The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-06-20
IN a soMRARDEo CITY.
The First Shell OF the slege-The
Last Shot.


Lyhe Old Colonel In Atlanta constitutional
1t was hot July morning in the sulphur
Gus year Of 'sixty-four.
Within its blood red circle Of redOubts and
breastworks the beleagured city sweltered
| and throbbed In an agony Of terror and
tumult.
The Atlanta of that day was the most i'm
portant stronghold Of the confederacy. IL
was at once city and a camp. Thirty thou
sand citizens and forty thousand soldiers
were packed within its brlstling ramparts,
| sand foemen whose Haunting cOlOrs could be
| seen advancing from every direction.
In the crowded streets good natured anar-
| chy ruled the hour, and the occasional rub-a-
dub-dub Of drum, and the blare Of a bugle
| were lost In the dull grumbling roar Of NOV
| ing artillery trains and army wagons.
On some OF the spacious Peachtree piazZas
/ groups Of young ladies might have. been seen
chatting with a few officers whose brOnZed
| faces and battle-marked uniforms showed
| plainly enough that they were just from the
| frapt
Suddely there arose above the humming
| discord Of camp and city hideOus, Shrek
ing, whiZZlng noise, so unearthy and blood
curdling that thousands Of peaceful citizens
turhed white with fear, and fled aimlessly
| from one point 10 another
| "A she'll by Godp exclaimed a cavalry Of
Il Uctf VINO was III Llt ACT Oh mounting MS
horse near the corner Of Peachtree and Ellis.
/ II was the first shell Of the siege, and 1t had
i fallen inside the city limits.
/ The soldiers shrugged their shoulders and
/ laughed. and then the most reckless Of them
| looked serious for moment. They were
| thinking Of the women and children who
were about to go through the coming bap-
/ tism Of fire.
Mr. Tom Crusselle. who had been watch
ing HOOker's batteries on Todd's hill,a little
\ eminancp northeast of Ponce de .QOn guFinn
l was standing in his front yard, the present
| site Of Colonel Bob Maddox's residence, when
| the she'll came plunging through the air.
He could have sworn that II was heading
straight for the spot on which he stood, but
a strange fascination compelled him to watch
| its eurving course until 1t tore its way into
Mr.. A. O.. Ladds lot, opposite the we'll
L known Calico house on Wheat street.
Mr.. Crusselle did not waste any time in
| fancy speculatiOnS. He was a man Of action
and he felt that the time had come for him
to prepare for the worss
1t was not an easy matter to secure help,
but In less than an hour he had several men
| hard at work digging bOmb-proOf in his
| back yard. As the whole city was honey
combed with Just such dug-outs In the course
OF day or two. picturd OF this one will de-
scribe them all.
The bOom-proof was twenty feet long,
| seven feet wide and nine feet deep. The en-
| trance TO ii was in zig-zag shape. IL was
/ well lined with thick plank and earpeted.
First heavy timbers were laid across tlie
/ trench and then 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 a consider
/ able part Of their tine, Only two shells hit
| II during the siege. There was a frightful
jar, when one Of them, thirty-pounder, ex-
1 ploded but the fortress held its own.
The first she'll was followed by few, II any,
i that day. Three days later big she'll fell In
Mr.. CrusselPs yard, tearing up the ground
and covering good old DIR. D'Alyigney and
/ Mrs. D'Alvigney, who happened TO be there
on a visit with shower OF dirt
Altogether, during the siege, seven shells
struck the Crusselle lot, only three of them
Between. Ellis and Cain and Spring and Ivy
streets l63 shells struck, doing comparatively
/ little damage.
The stately Herring mansion on Peachtree,
/ in later years known as the Leyden house,
/ had more than Its share Of these missiles.
One crashed through the house and ricoche-
ted, landing on bed in which a lady was
| trying to take a nap. where IL cOzily settled
down on one Of the pillows with its fuse stlll
smoking. Another, spent shell, dropped
| into one Of the rooms on the first floor where
1t poised itself on its end before pier glass.
ut merely paused for reflection, remarked
| one Of the inmates Of the house who, by the
/ way, had rushed across the street 10 put on
such garments as he had carried with him In
his flight.
But all this occurred in one locality. The
same wild experience befell other parts of the
| city. The neighbOrhOOd called DeantOwn
was shelled almost out Of existance. The
| heavy proiectiles darted In q straight line
down Marietta street, stripping nearly every
house Of its weatherb0arding.
| The helpless citizens burrOwed under the
ground like moles. They spent a third Of
their time down in the bowels Of the earth.
| The sides Of the railway cut under the Broad
street bridge looked like net work Of holes,
so many caves had been dug there by people
| who were seeking a safe refuge. Even the
| bank vaults were utilized In this way, and
the family and friends Of many a city bank
er spent night after night In these massively-
walled apartments.
Shortly after high noon on the I'd day Of
September, young man In faded, powder
sc0rehed suit Of gray, stood on the hill by
General GartrelPs house on Decatur street.
| He turned his weather-beat face west
ward and drawing his sl0uehed hat over his
eyes to shade them, looked down the street.
The confederate had a reckless defiant
look. The siege was over. Atlanta had
been surrendered, and the vistOrs. flushed
| with triumph, were marching In.
The solitary soldier had remained behind
| with squad Of troopers, who like himself
feared neither men nor devils. They bad
met the advance column near the artesian
well, and after throwing II into confusion by
firing rattling volley had put spurs 10 their
| horses and made their escape.
All but this man. He had paused on the
hill, after tying his horse out Of sight around
| a corner.
zone last shot" he said grimly to himself.
Down on the ground he dropped. hugging
the dusty earth, with his carbine In front OF
| him.
Tramp, tramp, tramp! A thousand echoes
caught up the noise Of the marching feet, and
the sullen watcher tingled with mad excite
ment In every nerve.
The crack Of the carbine rang out upon
the sultry air. and the men In blue caught a
glimpse Of a gaunt gray figure leaplng up
from the dust and speeding away like the
| wind.
A hundred muskets beched forth a sheet
OF flame, but when the smoke lifted, the dar-
daring confederate was ON his horse elatter-
ing over hill half a mile away.
His last shot had brought down its game.
and federal soldier dragged himself 10 the
sidewalk with bullet in his thigh
Not another gun was fred, and Sherman's s
stern legions marched on, spreading over the
town like mighty blue wave, a rushing tor
rent OF glitterlng steel and starry flags. The
long struggle for Atlanta was over!
1