the 10Th OF Novem.
ber, as a preliminary step W the abandonment of
Atlanta, and our forces were Withdrawn from tho
line Of the Chattanooga railroad. which was torn
NJ aud destroyed, and on the l2th OF November At
anta WAS also givon 10 the flames, the public pro-
pcrty capable 0f TRANSPORTATION having been pre-.
viously removed. Az the public buildings and
factories were destroyed. and the forthca-
tions dismlntlcd 40 as " render the place worth
less TO tho rebels. The army then commenced TO
hle out from the city. II may here he added that
tho news Of the evacuation Of Atlanta produced
temporarily Tho greatest reiocinE In the South,
where IL was At hrsi regarded ~ q retreat. Hut
this feeling diss paied into gloom as soon -
Gen shor,nan's real dssivns were manifest.
Tho route Of General Bhermsn's army may be
traced ON the map above. General Slocum's wing
was tho first 10 leave the city. Il moved on The
hne Of the Georgia railroad, going west towards
Augusta, on the line OF the Atlanta, Augusta and
Charlestou railroad, as marked on the map. Gem
eral Howard's command advanced AZ far As Jones'
boro', twenty-five miles south Of Atlantis, driving
out the ~ ii General Howell Cobb with . few
thousand Georgian militia. The rebel forces re-
tired succesEvely 10 Loyejoy's Station, Griffin and
the other stations along the railroad to Macon, but
were too weak 20 oppose sherman's progress
Those places are all marked on The map. On the
ls;h Ger. 5herman's sdyAnce occupied Griffin, aud
On the following day II entered Forsyt forty miles
from AtlautL- an ! within thirty miles OF hEcOn
This movement 10 the vicinity Of Macon produced
an impression throughout Georgia that General
Sherman intended 10 attack that place, and caused
hasly stampede OF the LEGISLATURE from hilledge
willie, the capita u the State. II appears, how
ever, thAt General Sherman dHowArd's eolumnl
made a dstour from Forsyth towards Eatouton,
where the whole army united, aud entered NIL
k..lg eviI he Yla ~ NDyemlef GenCral klo-
cunl's r.JgsrnentA " this point may DO traced on
the lns u tbs Atlanta aud Augusts kailroad. HIS
| column marched on shorter and more direct line,
and moved more slowly, 80 - " connect with
Howsrd's Corps ai the appointed place. Hence IL
was split up into numerous expeditions, which
spread through vast extent OF country, myati.
fyng and laing the enemy IS 70 the real objective
| point Of tho campaign.
ou the l9th, a portion Of General slocum's force
reached Canton, The capital Of Cherokee County, by
| = WIDE dctour, and burned Governor Browns house
and destroyed the principal buildings and two.
thirds Of the city. Canton 10 thirty miles north of
Atlanta, aud scyeniys miles rom Forsyth, where
! General HOwaTd's column 10 known to have been
| Oh the same date. This shows that Sherman s
army swept Across q belt u country from sixty
TO hundred miles wide through the riebest state
! In the South. Another detAehInoDt VI blocum's
| force Is reported 10 have occupied Covington,
tmsrkcd upon the msIr! on the same day Canton
Ou tho Ist, GenG-i socum advanced 10
! Greonsboro and Union Point which may be
/ uanei ne msp at distances seventy and
ninety miles, respoet voly west OF AuantA.
Prom these points General blocuIn diyeTgod
a. already stated, TOW ards batoutou % Join How
ards column aud thence tho whole army marched
~ N llodge vile, the btste capitol 1no direct dik-
tame from Atlanta W Aiheugeulle IL = hundred
and twenty miles, but the actual distance usve sed
/ by the army was probably nOt less than hunuTed
and hiy miles. This shows that tho Amy hal
made eIsctly uileen mIlos dsy-the prec time
| marked by Sherman previous ~ the departure "
| the expedition. The Uulk Of the army remained at
hileugeyillc tor several days-tron the 22d to tho
/ 25lh. Hut several tents we're sde with heavy
! columns. iuroe went to GriswOdy y.lle-a place
within lew miles OF Macon, on he line Of RAJ road
from Macon ~ bJrdon-mArked on u 10 map twenty
IN les est Of h.Con spirited cayAly hight took
place at GTisW oldyiui with rebel force detsehed
irou Macon, but the enemy were driven back with
tie loHa Of Oyor hunhToi In killed ami wounded.
A large portion Of tho Union army leh hlllolgo-
Vile on the 13d, The rear guard remained eetind
, for DAY two longer. GcneraI sIocum's wing
I moved before On tue line towards AuRustn,
| while General Howard dshected bouth, In the di.
rectiou VI Gordon and IrWinton, the cavalry ad-
vance crossing tie Ovoueo River, which 10 West
Of that place, on Tic Zith, On the previous day
| slocuIu's Corps crossed the RIVER hLsher up, al
Mledgsyille General ShermGD's column "a ~.
uru'sJ advanced on the line OF the Georgia Central
I Ra lTOsId, towards Alen. IL IN NOT certain that
ehcTnan actually attacked Mileu, 40 reported, but
It is known thai be was within few miles Of that
place on the lsi oil December, Mlllen M hundred
miles from Mlodgeylle, On the line via, GlTdOn,
travelled by HOwGrd'5 column--thus again
making good ume-hheen miles . day
FROM hillon railroads diyerge 10 Augusts, Macon,
Charleston and Savannah, and General sherman
mau9uyored IN the vicinity VI this place tor seve-
raj days, with view Of dividing the attention Of
the epemy, Inc distance from hillen to Augusta
IL dlty ues 70 Savannah seventy, and 70 Charles
ton \ byldTsd uAss, In this triangle General