The Portland daily press., 1888-10-02
THE SURRENDER OF ATLANTA.
a Glimpse OF Sherman as he Appear
ed to Southern eye.
ATLANTA constitutIop.l


Beyond the red-clay fortress-over the frag-
ments Of army wagons and caissons, with
eyes ayerted from the skulls and bones that
cleaned like so many white horrors in the
fierce sunlight-the little band with flag Of
truce rode on. the mayor at the head. They
passed the rifle pits and entertainments Of the
enemy Not human being, not a living
thing was In sight. Two, three four miles.
and not sign Of the enemy. A sudden turn
In the road brought them face to face with a
marching detachment Of men In blue. A
brief halt, a hurried explanation. A Federal
colonel rode up the spot and asked few
questions. The white flag. the appearance Of
the strangers In citizens garb and the calm,
measured words Of Mayor Calhoun satisfied
the officer, and an orderly was at once DETAIL
cd to guide the visitors to the commanders
camp.
When the mayor and his friends we're in
tr0duced to General Sherman they saw before
them man OF 45, who looked fully 10 years
older. His br0nzed face, scanned with lines
Of care and his eyes told tale Of sleepless
nights. His wrinkled brow, and his rough,
closely-trimmed beard, together with his
weather-beaten field uniform, made him look
like anything but holiday soldier, and his
appearance contrasted strikingly with the
glitter and haring colors Of the Imposing staff
around him. Still there was an air Of leader
ship and command about him, and the mes
senger from Atlanta would have picked him
out among million There was nothing
stately or dignihed about him. His face show
ed that II had been a handsome one, and his
head, phenomenally large, and bulging at the
top, sloped precipitately down to the neck at
its back. The peculiar shape OF this remark
able head had caused many officers at the be-
ginning OF the war to insist that lts owner was
mentally unbalanced. but our followers Ofthe
white flag did not waste any time In such sDec-
ulations. They saw SlOcum's corps moving
rapidly onward, and not a moment was to be
lost In stating their business.
The stern commander, after searching
scrutiny OF the faces before him, looked down
at the ground, while Mayor Calhoun quietly
Informed him Of the helpless condition Of the
city, and briefly surrendered II upon the con-
dltlon that life, liberty and private property
should be protected.
Then the general looked up again, and In
curt buslness-like way said that he could grant
the conditions requested. He said that the
civil authorities had taken the proper course
In seeking him, and expressed the hope that
their relations would be pleasant and satisfac-
''But this is war. you know" he said In his
abrupt way; "yes--it this Is War ed.
must place your town under nsarrfar law. 7"
That won't hurt good citizens. but IL will
play the devil with the bad ones" 'Now
that we have surrendered, remarked one Of
the citizens, you will probably come In at
onceY'
The general darted quick glance at him.
come IN ! ne answered, Il think some OF
my men are already there they are marching
In that direction as fast as they can walk"
Zone word more" said Sherman. ~ sup
pose II Is understood that none Of your people
will fire upon my soldiersY
He was assured that nothing Of the kind
would occur, and the Others then rode back
TO the city, entering 1t with the advance guard
Of the Federals only few hundred yards be-
hind them.
Shortly after midday the streets were blue
with companies and regiments Of Feder-
ais.
All night the wagons and troops were NOV
ing into the city, and the next day the place
was crowded. There were billiard rooms
and drinking saloons over some of the
stores, and bills were out advertising a min
strel show for that night ON Decatur street.
A dozen generals occupied the best houses,
In some cases compelling the original occu-
pants to move into other quarters.
General Sherman established himself very
comfortable quarters In the present high
school building, on the corner Of Mitchell and
Washington streets, and engaged for house-
keeper an old lady who two days before had
been denouncing him as a savage for whom
even the worst fate was too good The two
got along very agreeably, and In less than a
week the housekeeper told her friends that
the General was the incest man In the world
and had been shamefully slandered