The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1892-04-27

that cover the Alatoona mountains,
northeast of the pass then held by our
troops, though we did not know that
our friends were only five miles away,
with no serious obstacle intervening.
This was the pass which few weeks
afterward the Yankee General Corse
held with handful of gallant fellows
against the desperate assaults of the
Confederate General French's corps. At
the risk of interfering with my direct
narrative, l will say that the famous
hymn, Hold the Fort, for We are Com
ing" had its origin in this bloody fight,
When Sherman found that Corse was
being attacked by an overwhelming
force, with the nearest help twenty-five
miles away. he signaled, "If you can
hold out till night help will be up"
Corse signaled back from the midst of
his dead and dying and with the enemy
swarming about him, 'I'll hold out till
hell freezes over" And he did hold out,
though have no reason to believe that
the temperature has changed in the place
referred to.
In our terrible anxiety we forgot our
hunger and did not dare to rest. 1t
rained every night and often in the
course of the day, owing, no doubt, to
the continuous firing of the enemy in
the defenses of Atlanta and the hammer
ing away of Sherman's beseigers. Now
and then, when we came upon clear
ing, it did not tell of "a human abode near
by, but rather suggested the dwelling
place of the spirit of desolation. On the
trees surrounding the fenceless field the
scavenger crows cawed in conventions
that told that they had grown fat and
prosperous They did not fly away at
our approach, for they had become fear
less of or indifferent to living men. On
heavy wing the loathsome buzzard9
lowered over the huge chimneys from
which the wooden houses had been
burned away, or here and there rose
slowly from the carcass of horse or a
mule, only to return when we had
passed on.
Frequently by the roadside between
Wilton and Acworth we came upon
mounds recently thrown up, sometimes
the width of one man, and again long
enough to hide score. The soil of that
land is particularly red, but it needed no
activity of the imagination on this Occa-
sion to force on our minds another rea-
son for the sanguinary hue of the earth.
The clearings bordering the roads were
pitted by the hoofs of cavalry horses.
The trees back of hastily constructed
distractions had mapped on their bullet
a.. n1 III ota l,n
story of stubborn assault and desperate
defense. The roads were now red and
rutted riffs, strewp with the debris OF
broken wagons, splintered gunstocks
and the fotsam and jetsam that mark
the ebb and flow of the battles tide,
There is n sublimity in the desolation Of
the desert, where nature erects her arid
barriers against mans possessioni but
there Is u horror indescribable in the
desolation of war when witnessed by one
who has had no hand in tho destruction.
On the afternoon of Aug, 8, and when
nearly starved into insanity, my stout
hearted friend and myself came on an
ash heap in the woods. About the place
were pieces of broken crockery, rusty
culinary tins, blankets hastily aban-
doned, chiIl's hood, pair of little
shoes much worn at the toes and dilap-
idated doll with one red stocking on its
remaining leg. Evidently this had been
the camp of family flying from the
army, and they must have been hurried
from the place. The child's shoes and
the doll told all this and much more.
In our search we found about q peck
of sweet potatoes, q few ears Of pn-
husked green corn and about six pounds
Of bacon tied up in q corn SACK, We
devopred some of the meat and corn
PAW, and it was pot till aar burning
hunger was partly appeased that Bell
recalled he had flint and steel, and that
this would be an excellent place to camp
for the night,
II was now near sunset, and while my
companion was making q fire, which
was to be extinguished ~ soon rs all the
provisions were booked, went off to ex-
anime the surroundings.
II was SO near night when returned
TO Bell that could see the glow of the
camp through the trees far IN front, yet
this assurance OF his safety and where
abouts did not draw me away from a
caution that had become habitual. l
kept in the shadow Of the trees in adj