The National tribune., 1894-05-24
THE McCOOK RAID.
To What the Capture OF Gen. stoneman
Due.

| EDITOR NATIONAL. TRIBUNE: / read with
great interest Comrade HOlbro0k's account
of Gen. Kilpatrck's raid around Atlanta in
| THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE Of March /.
too was on that raid.
It was in the Summer of 1864 that Gen
Sherman with his army lay in front of At.
lanta-a naturally-fortifed point which had
| been further strengthened by formidable
works that the rebels considered impregna-
| BILE. In fact assault would have resulted
in disaster, but Gen. Sherman was too wise
| for such a rash act.
To take some of the confidence out of the
| enemy he organized two divisions from his
cavalry, well equipped and mounted, one OF
| 5 900 men under command of Gen. Stoneman
and the other of 4, 500 men under Gen. Ed
McCook, to move simultaneously on a mis-
| sion of destruction. The former was to pass
| to the right of Atlanta through McDonough
and the latter to the left by the way of Fay
etteville, and on the 29th of July TO join
forces at Lovejoy, station to the rear and
south of Atlanta, abont 30 miles distant, on
the Macon s. Western Railroad, the object
being to destroy thoroughly all the lines OF
communication between Atlanta and their
base of supplies.
Before starting Gen. Stoneman asked per-
mission to proceed to Macon and Anderson
Vile and release the Union prisoners there
confined, which request was granted; but
first the combined forces were to turn upon
Gen. Wheeler and whip him. IF Stoneman
had obeyed this order the trouble which
afterwards befell these two commands
would have been averted.
1t is now of Gen. McCooks command that
1 write This was composed of picked men
and horses from his own Cavalry Division
the 4th Ky., 1st Tenn, 9Th Iowa, 1st Wis, I'd
and 4th Ind, and one section of rtillery, with
the addition of four regiments of ROusseau's
raiders-the 9th Ind. (Of which the writer
was member), I'd KY, 4th Tenn, and 9Th
Iowa.
A norton of the command was armed
with the Spencer carbne, each regiment
having one ambulance, but no baggage
The night of July 26 found us in the saddle.
We had an al-night ride. It was pitch
dark, with occasional vivid flashes of light
ming The officers were all at sea as to our
whereabouts, and about o'clock we lay
down upon the hillside and slept till morn
ing, when Col T. J. Harrison, of the 9Th
Ind, commanding the brigade, reported to
Gen. McCcok.
We drew rations and forage, and at 5
o'clock q. M moved out on our journey, not
hating till dark; rest was taken until 8 at
night. Then the march was resumed until
l o'clock in the morning, when we camped
within four miles of the ChattahOochee
River.
The next day, arriving at Campbellton,
we found force of rebels disputing cross
ing, so moved six miles further down the
river to Pumpkinton, where pontoon
bridge was thrown across at Mason's Ferry
and the command was soon on the opposite
side of the river, after which the pontoons
were taken back to Marietta by the 9th
OHIO
After crossing the river we moved rapidly
forward, reaching Palmetto station on the
Atlanta and West Point Railroad, % miles
from Atlanta, about dark, when we pro-
ceeded to destroy about five miles Of the
road, and burned three bridges, the depot,
ard other public PROPERTY. A train laden
with army supplies came orr way, not
dreaming of the nearness of Yank, and of
course Jared the same fate as the depot.
Our movement had been so noiseleSs and
rapid that our approach was announced only
by our appearance in their midst. 1t was
about o'clock at night when we got away
from here and took our course toward
Fayetteville depot of supplies for the
rebel army, some % miles further east. All
that night the command kept on the move,
not firing a shot to announce our coming,
capturing wagon-trains, loaded, which, after
appropriating what the boys wanted, were
burned.
Near Fayetteville train of nearly thou
sand wagons were parked, loaded with bag
gage Of the Atlanta army, and the guards
could not believe we were of the blue until
they saw the wagons on fire and themselves
prisoners.
At 7 o'clock in the morning of July % we
entered the town, remaining long enough to
destroy the Commissary and Quartermasters
stores found there as well as depots, public
buildings and railroad. We were too near
Atlanta to linger, for even then the rebels
were endeavoring to head us off, and we must
move fast enough to keep out of their way.
Our course now lay toward the Atlanta
& Macon Railroad. After giving it the same
treatment that had been melted to others
we moved on to our objective point, Love
Joy Station, 16 miles from Fayetteville.
When this was reached the command was
scattered along the railroad to destroy it and
all Kings pershable while waiting for the
appearance of Gen. Stoneman's command.
We had captured several hundred prisoners,
including Generals, Colonels etc. Hour
alter nOur passed WDlle Inc reDel nOSIS were
marshaling for our destruction, but as no
StOneman appeared, we were compelled to
move to the south. AS the hour of 5 o'clock
p. m. arrived, the enemy pressing on our
rear succeeded in capturing portion of the
9Th Iowa. Still pressing hard, Col. jim
Brownlow turned and charged suddenly and
determinedly, checking the enemy for spell.
The march was steadily continued during
the night, taking only short rest atdaylight,
and endeavoripg to avoid a clash of arms,
hoping to be able 10 cross the Chattahoochee
River before the rebels got in our front.
They had control now Of all the bridges
over Sweet Water, a deep and muddy stream,
except one, and while the rear brigade
was crossing, the 4th KY, acting as rear
guard, were attacked by large force
and stampeded. They rushed upon this
bridge, calling upon battalion of the
9Th Ind, there stationed, to save them. Be-
fore any interference could be made they
tore up the bridge and compelled the 9Th
boys to swim the creek
The rebels at this time seemed to be thick
on all sides, and there could not have been
less than 5000 in hot pursuit of us. Col.
jim BrownlOw, after considerable difficulty,
succeeded in rallying the 4th KY. boys with
his regiment and made another stand and
after skirmishing heavily for time retired
slowly but in good order.
By this time Gen. McCool, instead of
keeping his command in a compact form,
had allowed it to stretch out to such length
that any concentrated action was impossible,