The National tribune., 1891-10-08
AROUND ATLANTA.
How the I'd Cavalry Division Came uU From q
Rear.


! Rear.
/ EDITOR NATIOSAL TRIBUNE: In your issue
I Of April Capt. M. NJ. Walden, sth Iowa Cav,
/ in his article on the McCcok raid around At
lanta, makes use OF this language:
/ Hood relieved Johnston about July - 1854,
! and about this time Gerard with his force Of
| cavalry, came up from the rear and took posi-
/ tion on SAerman's left to relieve Stoneman.'
/ This is simply another exhibition of how
| little one part OF a large army knows Of what
4 another part is doing on any specified occasion,
| and if C0mrade Walden wishes his readers TO
/ infer that at any time on the Atlanta campaign
| the Second Cavalry Division was in the rear
| doing guard duty, for iustance), be is simply
/ away of, and dOesn't know what he is talking
about.
/ For the information Of Comrade Walden and
/ for the entertainment Of comrades who served
/ in other parts Of the army, and who, like my
| self no doubt, would like to know what their
/ comrades on other parts Of the line were doing
on certain occasions, 1 will state exactly, and in
| a few words, just how Gerrards Division came
/ up from the rear" upon the occasion referred
i 20. BE IL known, then, that the Second Cavalry
+ Division on the Atlanta campaign was COM
/ posed Of three brigades and the Board Of Trade
| Battery. The First Brigade was commanded
| by K. II. c. Minty, the Second by Eli Long,
and the Third by A. o. Miller. The first two
/ were all cavalry and the third all mounted
infantry. armed with Spencer rifles, and known
as the Lightning Brigade"
i On the morning Of April 30 1864, we left
/ Columbia. Tenn, for the front, passing through
/ Pennington, Shelbyville TuIahoma, Decherd
| and C0Wau, over the Cumberland Mountains
| to Stevenson, Bridgeport, and across the Ten
nessee River. At She.lmount we took across
/ the Sand Mountains to Trenton, thence over
| old Lookout at JOhusons Crook, over the
/ Chickamauga and across the Pigeon Mountains
| at Dug Gap 10 Lafayette. Ca, where we arrived
| May o. Here we Joined tho right wing Of
| Shermau's army, commanded by Gen. MCPuer-
son, and from that time % until his death We
| were attached to his army and got our orders
/ from him. We crossed Taylor's Ridge at Ships
/ Gap and on the 10Th of May were at Snake
/ Creek Gap. tSee Shermaus book, Vol. III, page
/ 2s.J
| On the 18th Of May, the day OF the battle at
/ ResaCa, our division fought at the Little Ar
/ murchee River in front Of Rome, and % miles
/ from Resaca. On the night Of the 10th we
/ crossed the OOs.euaula at Lays Ferry three
/ miles below Resaca, and on the 18th fought
/ at Wood Lawn, BlackfOrd's Farm, right in
| front of the Fifteenth Corps and were entirely
surrounded, but Wer0 relieved by division of
| the Fifteenth Corps coming up on our left rear.
| The balance of the army was then at Adairs-
yille on the railroad, north of US. On the 9th
we chased the rebels through Kingston and
across the Etowa at Big Spring Bridge and Sc
cured the bridge. On the sd We were in the
advance Of NcPhersOns flank movement to
| Vanwert and masked that movement skirmish-
ing all day. On the 9th we crossed the Ala
tOona Mountains in front of the Fifteenth Corps.
on the Dallas road, striking the Johnnics at
Pumpkinvinc Creek aud driving then four
miles into the town Of Dallas. On the 18th we
were driven back to Pumpkiuvine Greek the
Fifteenth Corps coming up, drove the enemy
bacis TO Dallas.
On the both we had q hard fight on the
Dallas aud Powder Spring roads. On the 9th
our lightning brigade Joined the right of the
Fifteenth Corps. The JOhunics drove the in
fantry from the works just to our left, and
but for our Spcncers might have driven US
also. These were two OF the hardest fighting
days Of the war.
On tho night Of the Goth Mcpherson began
to move by the left flank, and we preceded
him. From the time we lett Kingston until
the lst of June our horses had no grain, and
by this time nearly oue-third of them had
died or been killed, and we were ordered back
to the Etowa to rest The men had lost on an
average % pounds in weight During the
seven days that we were resting, McPherson's
army had been shifted from the right at Dallas
to the left at Ackworth, and we Joined the left
on the Sth Of June.
On the Och Of June our division fought the
battle OF Big Shanty, driving the enemy
through the town and TO within two miles of
keucsaw. It took Sherman'5 army five whole
days TO fight its way TO keuesaw, and it was
hard fighting, too. On the llth we fought on
the Marietta road, northeast Of Big Shanty
On the 18th our division joined the left of the
Fifteenth Corps. From this time, and until
after the evacuation Of kenesaw, our brigade
was constantly close enough to the rebels to
hear them talking. On June 10Th we fought
the battle Of MONDAY Greek. On the 2lst we
fought east OF MONDAY Creek, losing heavily /
This was five miles north of Marietta. On the I
2Gth We were attacked by the Johnuies, but
drove them OF.
On the 9th the great battle of Kenesaw was
fought, and we advanced with the infantry /
The Lightning Brigade got far enough to the
northeast OF keuesaw to see nearly the whole |
of the eastern face Of the ridge, and held the |
ground gained, which was an awful days work |
On the night Of July ? our brigade relieved
all the infantry skirmishers on tho north and |
west of kenesaw, and the infantry moved Off |
TO the south. That night the Johnnies evacu-
ated Kenesaw, and on the 81 our division fol- /
lowed them through Marietta, seven miles,
and fought them at kOtLeuwood Creek, losing