Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-11-20
BY CAPTAIN W. H. ANDREWS.

far as discipline was concerned. was
ordered by the sergeant major TO furnlsh
a number of men for guard duty which
detailed, but the men refused TO go on
guard. 1 reported them to Captain Du-
Bose who talked to them and ordered them
on duty, but all to no purpose. They sta
ted that they had performed their last
guard duty. The same thing happened In
the other companies, and / made sure Col
onel Wayne would make trouble Tor the
boys, but he talked to them In kino
way, telling them they were not placed
on guard for punishment, but to keep the
camp in order, but there was no guard
from the regulars, which was one of the
best disciplined regiments in the service.
The soldiers seemed to think OF nothing
but getting home. General Sherman was
I'm our rear, General Grant to our right
and General Stoneman with 10000 cavalry
I'm our front, besides General Lees pa
rolled army had passed through the coun-
try stripping it of everything that could
be had TO eat The commissaries at
Greensboro had been loaded on cars and
carried a few miles below the army in
camp. which the soldiers broke open and
carried of everything. The regulars were
near the railroad tracks in grove OF
small trees which were groaning under the
weight of bacon suspended from their
branches, besides rolls of sole leather ana
boxes of tobacco, scattered over camp. 1
paid one morning IS for a package OF
smoking tobacco and had not finished
nv first pipe when Corporal ]. r. Smith
and Corporal o. II. Harris of my mess,
brought to camp as much smoking tobac-
CO as they could carry between them sus-
pended on a blanket. Nearly all OF the
ammunition was destroyed, the powder
placed in sacks and the balls run into
bars of lead, while the caps were placed
on the car track to hear them burst when
run over by the cars. There was not
enough left to have equipped one brigade
for a battle We were paid one dollar and
fifteen cents in silver and you could buy
all the tobacco you wanted at five cents
a plug Every one seemed restless and
uneasy. Haversack and grape vine dis
patches were flying thick and fast. First
we were to cut our way through the enc
my's lines and then we were to be sur
rendered and sent to northern prisons.
At night the boys would gather around
the generals tent and call for a speech,
which was never refused, but the boys
were no better informed than before.
General Harrison would talk TO his men
and cry, telling them to stand by their
colors to the last. slept near the car
tracks and could hear the tramping OF
feet all through the night-soldiers start
ing for home.
Two companies of the regulars marched
TO Colonel Wayne's tent to bid him good
bye. but he talked them out of the no.
ton of going. At IL a. m. on the 18th
the armistice was ended and General
Johnston formed his command and march
ed 10 miles, five miles beyond Greensboro.
Any one who saw the troops march
through Greensboro could have told we
no longer had an army.
We had always marched through towns
with flags unfurled, the bands playing and
the men at close order with the quick step.
But at Greensboro il was quite different.
The troops covering both street and side
walk without any order or system.
From Greensboro to where we camped
was strewn with abandoned guns. Some in
stacks, some leaning against the trees,
while others were lying on the ground.
Orders were issued that all men without
guns would be arrested, which seemed to
have no effect on the boys. Then orders
were issued that no man without gun
would receive any rations. That order
struck the boys on an empty stomach
and they hustled on the back track in
search of guns.
On the 26th day Of April. 1865, General
Joseph r. Johnston surrendered his army
to General w. T. Sherman, commanding
the Federal forces with the understand
ing that the Confederate officers retained
their horses, these to remain unmolested
Dy the Onlleu SldIeS dulnOIllieSs 50 lOuB
as they observed their obligations and
obeyed the laws in force where they re-
sided. There is one thing connected with
General Johnston's surrender would like
to see explained, and that is If he had
decided to surrender during the armistice
why did he march his army 10 miles far
Their upon the enemy, and If he did not so
decide, what changed his mind after
marching through Greensboro? General
Johnston was to retain one-fifth of his
small arms with sufficient transportation
to carry each regiment to the capital of
the state and there be disbanded. Our
guns and Announcements were turned over
to our ordnance officers who turned them
over to the Federals.
Not a blue jacket did I see after the
battle of Bentonville. We hear and read
about the briny tears running down the
bronzed cheeks Of Lees men, but we had
none of that among JOhnston's men. At
ter the surrender we heard of President
assassination, which caused gen.
uine sorrow throughout the army, the sol
diers believing that he was the only man
who could protect them, which proved