Litchfield enquirer., 1865-01-19
AhiihH M A REBEL OFFICER IN
 EORGIA

1 s vsrded to u. by . frH,s H'ie letter has been for was picked up on the .o' p"0n'a''0", i' , sehel v. Johnson (near Bss Bs'i'n of Hon, Her.
 was rritten by his son, wi, 0s0re'a,l ana Captain and Judge Advocate, 'o"n'o"''
 Lees Corps. Army Tennessee. Tary Court
 to give very interesting inside . De 'seh confsderacy. before Sherman pierced" " me
 undoubtedly correct exposition of the N h0 is
 of Hoods army at the date at which it ag
 written. What they think now that they haI
 received the additional drubbings from Thon
 as' Is not difficult to conjecture. As we said
 we can vouch for the authe nticity of the lett CT MILITARY CouRT, HDoRs., LEE's CORPS. ! ] In the Field, 29 miles from Atlanta, Sept. 16, 1884, My DEAR FATHER
 taks this, the first opportunity hay,
 had for several weeks, of writing you a few
 lines. Dick arrived here safely, but was ,
 week in finding me. was on the march al the time, and remained In no place more than few hours at time. I am now messing alone Dick shares my bread. meat and tent. l hnd. him not only very useful messmate bu, decidedly more pleasant and agreeable than those have. been recently associating with. You have no idea of the hardships to which our soldiers have been exposed. The marches have been long and rapid We marched eighty miles in four days oh one meal a day stood it fnely myself, keeping ahead all tho time of our entire corps; but many of tLe soldiers were completely exhausted. and struggling soon to considerable extent decimated the ranks. The army is at present in dcmo,al- izei condition. They blame Hood, tha, J Joh.- son would have done long ago that is. give up Atlanta) what Hood was at last forced 10 dc. They think that Johnson would have saved the ten or fifteen thousand men that Hood lost in defending Atlanta. They have enough to discourage them. The moment Hood took command. he commenced giving orders to charge breastworks. Our men have fought desperately, but in nearly every instance that a charge has been made. they have been hurl ed back with slaughter by superior numbers They now swear that they will never charge another breastwork. They think they are whipped, and of course are disheartened- Sherman now has the State of Georgia at his mercy. Our army in its greatest streng,h h have been hurled from fine positions and decimated. Asi is at present with no advantage of posi- tion between here and the Ocean, it cannot be >-nect ed 10 ever hold in check an army vastly ' ,a, fn numbers aud flushed with victory
 '---s.--aa lief; to 6 vote of 4a-<S .-sl' = ~ whether we should go 6acK7Into the Union or The people in this section of country, alm ost to a man, are in favor of reunion. They do no, say so in @ofda. but no ofher inference can be drawn froas sheir conversation. They ss5s vs sre whipped, stsat every thing we have is gone ast "ail viii ssarve /" Th:s last ex- st ssssl ssloasita ibeEa is trap Tl,e whole country. for thirty mics in every direction, IS dsse'a- ted Not stock of corn, or of cane. is stand ing Hogs, Cattle, all have gone te the bot tomless nav of the Government. Our wagons travel fifty miles to feed the stock of the army with green corn The people are gene rally small farmers, and dependent for the coming y ca s support upon the growing crops but the Government has not only taken DOT ton of their support, but aI of it. They. ar not paid one cent forthe robbery. and in many instances which have come under my own o5 servation, certificates of indebtedness have not even been given. They are actually fleeing from starvation What little the Government agent leaves. is stolen by the soldiers. They shoot down the hogs, sheep, chickens, before the faces of the owners. 1 saw a dozen old citizens yesterday who h.d assembled to assess the damages done. They all stated that they had nothing to live on; said if the Governmen would pay them the money they would go some where in der to live. But they had neither bread nor money. Instead of looking upon thu Government as their protection, they see in thing but great Juggernaut, crushing then 10 death. They care nothing fer the Confede racy They are alienated from it, and woalt rather risk the chances of being ground i' pieces by reunion, than to lear their presen sufferings longer. Every man in Geoi gia vii have to undergo the same trials.
 Sherman will be in Macon before Christmas as sure as you live and would earnestly ad .ise you 10 gather your crops as soon as pos sible, and sell immediately. Sell every 'hine vou can possibly spare. You will nave u leave home, am as certain of it as can o' of any thing If you hold ca to your crop, for higher prices, you will lose It all be''e' to have the money in your pocket. l woui' advise you if yoa move at all, to go to savan nah. Never think of going to Augusta. Sher man is now running eight trains loa led wi,I l .unplies to Atlanta. He has already enougl l on hand to last him two months. He does no care for the !ail road between Dalton and At lants. The latter place is now his base. Il
 drove the people out because he did not wis
 to support them. Gou may look for raidin
 parties at any moment.
 | Excuse th,s letter. have written in grea
 haste am we'll; loveto all; write soon
 I Your afFectionate Son, WsNbEa. l P. s. Bob, Abe and Fred. arrived here ye
 terday I saw them they are three miles fro
 me. They seemed to he happy and contente'