The South western news. (Dawson, GA.) 188?-1889, 1888-05-23
A BAPTISM Oh FIRE.
Souvenirs ola Sir Weeks Siege of
the Gate City.
THE FIGHT FOR ATLANTA
Her First Shell and Her Last Shot.
atlanta Constitution
FIRST ARTICLE.

sulphurOuS year OF SlXtystonr.
Within its blaOd-red efFele. OF re.
doubts and breast&orks the belea: /.
uered city sweltered and fhrobbed
in an agony OF terror and tumnlt..
The Atlanta Of that day was the
most important stronghold of the
confeder'cy. 1t was at ohce acity
and camp. Thirty thousand cit
izens and forty thousand soldiers
were packed within its bristling
rampsrts, awaiting the onslaught
of the eighty thousand foemen'
whose Haunting colors could be seen
advancing from every direction.
In the crowded streets good ma
tured anarchy ruled the hour, and
the occasional rub a-dub>dub of a
drum aud the blare of bugle were
lost in the dull, grumbling roar Of
moving artillery trains aud army
wagons.
On some OF the spacious Peach
tree pthzzas groups of young ladies'
might have been seen chatting with
a few officers whose bfonzed faces
and battle-marked uniforms show
ed plainly enough that they were
just from the front.
| 4 X X x
Suddenly there rose above the
humming discord Of camp and city
hideous, shrieking whizzing noise.
SO unearthly and blood chrdlihg
that thousands of peaceful citizens
turned white with tear, and fed
aimlsssly from one point to aAoth-
er.
X SHE'LL by God!' exclaimed y
cavalry officer who was IN the act
OF mounting his horse near the cor
ner OF Peachtree and Ellis.
1t was the first shell of the siege, :.
and it had fallen inside of the city
limits.
Phe solaisrs shrugged their
shoulders and laughed, and then
the most reckless of them looked
serious tor moment. They were
thinking of the women and chill
dren who wereabout to- go through
the coming baptism of fire..
* *#*
Mr.. Fom Crusselle, who had
been watching Rockers batteries
on Todd's HILL a little eminence
northeast of Ponce de Leon spring,
was standing III his front yari, the
present site Of Colonel Bob Maddox's
residence, when the shell came
plugging through the air.
He could have s*orn that it was
headiiig straight for tie spot gu
which he stood, but a strange tqsci-
nation compelled him to watch its
curying course until it tore its way.
into Mr.. \. G. Ladd's lot, oppo-
site the well known Calico house
Oh Wheat street.
Mr.. CrGsSelle did not waste any
time in fancy speculations.~ He
was a man of artion, and he felt
that the time had cone for him to
prepare for the worst
It Was not an easy matter to Sc.
cure help, but In less thar an hour
ne mad several men at work digging
a bon b-proof in his back yard. As
the whole city was houeycombed
with just such dug>outs in the
course lfa day or two, a picture Of
this nne will describe them all.
The bomb,proof was,twenty feet
long, seven feet vide and nine feet
deep. The entrance to It was in a
zig gag shape. 1t was we'll lined
with thick plank aud carpeted.
Great care was taken with the COW
ering. First, heavy timbers were
laid across the trench, and then a
mountain of closely packed CLAY,
twenty.one feet'high, was'piled on
top.
In this snug little retreat, for
the next forty days, three families
spent considerable part Of their
time. Only two shells hit il during
the siege. There was frightful lar
when one of them, thirtv>poun.
der, exploded, but the fortress held
its own.
| X T.
The first shell was followed nv