Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1901-10-10

turning train was nearing Atlanta we
had over 100 men aboard, including
border state major, who was the
ranking officer, my own rank at the
time being captain. Meanwhile, and
this we did not know, Hood had
swung around Atlanta and placed the
entire confederate army between us
aud Sherman. Ny story begins when
we ran into the advance guard of his
army beyond Allatoona.
1--WE we're riding along with no
thought of a confederate when the train
stopped with q jolt and word came
that hostile force was holding the
track q distance in front. The boys
swarmed out of the freight cars with
fixed bayonets and that major shout
ed charge looked ahead and I
could catch the CLEAN of rifles here
and there. I could hear the rumble
of moving cannon and I could see
clouds of dust rising far and wide.
Evidently what we were approach
ing was not a guerrilla band, but an
army in motion. I was scared and
1udu ~ VIC xACAUuChloA 81 VIC oouAC
time.
charge nothing said. That's
Hoods army coming and he will eat
us up. Get back into the coaches,
boys
1.-THE dust clouds were thickening
as spoke and the boys promptly
crambled into the train and we
started back the way we had come.
The major had to follow, and after
that be did a thinking part, for the
soldiers would not obey him. Our
destination was Allatoona Fort,
where Brig. Gen. Corse and regi-
ment of Iowans were guarding the
pass and million and a half of
cracker rations.
"That night we halted alongside
blockhouse where a lieutenant and
some 50 men were stationed. At
dark be and climbed nearby hill,
whence we could see the campfires
blazing behind us for miles. The bray
of mules came to us on the clear
night air, the distant shouts and
songs of the soldiers and the vast
murmur that tells of the near pres
ence Of a host. We looked and list
ened and then urged the lieutenant
to abandon his fort and come on to
Allatoona, where we would have a
chance to make real fight. But he
said he would stay there until Sher-
man ordered him to get out.
''The next morning we steamed
away, more in sorrow than in anger,
leaving the hlockhead and his block
house to their fate. We were scarce
ly clear of the village when the rebel
guns began to play. I saw the red
brick dust fly from the blockhouse
and then saw white flag over it.
It was all over with the lieutenant
and his forlorn hope. We kept NOV
ing and at last we came to Allatoona.
There we awaited the confederates.
"When they came they came with
rush, 1000 strong. Soon Corse was
winged, AID the next in command was
killed, and there was no one above
the rank of captain left. That was
why we held the fort Any general
would have surrendered rather than
have exposed his men to such a
butchery. But it was soldiers bat
tie, and the soldier never knows when
he is whipped.
"In their first rush the Johnnies
got into the sheds, almost within
stones throw of the fort. We found
them lying dead there when the bat
tie was over. They were behind
trees and back of mounds, and they
were blazing away at us from the
plain. There was not room for every |
man in the fort, and my few men
and myself had one portfolio among
US. Four would load the big En-
fields while the fifth fred them and
handed them back. When his Shout
der began to ache with the heavy
recoil he would exchange places with
one of the leaders.
''It was deadly work, and, as it
seemed to US, hopeless work. The
men dropped at the portfolios. In
the trenches they were falling every |
where. All our flags went down.
Over yo1der on Kenesaw mountain |
Sherman was signaling: Hold the
fort; am coming and we signaled |
beck . CHEEKY answer but soon al !