The National tribune., 1902-12-11
copyrirhtci. 1901. l,y the publis
SHERMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS.
Joe whesler's Raid on tie Rai,road-sher-
mans Personal Attention to Preserving
His Cracker Line.

Joe WneSleES RAID on tee Ealirodu-SUef
mans Personal Attention TO Fresersin
His Cracker Line.
N'hi'a the two great conteEding arin:e'
around and in Atlanta We're i'll eonstan
action. the one besfesing, the other de
Tending that Important strongheld--at one
hour carrying On, an artillery .driel.- at an
other hour engaged in fierce siirmishes
botifsariaies steadily extending their ilanks
to the southwest, asd building new Strons
defensive works, the Union forces threat
euiag1he railroads. and the Confedera {,
forces .stHbtornIy defending them, there
w-as1n %war upon a small scale constantly
going on in the rear of the Union army
These Operations were for the most part
conducted in the territory lying east OF
the railroad .--...
Here is a valley, situated between the
Cohutta Mountain on the east and the
Chattooga Mountain on the west, vary
Chattoogata Mountain on the west, vary
ing in width from 20 to so miles, having
its beginning in Tennessee and extending
southwark from the north line of Georgia
to the Etowah River n distance of "a
miles. This is one of the most beautiful
and one of the best watered valleys in the
United States. The streams are numerous
and are fed by clear mountain springs: the
general direction of the flow of; water is
to the southwest. but the small rivers and
creeks which traverse this valley flow to,
wards every point of the compass. The
Connasauga and the COosawattee Rivers,
fhe one flowing from the north and the
other from the northeast, are the princi-
pal streams and coming together near
Resaca form the Oostanaula River. which
in turn uniting with the EtOwah at Rome
form the Coosa River. These two small
rivers have many creeks as tributaries
winding through the valley. This fine
agricultural valley is interspersed with
farms ard forests. with here and there an
old. village with few houses.
At the base of the COhutta Mountain is
the'old Federal road. which at an early
day was the PRINCIPAL highway from North
to South through this delightful region. Ii
is one of number of National highways
the construction of which was provided
for by acts of Congress in 1906: this road
to extend from the frontiers of Georgia, on
the route from Athens. Tenn. to New
Orleans, to its intersection with the 31st
degree Of north latitude.
OPERATIONS OF CONFEDERATE CAVALRY
AGAINST RAILROADS.
1t was into this valley that bodies of
Confederate cavalry entered by way of
the Federal road. from stations south Of
Atlanta, and made their midnight attacks
on the railroad. 1t will be readily seen
that 500 or 1000 well-mounted men start
ing on an enterprise Of this kind could
by skillful manuvering appear at two or
three carefully-selected points at the same
time. turn over 200 or 800 feet of railroad
track. cut down half a dozen telegraph
poles and remove the wire, without Great
ing any disturbance. all in Is minutes. and
get away before a force of men could be
f,rn rr<vhf 4< St..r,D
parties never sought fight; they care
fully avoided this part of the game.
Having done their work they would re-
tire behind some stream and take shelter
IN the timber in one of its bends. They
would remain here during the day. and
sally out again when night came on. When
their place of rendezvous was discovered
and troops sent out to engage them, they
usually managed to get away before the
arrival of the Union forces. There is no
doubt but that regularly employed spies
and citizens gave these raiding parties
information as to the time and places best
to strike.
Gen. Sherman was constantly alive to
the Importance of chasing these raiding
parties out of the country: he took the
general management Of this business into
his own hands. Maj.-Gen. Steedman, with
HEADQUARTERS. at Chattanooga. commanded
the District of Etowah. including all the
troops assigned to the duty of defending
the railroad. and. of course, had the au-
thority to direct the movements of all the
Union soldiers along the line; but Gen.
Sherman kent himself fully advised of the
strength Of every post, and also Of every
thing that was going on along the railroad
from his headquarters back to Nashville:
fe was the first person TO be informed by
telegraph of the appearance of fhe enemy.
Every commander of post with tele-
graph station felt perfectly at liberty to
call up the Commanding Generals Head
quarters and inform him that raiding
party was on the move. 1t was not infre-
quent for Gen. Sherman to go to his own
Telegraph station. call mp the commanding
officer at some post. have him go to the
Telegraph office Mt his station and there
hold long feleeraphic' conversation with
the General in regard to matters along the
line. ] had frpnuert correspondence Of
this kind with Gen. Sherman. when per-
haps n dozen messages would pass back
and forth between us.
By this means he would he able to OBJ
tain more prompt and full information
than by sending messages in the ordinary
way.
SCOUTING PARTIES DISCOVER coNFEDER-
ATE FORCE.
On the afternoon of Aug. % one of nv
scouting parties brought me the news that
there was considerable force of Con-
federate cavalry on Holly Creek, a few
miles northeast of Resaca. The appear
ance of this force brought about the fol-
lowing telegraphic correspondence:
"Resaca. Ga. Aug %, 1864.
"Capt. J.. N. DAYTON. Abide Camp: The
enemy is reported in heavy force at Holly
Creek Mill. 10 miles east of Tilton. They
arrived there after this d. IN l supposa
it is part of Wheeler's force returning. /
am yet unable to estimate the number,
sc. Il. RAUM. ----
r--s-~ ''Colonel, Commanding Brigade"
"Resaca. Ga. Aug. 90. 1864.
MAJ $. Il. Moe, Assistant Adjutant- Gen
eral:
'sThe enemy was in heavy force at 4
this p. III. mt Holly Creek Mill. 10 miles
is returning and that a large part of his
force is at Spring Place. l have notified
Tilt0a. Dalton. and Tunnel Hill.
GREEN Il. RAUM.
Colonel. Commanding Brigade
Headquarters Military Division of the
49, Mississippi. in the Field
Near Atlanta. Aug. 22. 1864; 1915 p. m.
''Gen: G. b. Raum. Resaca:
Gen. Steedman reported this forenoon
that Wheeler was north of Hiwassee
RIyer- and could not ford il. Please tele.
graph to Gen. Steedman such informa.
fionyas yon are able to get. and also keep
us advised promptly as possible
wv. Il. SHERMAN,
..5.e Major General, Commanding"
- In reply 70 Gen. Sherman's dispatch
sent the following: