The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1901-05-03
WAR CHARGES.
THs ASSAULTS AToETTYssuRe AND
KENEskw MOUNTAIN.

~. GGN4HE0 NAEWNNk -
wan Raveaoua APpotitss.
shortly after the battle of chicka-
mauFa. said Captain Fitch, II was ap.
pointed chief quartermaSter Of the sig
nal corps OF the department Of the
Cumberland, stationed at Chattanooga,
ON taking account Of the quartermas'
ter's stores 1 found that l was in need
Of some light wagons to be used in the
MOUNTAINOUS country, and the only
way 70 get them was TO go to Nash
vile and have them made. 50 went TO
Nashville and had I've light wagons
made by the quartermasters depart
meht When got back to Chattanoo-
70 With the wagons. put a citizen
leamster In charge OF the wagons ana
mules ;,
aThe teamster, being green hand,
did mot know that mules would eat
anything within their reach and limo
Gently tied them to the wheels OF the
wagons. Not long after that got an
order to be ready to march. and on go,
ing ont to Inspect my outfit ! founa
That the mules had eaten the spoKes OF
the wheels nearly Of, so that the wag'
ons were ready to fall down OF their
own accord. AS could not use them
/ had no recourse but to drop tnem
from my returns, and, being oDllged 10
assign d reason for 80 dropping them.
gave the true one-vIz, Eaten by
muies.' ~
ashortly afterward I got letter
from the ouartermaster general sarcas-
ticelIy Iboulrlng IL Lieutenant Fitch
mad observed whether the mules had
eaten the tires or not replied that
presumed they had. as they seemed TO
be thoroughly tired the next day. The
uuartermaster general wrote back,
ANY further trialng with this depart
ment on the part OF Lieutenant Fitch
win probably result in his being retired
10 private llfe.' Thereupon dropped
the subject, but my first report was
correct"
"At Chlckamauga." said the major,
.'Longstreets men ran over our head
Quarters teams. Every mule in one Of
the teams went down, and the wagon
stood an obstruction In the road. Five
minutes later every mule was on It's
feet, and wounded teamster yelled at
them to pull out. They started without
more ado, swept along the road after
our broken regiments and, turning ut
lust the right point, came into our new
lines and stopped where the headQuar-
tiers dag had been stuck in the ground.
The driver reported later and drove In
to Chattanooga.
zone Of these mules the night before
had pulled the blanket on our division
commander. had run over the lines Of
soldiers sleeping in close battle order,
had raidcd the Confederate plcEets and
had returned 10 our bivouac under a
furious Dire. The men Of the brigade
took . solemn vow to shoot the mis-
ChIevous mule at daylight, but when
daylight came they had other things to
shoot at, and the mule was forgotten
until he came in at the head OF the
team attached to the headquarters
wagon. Then the boys who had Wit
messed the charge and the escape Of the
driyerless team counted the mules deV.
iltry as nothing"
+That charge OF Longstreet, by the
way" said the colonel, twas one Of the
great charges Of the war. and It was as
Successful as any az breaker OF lines.
OF course we Think of Pickett's charge
al GettyshEfg in a class to itself, but
haEe often wondered whether the
onion assault on the Confederate posi-
tSn ut Kenesaw mountain June ~
1854, should not be put In the list with
ne Confederate charge at Gettysburg
Pickett's charge was Of course the
moro spectacular, and the assaultinl
force was more compact, but while V
beoko the Union line at one point u
WIS driven back In disastrous retreat.
A!Ths direct assault on the fortified
Zine on Kenesaw was made by thre'
briRadeb, no better troops than Pick
cts virginians, but 81 must be remem
berod that while they failed 70 pIere
the Confederate line they held their pc
sItion and did not retreat. Their los
was correspondingly as heavy as PICK
etts az Gettsburg. Sherman's Idea wa
TO show his own army as well as IN
Confederate army that he could max
q frontal attack. II the assault ha'
been made and the RsBaulting column
had retired, as did Pickett's column a
Gettysburg, the effect on the arm
would not have been as 1t was whel
Ghe regiments that led the assault ciuni
to their position not more than 30 pace
from the Confederate parapetS.
THE attack failed except In that
WAS an illustration Of the spirit Of tn
Union troops In assault. Lees purpos
at Gettysburg was undoubtedly &
drive PlckettB 10000 men like a wedg
through the Union lIneR. The failur
OF the attempt led to the retreat Of tn
whole Confederate army. Sherman
purpose at Kenesaw was TO eaptur
che Confederate foFGhcations. The At
tack let TO the retreat not Of Sherman
army, but Of the Confederate army
and have always held that the grOunt
OVer which the Union regiments o
thas day swept forward ought 70 be a
precious 70 the men Of McCook's, Har
keFB and MitchelI's briEadeS az is th
ground at Gettysburg 20 the men o
PiCketts brigades." - Chicago Int
OCEAN.
ThsIv Loyal Answer.
On one of Queen Tictoria's earliest