The National tribune., 1897-08-19


would com;,el an abandonment of the
enterprise and, possibly, humi!iating
retreat. We knew that Jeff Davis and
his Government were strongly dissatisfied
with the Fabian policy of Joe Johnston.
The papers had told us of the rebel
President s visit to Atlanta of his bitter
comments on Johnston's tactics; of his
going so far as to sheer about the neces-
sltv OF providing Pontoons at Key West,
so that Johnston might continue his re-
treat even to Cuba Then came the
news Of Johnston's sunercession bv Hood,
and the papers were full of the exulting
predictions of what would now be &C
coniplished when that gallant young
soldier is once fairly in the saddle"
All this meant one supreme effort to
arrest the onward course OF Sherman.
1t indicated a resolve to stake the fate
of Atlanta, and the fortunes of the Con-
federacy in the West, upon the hazard
of one desperate fight. We watched
the summoning up OF every rebel energy
for the blow with apprehension. We
dreaded another Chickamauga.
The blow fell on the ODD of July. 1t
was we'll planned. The Army of the
Tennessee, the left of Sherman's forces,
was the part struck. On the night of
the 2lst Hood marched a heavy force
around its left flank and gained its rear.
On the 22d this force Tell on the rear
with the impetuous violence of a cyclone,
while the rebels in the works Immediately
around Atlanta attacked furiously in
front.
1t was an ordeal that no other army
ever passed through successfully. The
steadiest troops in Europe would think
it foOlhardlness to attempt to withstand
an assault in force in front and rear at
the same time. The finest legions that
follow any flag to-day must almost in
evitably succumb to such mode of at
tack. But the seasoned veterans of the
Army of the Tennessee encountered the
shock with an obstinacy which showed
that the finest material for soldiery this
planet holds was that in which UNI
daunted hearts beat beneath blue
blOuses. Springing over the front Of
their breastworks, they drove back with
whitening fire the force assailing them
in the rear.
This beaten off, they jumped back to
their proper places, and repulsed the as
sault in front This was the way the
battle was waged until night compelled
a cessation of operations Our BOYS
were alternately behind the breastworks
firing at rebels advancing upon the
front and in front of the works firing
upon those coming up in the rear.
Sometimes part OF our line would be on
one side of the works and part on the
other.
In the prison we were greatly excited
over the result of the engagement, of
which we were uncertain for many days
A host of new prlsoners-perhaps 1000
was brought in from there, but as they
were captured during the progress of
the fight, they could not speak def
nitely as to its issue. The rebel papers
exulted without stint over what they
termed "a glorious victory" They
were particularly jubllant over the
death of Mcpherson, who, they claimed,
was the brain and guiding hand of
Sherman's army. One paper likened
him to the pilot-fsh, which guides the
shark to his prey. Now that he was
gone, said the paper, Sherman's army
would become a great numbering hulk,
with no one in it capable of directing it,
and it must soon fall to utter ruin under
the skillfully-delivered strokes of the gal
liant Hood
We also knew that great numbers of
wounded had been brought to the
prison hospital and this seemed to con-
firm the rebel claim of a victory, as it
showed they retained possession of the
battlefield.
About the LIST Of August a large
squad of Sherman's men, captured in
one OF the engagements subsequent to
the 22d, came in. We gathered around
them eagerly. Among them noticed
bright, curl y-haired, blue-eyed in
fantryman-or boy, rather, as he was
vet beardless. His cap was marked
"6Sth o. V. V. L." bis sleeves were
garnished with re-enlistment stripes, and
on the breast of his blouse was silver
arrow. To the eye of the soldier this
said that he was veteran member Of
the 6Sth Ohio Chat is, having already
served three years, he had re-enlisted for
the war;, and that he belonged to the
Third Division of the Seventeenth Corps.
He was SO young and fresh looking
that one could hardly belie,e him to be
a veteran, but il his stripes had not said
this, the soldierly arrangement of
clothing and accouterments, and the
graceful, selfpossessed pose of limbs and
body would have told the observer that
he was one Of those "Old Reliables
with whom Sherman and Grant had
already subdued third of the Confed-
eracy. His blanket, which, for a Won
der, the rebels had neglected to take
from him, was tightly rolled, its ends
tied together, and thrown over his