The National tribune., 1903-02-26
- lVzHMe WESTERN
IA >ARl1Y~
gsaYf IN REFUSED TO BE LURED AWAY.
REFUSED TO BE LURED AWAY.
By GEN. GREEN B. RAUM.
of The NATIONAL TRIBUNE.

shers of THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE.
At Kingston l met Lieut.-Col w. T
Clark, Assistant Adjutant-General of til,
, Department and Army of the Tennessee
and Brighten. RANSOM commanding
the Seventeenth Corps. They both in
: formed me that the brigade which was tt
report to me would be taken from thu
. Seventeenth Corps.
1t was not until O'Clock in the after
. noon that the troops reported, and ther
but one regiment ma ely, the 10th Ill.
commanded by Col. John TillsOn. 1 ha6
caused TO lie loaded on the trailf about 5C
boxes of ammunition, and l had secured
the services of n railroad section boss and
his squad of men. together with cal
containing tools and material for repair.
ing railroad track.
l wished to be prepared for any emer-
gency. 1t required some time for Col
Tillson to load his horses and get ready to
start. l met Gen. e. NJ. McCook, and in
yited him to go along. Col. Watkins's
Brigade of Cavalry belonged to his divi-
sion. and he proposed paying him visit.
The trains were at last started. Great
care was necessary in the movement OF
our convoy of trains, for the reason that
we were, in railroad parlance, running
wild The telegraph line being down,
we could not tell when or where we might
meet trains.
/ Night came on with clouds and dark
ness. So far the blOckhOuses were manned
with troops, but when we reached Adairs-
vile, l learned that the garrison had gone
northward.
A short distance beyond Adairsville our
attention was suddenly attracted by the
whistle of the locomotive of down breaks.
This signal was repeated by the other
trains, and soon they were all brought to
a standstill.
WARNING GIVEN BY LOYAL WOMAN.
l left my car with several others, and
went forward to ascertain the cause of
the stop, when, to my surprise, L saw a
middle-aged woman standing near the
track holding II chunk of wood, one end
of which was covered with glowing Goals.
This she had used as signal to stop
the train; some distance beyond her We
discovered that considerable portion of
the track had been turned over and the
telegraph destroyed. This good woman
informed me that early in the afternoon
about 80 cavaliymen had crossed the
! Oostanaula River and destroyed the road
| as l saw it l thanked her sincerely for
her great kindness and consideration in
preventing the wreck of our trains. Her
home was only a short distance away,
to which she soon returned.
l took steps at once to repair the track.
Fires were lighted, so the men could see
how to work. Enough men were brought
out to turn the track back to its proper
position. The raiders had been in a great
hurry: they used no fire, consequently none
of the rails were bent. In good time we
| started on our journey, the engineers OBJ
serving increased care, fearing another
break, and that no good angel would warn
us of danger.
We arrived at Calhoun at 10 o'clock at
ME fNharo ha tra al ohctrr -
ed with timber. There was not soldier
left to give any Information. Citizens
whose acquaintance 1 had made informed
me that a party of Confederate soldiers
had just left, and had stated to them that
Resaca had surrendered. 1 gave no Gre
dence whatever to this story. The citi-
zens spoke of hearing the cannonading.
This in connection with the fact the four
| regiments of troops had left Calhoun salts
| fed me, that Gen. Hood was before
Resaca with his army.
Upon consultation with Gen. McCook
and Col. Tillson, / decided to send the
trains back for more troops, and march
the six miles to Resaca with the 10th Ill.
Gen. McCOOk kindly consented to take
charge of the trains, and bring reinforce
ments as soon as possible. l detailed 30
men to guard the trains and to be scatter
ed along the line to hold the various posts
and blockhouses.
A short time was given the men to
make coffee and have supper while the
ammunition boxes were being opened for
the distribution of the cartridges amongst
the troops.
A SOLDIERS FAITH JUSTIFIED.
l procured two horses at Calhoun, one
for myself and one for an orderly, to 20
forward hurriedly with information that
relief was coming: At 2:30 o'clock on the
morning of Oct. 13 reached the pontoon
bridge which had been completed after
Gen. Hoods arrival. 1 found Co. d Of
my own regiment-the seth IIl.-com-
manded by Capt William e. Weber,
guarding the bridge. l dismounted and
led my horse down the bank of the stream.
AS l approached the bridge one Of the
men raised a lantern, SO as to get a view
of my person. They recognized me- The
first word uttered was by soldier, who
said: Boys, l told you he would come"
After these many years, l can say with
absolute candor that no words of conf
dence have ever been uttered that made
SO pleasing and lasting an impression on
my mind.
These heroic men facing danger and
death for their country were confident
would come to their relief. I learned
from Capt. Weber that Col. Viewer was
with the troops in the West Fort, and
upon arriving there l found all on the
alert. Upon hasty consultation I de.
cided to place Col TilIson with the 10th
Ill. in the Southeast Fort, and have all
of Col. Watkins's Brigade occupy the
Northeast Fort and the rifle pits and pick
ct line to the west and north of it.
l sent for Lieut-Col. Hall, of the seth
Ill Upon consultation directed him to
place six of his companies on the skirm-
ish line and to tell the officers and men
that expected them to hold the line until
they were absolutely overpowered knew
that they had the necessary staying quail
regiment were after daylight to occupy
two small southworks. By o'clock on
the morning of the 18th Resaca was pre- |
pared for an attack.
On my arrival at Resaca, and being in |
formed of the situation, and deciding upon
the disposition of the troops. l at once
wrote the following letter:
''Resaca, Oct. 10, 1864.
Maj.-Gcn. Sherman: The enemy in
heavy force are now around this place, |
their right resting on the river west and |
their left on the river east. / have made |
such disposition as l feel sure will result |
IN the defeat of the enemy. Instead of |
brigade having been left by the Seven |
teenth Corps TO reinforce this place, one |
regiment-the 10th Ills with me. /
trust that reinforcements will be hurried |
here as soon as possible. / think by Dlac- |
ing battery on the left bank of the river |
opposite the right of the enemy that his |
position will be enfladed. A pontoon |
bridge is now over the stream. l have
uo %ras