The National tribune., 1895-01-31
MONDAY CHURCH.
Gen. Minty Clears Away Threatened In
Justice.

l w IluNdIu, Va thS
Atlanta campaign" There are few men
for whom have greater admiration, either
as an accomplished soldier or q Christian
gentleman, than Gen. Howard, and it pains
me 10 have to criticize statement made by
him. In doing so, however, / am pleased 10
know that the statement with which have
| to take issue was made from reports or
information gained from others.
My object in writing this letter is simply
to prevent an injustice being done in his
tory to the noble body of men who under
me fought in cavalry combat which Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston very properly designates
as the conspicuous one of the campaign /;
and sincerely trust that Gen. Howard will
receive my statements in the spirit in which
they are written.
Gen. Howard, in The NATIONAL TRIBUNE
of Jan. 10, 1895, says:
There are four distinct combats which
ought to come into the battle of Kenesaw;
| for both hosts were there vis-a-vis for the
struggle: The combat with Wheeler's cav
| airy near Brush Mountain; the cavalry COM
| bat against Jackson; the battle of KOlb's
| Farm The 22d of June, and the determined
attacks and repulses at different points along
| the Kenesaw line during the 9th of June.
"Gen Cox, for our side, in his Atlanta
Campaign has given brief account of the
first combat. 1t is substantially as follows:
One of B!air's Divisions Ueggett's) had
just arrived and gone into place on Sher-
mans left flank. Leggett noticed hill to
the left of his line of march. He sent the
gallant Force with his brigade to occupy that
hill.
when. Gen. Forces men, by sharp Skin
mish with the Confederate advance, had
gained the crest, to their astonishment they
had in plain view before them a serious con-
flict already on between our cavalry, under
Garrard, with Wheeler. Garrard was losing
ground, and would have been badly routed
had not Leggett at once sent Force battery
of artillery. This with the speediest acti' \
from the hilltop poured in upon the enemy's
horsemen volley after volley, and with such
protection the cavalry of Garrard was en-
abled to rally"
No man who was in the battle of MONDAY
Church can recognize it under the guise of
Gen. Towards story of 1.-THE First Combat"
In the issue of March /, 1894, gave full
and truthful history Of this battle. | say
battle advisedly, for it is fully entitled to
that term.
If you will refer TO the official maps of the
Atlanta campaign, issued by the War De-
partment, you will find on the map which
places Marietta near the southeast corner,
the position of the contendiDg armies at that
time.
Almost directly north from Marietta you
will find MONDAY Tor Lattimer's) Church
standing at the left side of the road. In
my published account / made the mistake
of calling this Ebenezer Church The creek
south of the church, with course from
southeast to northwest, was known to US as
Mud Creek, and here is where the fight COM
menced. Brush Mountain, which Gen. How
ard mentions, is some miles south.
The McAfee's referred to by me is Nc
Afees Crossroads, directly north from the
church. and you will find il close under the
word Woodstock
Before L crossed MONDAY Creek Gen.
Leggett was several miles to our right, and
during the fight he was several miles to our
rear, until about dark, when i fell back to
our third position on the east bank of the
creek, where we finally repulsed Wheeler
and closed the combat. This again placed
Leggett on our right, and still several miles
distant.
At no time was he or Gen. Force within
supporting or, to use Gen. Towards lam
guage, protecting distance. A rally was
never necessary. We never at any time lost
our formation, or were in such condition az
to render a rally possible.
From first to last the battle was steady,
stubborn fighting on our part. At no time
were driven. The changes in position
were made in obedience to orders given by
me. The first change was made to prevent
Martins Division being thrown in rear of
my right. In my published account / said
Aliens Division. This is a selfevident
for in, ba 7 oh hat
Allen commanded brigade in Martins Di-
visioD
The second change was made for the pur-
pose of occupying more favorable position,
which had selected before abandoning the
first.
Gen. Howard is in error in saying "our
cavalry under Garrard." IT'S true the fight
was made by Garrard's cavalry, but Garrard
was west of the MONDAY Creek, and was not
with us during the fight. / commanded,
and the fight was made at first by my bril-
gade alone and the only support or assist
ance received was from three It giments of
the Mounted Infantry Brigade of our divis-
ion, under Col Miller
We were hard pressed when Col. Miller,
with three of his regiments, came to our as
sstance, and at that moment would rather
have seen that same Mounted Infantry Bril-
gade than any other in the entire army.
There WAS no battery near enough to reach
the men was fighting, except our own, the
glorious Chicago Board of Trade Battery,
and not a shot was fired by any other. If
there had been another battery within sup
porting distance, il could have reached the
enemy only by firing over us.
Every man who has any knowledge of
Gen. Howard knows that under no circum-
stances would he make a statement which
he did not believe to be correct in every par
ticular. The inaccuracy in this case, it ap.
pears to me- is caused by his running to-
gether the capture of the hill near Sherman's
right flank, by Gen. Force, and my battle at
MONDAY Church.
What Gen. Cox said of this fight was that
he witnessed it from the hill near Kene-
saw" and that it was lone of the most
hotly-contested cavalry fights Of the war"
between Garrard's and the enc
my's cavalry under Wheeler"
The Confederate account OF this battle as
given in the Memphis Appeai, psblshed at
Atlanta, Ga, June %, 1864, is given in my
article in THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE of
March ], 1894. In il nothing whatever is
said of the 'volley after volley" from the
hilltop, and undoubtedly if such thing
had occurred, the Confederates would have
been only too glad to make the most Of it,
for the purpose of saving themselves from
the Notifying impuiation of having been
so signally defeated ia their declared inten-
tion of canturjnp my hriyade with n force