The National tribune., 1902-09-18

LIE NAllUNAL IRiDUNEs .
!, upon the Seventeenth Corps was also di
l. rected against the center of the Fifteenth
Corps. on the railroad and wagon Iuat
leading to Atlanta. This front had beer
weakened by the withdrawal of the bri
d gades of Col Hugo Waugeiin and Col
n james s. Martin to fiji up the gap be
l. tween the Seventeenth and Sixteenth
e Corps. regiment of infantry with tw,
e field pieces of Battery A. LIST lii. l.. a.
: occupied a position i'll front of the main
e line This force was instantly overpow-
: cred and the two guns captured. The
S Second Division. then commanded by Gen
lightburn. received the full weight of the
: rebel assault and was forced back about
$ 400 yards. Capt. De Gress's battery of
, four 20-pounder Parrott guns was cap
tured.
, Gen. Sherman from his headquarters
e at the Howard House saw this break in
his line. and at once directed Gen. Wood.
ct mmanding the First Division. Fifteenth
Corps, to wheel his br gades to the left,
to advance in echelOn and strike the enc
my in flank. Gen. Schoiicld, by direction.
! masscd 20 pieces of artillery to the left of
the Howard House and poured a heavy
fire against the enemy over the heads of
Gen. Woods advancing calnmn. In the
meantime, Gen. Logan i'll person rallied
the Second Division and led it against
! the enemy, who had secuted possession of
: the line of intrenchments from which the
Fifteenth Corps had but recently advanc-
ed. While Gen. Harrow. commanding the
Fourth Division, Fifteenth Corps, was
rendering effective aid against the assault
upon the Seventeenth Corps, the forces
Just named attacked the enemy with ir-
resistible force, dislodged him from the
works he had taken. and drove him into
atlanta, recovering Capt. De Gresss bat
terry, but finding one of his guns bursted
and all his horses killed.
i WHEELER ATTACKS DECATUR.
While the battle in front of Atlanta
was raging, Gen. Wheeler made his as
sault upon Decatur, but instead Of caval-
ry meeting cavalry, as Gen. Wheeler ex.
pected, he was confronted by brigade Of
infantry with artillery.
Gen. Wheeler's attack was vigorous and
| to n certain extent successful. he had
largely superior force, and was able to
take the aggressive against Col Sprague;
but Gen. Wheeler met with formidable
resistance, and was defeated in the most
important part of his mission. Col.
| Sprague was able to save the wagon
trains of the army with but little loss.
This spirited engagement is well de-
scribed by both Wheeler and Sprague in
their official reports.
Gen. Wheeler says:
"On the night of the 21st, pursuant to
orders from Gen. Hood, l moved around
to the enemy's rear to attack him in con-
| junction with Lieut.-Gen. Hardee, who
also moved upon his flank for the same
purpose. My orders from Gen. Hardee
were to attack Decatur at 1 p. m, which
| was the enemy's extreme left, and, owing
! to the curvature of his line, was far in the
rear. Gen. Hardee supposed the place to
be occupied only by cavalry, but on re-
rnst tI,n in hn
12 o'clock l found that a division of in
fantry, strongly intrenched, occupied the
town. Having communicated this fact to
Gen. Hardee, l dismountcd my command
and moved upon the enemy at the ap-
pointed hour. Just as l was moving my
line the enemy commenced to throw out
two regiments of infantry to meet my ap-
proach. These were overthrown, a num-
ber of prisoners captured and the re-
mainder driven in confusion into the en-
emy's works, from which we received a
most Calling fire from both infantry and
artillery.
Seeing the strength of the position in
front, l threw force upon his right flank
and rear and formed my main line so as
to bear obliquely upon the enemy's
right, with the right of my line covering
and engaging the enemy's front. From
these positions simultaneous charges were
made upon the enemy, the troops bearing
Ine enemy DelHS SOIHeWlaL tHe
most advanced. At first the CALLING fire
made the most exposed portion of my
line wayer, but, quickly rallying, the on
set was renewed, and with a triumphant
shout the, entire line of works was car
ried.
"Some 225 prisoners, a large number of
small arms, one 12-pOunder gun, one forge. |
one battery wagon, a large casson, and
six wagons and teams, together with |
the Captain of the battery and most of
his men, were captured and brought off. |
We also captured his camp equipage,
stores and hospitals. -..,
Just as I was pursuing the enemy be-
yond the town three of Gen. Hardee's |
staff officers came to ne In rapid success |
sion, directing that l should reinforce Gen.
Hardee as quickly as possible. The pur-
suit was stopped and all my available |
troops moved at 4 gallop to Gen. Hardee's |
position. The forces under my command
fought warmly, until the pressure upon
him had ceased, and night coming on we
bivouacked for the night. Just before the
troops were formed for the attack 1 re-
ported to Gen. Hardee that a large raid |
ing force of the enemy had moved toward |
Covington, but he directed that it should |
not be followed, as he thought the at
tack about to be made would cause the
raiders to return"
COL. spRAGUE's REPORT
Col. Sprague tells his side of the story
He says:
"On the 21st inst. was ordered to
proceed with my brigade, consisting of
the Dist Wis, Both n. j., and the 63d
Ohio (the 43d Ohio being at Roswell,
and a section of Battery G, 1st Mich Art,
to Decatur, Ga, and picket strongly the
roads leading south and east of that town.
On arrival there, six companies We're
posted covering all the approaches, and
the three regiments and artillery put in
position to defend and hold the town.
I'm the forenoon of the 22d instant the
enemy's cavalry made some demOnstra-
tons along our front, particularly ON the
road overwhich the Seventeenth Corps had
just passed. l ordered four companies of
the 63d Ohio, all under Lieut.-Co. Rusk,
to make a reconnaissance, and ascertain,
if possible, the force of the enemy. Col
Montgomery, commanding 25th Wis,
asked permission to go, and 1 consented.
Soon after the battalion started Sec
ond Lieut. Il. d. Griffin, with four guns
of the Chicago Board of Trade Battery,
reported to me, and L assigned him pO-
sition on the hill north of the Jail and
near the road. This battery was sup
ported by three companies Of the 63d
Ohio. The two remaining companies of
this regiment were on the right of the line
near DIR. Hoyles house, on the hill south
of the railroad. On their left were the
two guns Of Battery G, 1st Mich Art.
next the remaining companies of the 25th
n