Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1890-08-16
The Battle of Peachtree Creek

Ben. C. Trumau, in the New Yors Times,
says Speaking of Peachtree creek, 1t was
one of tbs gems of battle between Resaca
and Atlanta, and wss really meteoric, lest
ing only few hours of an afternoon on the
20 b Of July, 1864 Hood was In command
of the Confederatee, and he had undoubted-
y made up his mind to make saVlge al
tempt upon the centre OF Sherman's magnii-
icent line aud cut it iu two and demorslize
thinRs generally. Newton's line wss weak
and Hood came down tremendously upon
it, and an almost hand -.o-hand fight ensued.
For eu hour the blue and the gray were
pretty we'll mixed, and bayonetiog and club
hipg with tha butts of muskets among the
soldiers and the use of pistols and swords
among the officers were not infrequent. L
never beard or saw such rain Of canister
and grape for 40 or so minutes, and the
".ebel yell' above it ell made things hum.
Gen. John II. King. who commanded the
regulars, was hurried up and placed in re-
rye in beautifui piece Of woods, and q
Prussiau artille,yman whom we called
"Lesther Breeches' secured small eleva-
tion near by with his six guns and everlast-
ingly poured she'll and canister into the ad-
vancing enemy.
Once rebel regiment of infsntrg divided
Itself by three in attempting to take this bat
terry Not far eff Michigan battery joins in
the dapason and sends hundreds of impetu-
ous southerners to 'that undiscovered
country" Every human being under Hook
er is at work, aud Newton, Butterfeld.
Gesry and Sweeny are fighting like devils.
Yankee aH we'll as rebel yells mingle with
vociierstions of shell and shrapnel. and the
tops and branches of trees are falling as if
lightning had struck thsm in hundreds OF
places.
There's old Pap Thomas, like o fool,n ex-
claims King, "still mounted ~ and then
King and Fetterman ard Mulligan go and
fcrcibly take Thomas off hia horse and stand
him behind o tree. Hooker is in font,
mounted, fighting his old corps for all there
il in It. Ali tEe reserves sre behind trees or
down on their bellies, and shot, she'll, grape,
bullet and canister make music in their
midst.
Talk about your symphonies. II was
carnival Of tones tbat could have been heard
thirty miles and it was kept up until dark,
when firing ceased and King was ordered to
close up sn ugly gap that had been made in
Newton's division. Hooker covered himself
with smoke and glory and went right into
the jaws of the battle and stayed there until
be whipped the enemy cut of sieht-and ne
slept that night with dead and dying, col
lapsed csissonsapd gun csrrages,apd wound
ed horse5 all around. ! saw him 1T day.
light next morning and he leaked IS though
ho had been dragged through a stuhbefs!d.
Where are they p l asked, So good
many OF them a;e in hell" no replied. hut
iha moat of tham GTe in Atlanta" Ho weg
sight regarding tbs !giter, for we soon had
crde;s 10 march. ana we never heard bu,-
.et 1r she'll un5ii the whole army bad
moved in line of battle np to within two
ls lies of :Go fortified city, Thau they checz-
eG as with thei7 GemorhlizIpg 9riel messen-
esrs oi haze. and We went into camp ana
stayed here nrdl the victories at and near
Jouesborougb, Aug. 81, which gave us AJlaa-
to the day following did not hear the
rebel hazds play Dixie" again until late in
November.