The weekly clarion., 1874-06-25

town between the two armies, and of
which suggestion he is so careful to make
no mention.
As | retrace all these facts and circum-
stances, | cannot think General John
stOn is in earnest when he saws that he
intended or desired to fight at the differ
ent points mentioned; moreover, it must
seem strange to my comrades of the Nlr-
ginia army that |, who had always been
ready and willing to do my duty, should
undergo so complete a change under
General Johnston during the last year of
the war. In truth, | had no wise altered
in my nature, and l will add that no
general ever received more thorough CO.
operation of his corps commanders than
did Gen. Johnston during his campaign
from Dalton TO Atlanta. He was on
cordial. terms with each of US, and it
should be borne in mind that the animus
displayed toward Gen. Polk and myself
never became apparent till after l was as
signed to the command of the army of Ten
nessee, and the noble Polk had been laid
in his grave nigh two months Gen.
Johnston was then residing IN Macon,
Ga, where he wrote his official report in
which were brought forward for the first
time these unjust and ungenerous accusa-
tons. If | was so little to be relied
upon, and had given cause for complaint
successiveiv at Resaca and Cassville,
why did he entrust to me the important
operations at New Hope Church, from
which it was supposed d general engage
ment might ensue? The truth is, he
had no real cause Of complaint, and | re-
iterate had the full cooperation of his
| Lieutenants No matter what the views
held by them as to his mode Of handling
an army, they were all sufficiently good
soldiers to forego making a remark even
! in the presence of their own staff officers,
which might tend to destroy confidence in
! their chief
| will give a historical fact, illustrative
of this spirit of discretion and forbear-
ance, which will be particularly interest
ing as it has never, to my knowledge,
been made public:
Just before leaving New Hope Church,
! his three corps commanders were assem-
bled alone at night in his quarters
| little cabin near the church-when
Gen. Johnston suggested Macon as being
/ the place to fall back upon If | remem-
Der rig htly, this suggestion was received
/ in silence, for | cannot recall the reply of
any one of US at the moment; | well re-
member, however, after we had lett the
presence of Gen Johnston, and were
riding through the darkness of the night
to our respective headquarters, the unan-
imous sentiment expressed on this occa-
| sion; it was to this effect: ''In the name
of Heaven what is to become of US?
| Here we ere with the depots for recruits
| drained from Mobile to Richmond, all
! the troops have been sent either to US or
TO Gen. Lee, in Virginia; our army
| fifty or sixty miles from Dalton, no gen
| eral battle fought, and our commander
talking of Macon, one hundred miles
beyond Atlanta, as being the place to
fall back upon" This gloomy outlook
| brought about the comparison touching
our losses up to that time; and to which
| referred in my first reply. We finally
separated and each rode off to his own
tent; howsoever dispirited, [ am conf
dent not one of us so far lost sight of
that cn-nparafinn nanaSeary in time of
war, as to even mention to any one Gen.
Johnstons contemplated retreat to Ma
| con.
| Shortly thereafter we found ourselve-
at X enesaw Mountains, the last strongs
| hold Of the many piney ridges passed
over during our retreat. 1t was 10 the
| left of this place, on Pine Mountain, that
we lost the brave and magnanimous Polk,
and with him much of the history Of this re
markable campaign. We remained some
! thirty days at kennesaw Mountain, when
| Sherman resorted to what he had learned
from experience would prove effective: he
/ fa,. 70 m n Cr
| sound in our rear, and we folded up our
! tents as usual, under strict orders, to
make no noise, and under cover of dark
ness marched to and across the Chatta-
hoochie upon the flat plains Of Georgia.
After our passage of this river, on the
night of the 9th of July, Sherman
moved rapidly to the eastward and across
! the Chattahoochee, some distance above
| Peachtree creek. He formed a line par
alleI to this creek, with his right hand on
the river, and approached Atlanta from
the North, whilst Schofeld and McPher-
son on the left, marched rapidly in the
direction of Decatur, to destroy the rail-
road to Augusta. See map, page 341.
/ Gen. Johnston says, pages 34S-49-5O:
- On the the 18th of May, Gen. Wheeler
reported that the whole Federal army
had crossed the Chattahoochee. < x
x The following telegram
was received from Gen. Cooper, dated
| July 17th Leutenant-Gencral j. b.
Hood has been commissioned to the tenn
pOrary rank of General, under the late
law of Congress. / am directed by the Sec
retary Of War to inform you that, as you
have failed to arrest the advance of the
enemy to the vicinity Of Atlanta, far III
the interior of Georgia, and express no
confidence that you can defeat or repel
him, you are hereby relieved from the
command of the Army and Department
of Tennessee, which you will immediate
ly turn over to Gen. Hood. x
\ Gen. Hood came to my
quarters early in the morning of the 18th,
and remained there during the day. In
telligence soon came from Major Gen.
j Wheeler that the Federal army was
marching toward Atlanta, and at Gen.
Hoods earnest request continued to give
orders through Brig. Gen. Mackall, chief
of staff, until sunset" About II o'clock
P. NJ, on the night of the 18th, | re-
ceived a telegram from the War Office
ordering me to assume command of the
army. This totally unexpected order so
astounded me and overwhelmed me with
a sense of the responsibility thereto at
tached that | remained in deep thought
throughout the night Before day |
started for Gen. Johnston's headquarters,
a short distance from which | met Lieut..
Gen. A. 2. Stewart, one eff my division
commanders, who had been recommended
by me and recently promoted to the
rank of Corps Commander to replace
Gen. Polk
We rode on together to Gen. Johnston