Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1885-08-14
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HISTORICAL.


BY the klndness ot Mr.. s. ]. Scott, OF
Mitchell Post, Springfield, Ohio, we are
permitted to publish the following extract
from letter from u. M. Green, trnviling
In the South, and addressed 10 Mitchell
Post:
stand to day upon the old ramparts OF
Kennesnw Mountain, where the arid sands
OF Georgia drank the blood of 5000 boys
in blue. It's therefore be6tling that here,
from tbese time-worn trenches. write the
history Of my trip through the "Sunny
South"
1t was from this very apot where-I
know the "inspiraiiOn of the past gleam-
eth not"-Shermnn signnled to General
Corae at Alatona Pass: "Hold the fort
for am comingw which was afterward
immortalized in song. 1t was here, that
the lnceraied hosts Of Joe. johnson heaved
back in mad confusion, sought refuge be-
hind the silvery river, the rushing Chatta-
hoochee Here lie ll,000 heroes 1t ia
moi nnmeet that in n strange land, on the
upland lawn, within aight Of eight fierce
con ilicts, the ashes of our boys sleep "the
sleep That knows no waking" Tor here they
died-died, to show that The theory of a
HoNeEh'heHb VI 'ho peopie, ior 'ho peop'e
and by the people, was not an unsolved
problem, but one OF the immulable fixed
facts which. "like the swan on sti!l St.
Mary's lake, float doubls-swan and
shadow"
Fancy il vou can, my feelings, when
nfter an absence OF twenty years, az, sweep.
ing around the curve, / first caught sight
Of Lookout Mountain. The rushing waves
of the old ennlessee laved the spot where
Moccasin Point cracked its fiery whip,
and where Fl. Wood and Ft. Neglee,
like giant pugilis's laid shot and
shell on the scowlng ramparts of
Missionary Ridge and where the sounding.
board OF Chickamauga gave back the
echoes like the tootialls OF the gods upon
the lodges of the clouds. AT Chattanooga
lie 12,4S0 men who fell at Mission Ridge,
Lookout Mountain, Ringgold and Rocky
Face. Passing through Rossville Gap,
where General Steedman won his spurs
and where Lyle sleeps, we strike several
ly, Chickamauga, Resacca, Calhoun; Dali
las, New Hope church, Alatona, Big
Shan,y, Peach Tree creek ane Kennesaw.
How the lines come to me:
Then Kennesaw frowned in Its glory,
FrOwnod down on the flag of the free,
! But the East and the West bore our standard,
When Sherman marched down to the sea.
Leaving Atlanta and going south. west
for distance OF eighty-live miles, you
come TO n weird little southern village, a
depot and fifteen or twenty houses. There
| is a desolate quiet reigns around this nook
| in the pine forest. The owl, the bat and
the buzzard have made il their habitation
Every man you meet wears on his face
the brand OF Cain. The Flint River and
the deep morssses OF the Ocmulgee wind
| like slow serpent near these pine barrens
cane brakes, and the outrageous vines
chamber over the magnolia and the cy-
press. 1t is The embodyment of the DESC
lalion spoken of by Daniell On the apol
ogy for station you ead-Andersonville
We get OFF the train; we ask for no guide
we have been there beforehand enter
the portals, or where once were the pro-
tails and we are on the fifty two acres o
ground which witnessed more human
misery than was ever mirrored on Gods
green earth. Providence Spring (as it il
so called,) still spouts its tiny ril, and al
l stopped to drink, thought of Thoma,
Henry and Enoch Bennett of Clark county
l split few mementos from the few re-
manning stumps still above ground, ant
left the accursed spot.
! Northeast OF this is the cemetery. Need
l say that as stood at the flag staff ans
glanced over the field nnconsciously tool
off my hat? was standing face TO fac,
with 13,70l comrades who died there
"where lank jawed famine Knocked a
wantW Do We know what $4,000 means
| tell Won nay never knew what Is,
600 meant till was placed In the face %
$4,000 gravesl As the twilight deepenec
into the gloam,ng fancied l saw til,
starved, ragged, scurvy eaten baltalions
$4,000 strong, marching up and down
sending mp the unheard cry to God-Ws
ter! Water! Waterl saw the SKIM,
fingers clutch at the morsels OF cornpone
rake the few dyiug emhers together.
saw the hollow eyes look out over III,
siockade wall, and heard them speak o
the little ones at home. Oh. God it'll
do the American people know. little dc
they realize what was endured by thos
who faced the splin,esing hell ire of crap,
and canister, shot and shell, bayonet ant
missile on the fields of the South.
Away down farther, across Gum Creek
in Doolev county, near Irwinsville, l s,oo
where JEFF Davis found his last diici,
where the Southern Confederacy collapse,
In the "pentup Utica" of hoop skirt
But i must close this lengthy narrativ
for future letter.