The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1884-10-30
ALLATOONA.
Did Capt. Bruner Serve the Guns


ALLATOONA.
Did Capt. Bruner Serve the Gun,
To THE EDITOR: In your issue of Aug. %
noticed an account of the battle of Allatoona,
and, as differ with Comrade Whitney in some
important particulars, wish to make some cor
rections. In his statement he gives the gar
rison as being 100 strong, composed of the 4th
Mimi, 18th Wis, and a part of the 9th Wis.
battery. Now, the facts are that no part of
the 9th Wis, but the whole of the 18th Wis.
battery was there, and believe that part or
all of the 93d Ill. was there also, and had their
rcgimental headquarters in the old house re-
ferred to. am little uncertain as to the
north and south, but assume, as Comrade
Whitney says, that the rebel advance was from
the south The 4th Mimi. and one section of the
battery were on the east side of the pass, and
the balance of the garrison was on the west
side; and Gen. Sherman, in place of being at
Lookout Mountain, was at kenesaw Mountain,
10 miles south, that being the first signal sta
ton between AllatOona and Atlanta.
would also like to ask some of my comrades
what they would think of the chance for Gen.
COrse on top of the parapet. My impression
would be that he would have more holes
through him in half minute than would be
required for post-hOles to fence 160-acre farm.
l will agree with the cOmrade that Gen. Corse
was brave man, but while he was brave he
alSO pOSSc>SSu JtiuSHieHt enough nOG 10 expose
himself when there was no call for it. Also if
my memory serves me right, the enemy did not
get within several rods of the fort, SO that it
would have been difficult matter TO " roll into
the trenches" especially as they would have to
roll up hill. While our loss, considering the
circumstance that we were in a fort was heavy,
we were not all killed or wounded; and while
am free to acknowledge that we had plucky
lnfantrymen there, we also had some just as
plucky batterymen. And, if am correct. there
was no occasion for Capt. Bruner or any
other man carrying ammunition across the pass,
as We bad q part of caissOn full at the close of
the engagement. The statement that Capt.
Bruner served one of our guns is also news to
me, as certainly never heard of it before, and
if it had been fact it seems as though / ought
to have heard of 1T, as l served as No. on the
gun facing the rebel advance, and the only gun
with which we could bear on the house re-
ferred to. But as every one knows who has once
been in such place that if a man does his duty
he has but little chance to see what is going on
elsewhere, so if Comrade Whitney can convince
me that his statement is correct will cheer
fully make the acknowledgement / have al
ways thought that the battle of Allatoona was
battle where great interests were at stake,
more perhaps than in some of the larger battles
where several times the number were engaged,
and that the march to the sea might have been
delayed and possibly given up had the battle
terminated differently.-A. r. KIBBE, 18th Wis.
battery, New Richmond, Wis.
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE FIGHT.
To THE EDITOR: This being the Goth ami
versary of the battle of Allatoona, Ga, and see
ing in THE TRIBUNE of Aug. % Comrade
Whitneys account of the affair." and the cor
rections in TRIBUNE of Oct. 2 by J. II. White
and Dan r. Brand, of 10Th Wis. battery, l
thought, How fast we are growing old and
forgetful!"
While on duty in Gen. Corse's Adjutant-
Generals office Maj. L. H. Evarts, Adjutant-
GeneraD as clerk / made copies of great many
of these reports, and by reference to them l
find many mistakes in each of the accounts
l. The commanding officer was Col. Tourtel-
lotte. with the 4th Mimi, 18th Wis, 93d H.,
and 18th Wis. battery-S90 men.
2. The re-enfOrcements consisted of the First
Brigade, Fourth Division, Fifteenth Corps, Col.
Richard Rowett, consisting o 1.-THE 9TH, 50th and
57th Ill.,, 39th Iowa, and part of the 18th H.,
of the Second Brigade, making ,054 additional,
or ,9li in all
3. The enemy consisted of French's Division
of three brigades, variously reported from four
to five thousand strong (Sherman'S Memoirs,
vol. 2, p. 14S), and not 1000 or 1900
4. Corses official report of our loss was 142
killed, 1853 wounded, PIP missing; total, 7O7, or
36 per cent; and of the enemy 231 dead, All
prisoners. and afterwards about 100 dead found
in the woods.-Shermans Memoirs, vol. 2 p. $50.
5. Gen. Corse was summoned to surrender in
writing, as follows:
AROUND ALLATooNA, Oct. s, 1864.
Commanding Officer, United States Forces, ALA
toOna:
| have placed the forces under my command In
such positions that you surrounded and to
avoid needless effusion of blood call on you to
surrender your forces at once and Internationally.
Five minutes will be allowed you to decide Should
you accede TO this, you will be treated in the most
honorable manner as prisoners OF war.
have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours,
s. G. FRENCH,
Major-G General, commanding Confederate Forces.
Gen. Corse's reply, in writing, not verbally,
as Comrades Whitney and Brand state, was:
HEADo'Rs, FOURTH DIVISION, FIFTEENTH CORPS,
ALLATOoNA, GA, $50 a. M, Oct. 5, 1864.
Maj Gen. S. G. FRENCH, Confederate States, etc:
Your communication demanding surrender OF
my command l acknowledge receipt of, and
spectfuly reply that are prepared for the need
less efuson of blood" whenever it is agreeable to
you.
1 am. very respectfully. your obdt servant,
JOHN NJ. CoRsE,
Brigadier- General, commanding U. s. Forces.
6. Comrade Whitney states Gen. Sherman
was on Lookout Mountain, away northward 10
miles, while in fact he was on kenesaw, Is
miles southeast.
z. Comrade Whitney says Capt Bruner Co.
K, 18th Wis, crossed the foot bridge and
brought the ammunition for the battery, which
makes the fifth man claiming that honor.
0OrSe, IN HIS Ollclai report, says that IL WAS d
private, whose name he was unable to learn"
think it was stated at the time that it was
one of the battery.
g. Comrade Whitney should have been more
accurate about the wound. THE General lay
there fainting; handkerchief wet with
spirits was placed around his temple and ear"
The ball struck the cheekbOne and ear II have
seen the scar frequently, as his dispatch to
Capt. Dayton on Oct. shows Sherman's
Memoirs, vol. 2. p. 14S:
AILATooNA, GA, Oct. g. 1854, 2 p. m.
Capt. L. M. DAYTON, Abide Camp:
am short a cheekbone and an ear, but am able
to whip all HI yeti My losses are very heavy.
A force moving from Stitesboro to Kingston gives
me some anxiety. Tell me where Sherman is.
JOHN M. CORsE. Brigadier-General
Sherman reached Allatoona ON the 9th, not
the next morning" Hood holding Kenesaw
and Big Shanty the 9th and 7th."-Sherman
and his Campaigns, p. PIG. Col. Redtield, of
the 39th Iowa, was killed, and Col. ROwett, 18th
ILL.,, and Col. TourtellOtte were wounded.
Gen. Corse's report of the fight, made Oct. 81,
1864. is the best account have seen, and hope
nv. - Il