The National tribune., 1899-12-21
The Bloody Assault on Kenesaw Mountain.
The 2o0th Ind.s Bitter Struggle to Reach
the Rebel Works-Fearful Losses-Si and
Shorty Taken Prisoner,

eral, coming up TO the Colonel while tn
{ men were resting from their work of turn
ing" the rebel lines, and making fires of tn
abatis, to cook their breakfasts "Yol
e pierced the rebel line neatly and most I'M
eXpectediy. 1t reflects great credit, 10
only on the brigade, but ON the whole di
t VISION, winch has been enabled by 1t To ad
vance and strengthen its lines. It's Il grea
nights work for the Wahoo Brigade.
shall take great pleasure in giving You full
, credit Tor 1t, IN my report 10 the Genera
commanding, and commencing your sol
dlerly enterprise TO his favorable consider
: alton"
Thank YOU, General" said the Colonel
SaiutIng. Praise from you is praise in
deed. / really don't deserve it. though, fol
the greater part of the credit belongs TO Capt
MclTll!lcuddY here, who found the break
and pushed his company through it. The
rest of us only followed him. lie ought tC
: be made a Major for it,
Il shall have to pass the compliment in
turn, said the Captain. "I'h' credit is due
to my wide-awake and indyfatigable Serg't
hlegg ana Corpl Elliott, who are always
on the lookout for chances to do good work.
| only gave them leave to go ahead, and
then followed them"
"Really, Cap, said ST, blushng, through
his deep coat of tan, me and Shorty
oughtn't to take to ourselves all you give
us. We only follered them TennesSeeans,
who found the break, and led the way. We
didn't expect to do nothin' more than bust
their line little, and git some prisoners"
This wars gittin too burned civil,
growled Shorty, over his half-canteen Of
frying meat. Better save them compli-
ments till we git away with the rebels for
good and all. When we bust that line over
there (and he looked toward kenesaw
Mountain) then there1l be some sense i'll
complimentary one another"
Il suppose that's our next work, General,
| said the Colonel pninfinD the
host III the next line of works. rs it to be
an assault, or another flank movement
Cant tell just yet. Schofield and Nc
Pherson are manuvering to make Johnston
stretch out still farther. and develop thin
spot where we can break through"
Certainly it does not look like it is over
there" said Col. McInteer.
| I'll admit that it does not. But john
ston's line is now fully Is miles long, and
| there must be weak spots somewhere, un-
less he has got the whole Southern Con
| federacy out there, which We know he has
not, for there's plenty Of them in front Of
Grant, and Banks seems to have found
| more than enough
We'll. so far" returned the General,
though Joe Johnston has shown wonderful
| Generalship in avoiding crushing blow
| from us, and compelled us 10 n tack HIM,
when we did attack him, behind strong
! works, we have been hurting him badly
every day, and he has lost far more in
! killed, wounded and prisoners than we
| have, to say nothing of the ground he has
| been forced TO yield. He car go on forever
| losing this way"
"He must have thin spots in his line,
when it's as long as it is. lie can't have
men enough to hold it strongly from one
end 10 the other. He has been playing off
mountains and woods on us for men. That
we know"
"Yes, and we also know that we have
been playing off mountains and woods on
him for men, or we couldn't have stretched
out for 40 or 80 miles, as we have frequently
done TO get around his fianks. 1t has been
a magnificent game Of bluff and pretenSe
on both sides, mingled with awful hard
hitting at times, but Sherman has played
his side of the game great deal finer than
Joe Johnston, and that is why We have
pushed them back nearly 100 miles from
where we started two months ago, in spite
of their having all the advantages of this
terrible mountain country, where they can
make an impregnable fort out Of a hill in an
hours work
We'll, we know. for sure, that he has not
got as many men as he seems to have
Since we started in at Rocky Face Ridge, we
have been from one end of his line to the
other, and we have always met the same
regiments. Except the Georgia militia,
there has been very few new commands
come up to him, so that there must be thin
spots in his long line, and if we can only
find one and break through it, .Johnston's
| army viii be destroyed in day"
That is true. The only thing for us to
do is 10 keep 'pegging away as Lincoln
says. As soon as your men have had
something TO eat, Colonel, you will push out
strong skirmish-line 10 that little rise
there, and start line Of pits. III see that
the battery helps you all it can"
But General, my men are clear worn
out. They are nearly dead for rest and
sleep"
SOS everybody. for that matter.
don't know anybody who isn't. And if the
rebels are not made of iron they're worse off
| than we are. We have kept them on the
| tenter-hoOks every minute since we crossed
| the Etowah, and those fellows out there in
| front of us must be more tired than we are.
| We want to make them still more tired. We
must keep our lines right up against theirs
all the time"
"All right. Forward goes the skirmish-
line Capt. McGiIIicuddy, take your COM
pany, carry that rise in front, and establish
a line of rhe-pits."
This was the signal for fresh outburst
| of the storm of cannon and musietry fire,
! which almost hourly shook the hills far and
near throughout the long Summer DAYS,
while Sherman, holding fast to the railroad
on his extreme left, and slowly crowding
| Johnston back along 1t. was reaching his
| right flank far out into the country to pass
and envelop Johnston S left flank, and gain
| tile railroad at Mdftellst, Dtfllllu nm and
| his mountain Businesses. Co. Q went on a
| run to the crest of the rise, and then fell flat
| on the ground, and began digging for life
with their bayonetS and half-canteenS. to
| throw up little protecting mounds of dirt.
while the battery hurled a shower of shells
| over their heads into the rebel works, and
| the rest of the brigade swept the opposite
| line with a searching musketry fire.
In an aStoniShngly short time the little
| mounds in front of each man grew big
| enough to join one another, stones, chunks,
| and brush were feverishly gathered up and
presently the bank grew high enough 10
allow the Use of picks and shovels. when it
went forward more rapidly, until formid-
| of the rebels striving To prevent it.
The moment that this was accomplished,
and the men felt secure from the devastating
! musketry fire, they succumbed to the over,
poWering fatigue, and sank upon the
ground. But, tired as they were, they
sprang up again at the first word that the
rebels were Swarming over their works TO
drive them back. Instantly and instinct
lively they were in line behind their little
bank, pouring a Well-aimed. destructive
fire on the rebels, which, with that from the
right and left, checked the sortie and drove
| the enemy back to cover.
That wIz ole Gilmartin's s rijimint agin," 1"
said Basil Peters, cautiously scrutinizing
| the dead-Strewn ground in front, "and by
| appearances hit got salivated wuss'n ever
afore. Mouty big passei o them sang
| diggin' scoundrels We got their last dose
Good riddance o. bad rubbish. Wisht |
could see the last o. they'uns a-lavin' ont