The National tribune., 1903-06-18


evacuated it, crossing into South Carolina
| on pontOOn bridge.
On the morning of the 22d the Mayor
came out aud surrendered the keys of the
city to Gen. Geary, in true medieval style.
| and the Twentieth Corps marched into
the city. being the first troops in, and
we garrisoned it, with Gen. Geary as Mil
itary Governor! Our comrades of the other
| Corps said, "of course, the Twentieth
Corps gets all the soft places"
Gen. Sherman again electrified the
North, and sent dismay to rebel sympathiz-
ers by his celebrated Christmas dispatch
to President Lincoln: 81 beg to present
you as Christmas gift the city of Sa-
vannah. with $50 heavy guns and plenty Of
Of cotton" --.-.. ...
| THROUGH THE CARoLINAs.
We remained in Savannah about a
month to reft. Gen. Grants purpose ut
first was to have moved Gen. Sherman's
army by transports to the James River,
| but yielding to Gen. Sherman's urgent re-
quest, consented that he might march
| through the Carolinas. How well he sue
ceeded we all know No pen can ever por.
| tray the hardships Of that Mid-winter
march. Other incidents in our army life
| we may forget, but that march never. The
| organization of both Wings remained the
same as in the last campaign.
About Jan. 20 Gen. Williams, with the
| First and Third Divisions, crossed the Sa.
| vannah River at Purysburg, and marched
| to Hardeeville! The whole country was q
rice swamp, With no roads but the cause
ways used in caltivating rice. Heavy rains
set in, and it,ibecame almost impossible
to get along; We almost needed to be web
footed. The New, York Herald had car.
toon in one Of hslissues, representing Gen
Williams and staff, enyeloped in sheets
roosting in treesuto get out Of the water
One OF the papers fell into the hands Of
my dear wife up in New Hampshire, and
she was sure ishe recognized me in the
group. II ttr-
| Gen. Slocum,, with the Second Division
marched to Sisters Ferry, 40 miles above
Savannah, apdnsucceeded in crossing the
river Feb. Z, the crossing being protected
by the gunboat Pontiac, and on the 10th
joined the other two Divisions at Blacks.
vile, and from this point our march may
be said to have nbegun. It will thus be
seen that it ta(k us about three weeks
to get over the river and established on
| Carolina soil Il should say mud, for there
did not seem to be any solid ground.
| The Right Wing moved parallel to us
nearer the coast, while Kilpatrick's Cav.
airy was on our left flank. There was
some infantry in our front, made up OF
4 anu (AV SiOOpS 4AdIuGc lOOh Jul VI
Savannah. ID.
The fighting was principally with
Wheeler's Cavalry, which had been rein.
forced by Hampton's Legion, from Lees
army, and Fitzpatrick, assisted by the Left
Wing, when needed. The valiant South
ern chiyalry committed atrocities unheard
of among civilized nations: that is. in mur
dering in cold blood our foragers after they
had surrendered.
! Near Chester, Lieutenant and seven
| men, and also near Eastville, 20 men, were
so murdered, and their bodies labeled
Death to foragers." Gems. Wheeler and
Hampton denied being cognizant Of these
atrocities, but none of us believed it
We moved steadily forward, tearing uI
railroads as We went, passed to the west
Of Columbia, witnessing its burning from
a distance, reaching Winnsboro Feb. 20
This was famous region in Revolution
ary times, and near here, at Hanging
Rock, Sumter had severe fight with the
Tories. Winnsboro was the residence OF
Gov. Aiken, q stanch Union man. who wa:
at this time prisoner at Charleston. The
town was set on fire by one Of its citi
zens. A high wind was raging, but oul
Corps managed to save Gov. Aiken's
house. for which his wife thanked US.
This march, hard as it was, had its
amusing incidents, which served to breai
the monOtOny. Allow me to recall one A:
We were passing fine plantation one
morning, our eyes were greeted by thu
sight Of an ancient family coach, one o.
the old Colonial style. perched astride Of
the ridge-pole Of large outbuilding, a
least 80 feet from the ground. How il
reached that elevated position no one couIt
surmise. The Fourteenth Corps had tn,
lead that morning. and from their reputa
ton, it is fair to infer that they did it
None Of the dignifed Twentieth would b,
guilty of such a trick as that-it involved
too much labor.
! Leaving Winnsboro, we crossed the Ca
tawba River on pontoon bridge, neal
Hanging Rock. Some Of you may remem
ber having to help get my wagons dowI
the steep hill to the bridge. It was rain
ing hard, and the clay road was so slip
perry the mules actually slid down oa
their hanches. Help was also required
to pull the wagons up on the other side
Passing on through Cheraw, where yo,
will remember a lot of captured ammuni
into North CAROLINA at Chesterfield, ant
reached Fayetteville on March II. w,
remained here three days engaged in de
| stroying the Arsenal and extensive ma
chinery, which, had formerly been in tn
United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry
i. Our next objective was Goldsboro, bu
. this We were not to reach without SOM
| a. iVuE OlU adversary, -Jeu
/ Joe Johnston, was in our front with al
, infantry force supposed to be as larg
, and cavalry. force larger, than ours
nearly all veteran soldiers. His infantr,
force was made up of tho troops from Sa
vannah and Charleston, with the remnant
: OF Hoods army who came up from Ten
nessee. His cavalry comprised Wheeler
and Hampton's troops. Wilmington ha,
been captured BY our forces, and Gen
,, Terry and Ames were ordere,
to push forward 10 as to Join rs at Colds
boro on the Goth. Gen. Sherman felt anx
ious. As he knew Johnston would seek L
strike US before . junction could be made
The nature Of the ground was such tha
it was almost impossible to move man o
beast.
AvERAsBoRo AND BENToNvILLE.
Z The expected blow came on the 18th
2 when Johnston struck our Corps in full
force at Averasboro, and the fight wa
sharp and fierce. Two Divisions Of tn
Fourteenth Corps came to our assistance
and the victory was ours. Wards D,vis
ion captured three guns and took 217 pris
oners. The loss of the Left Wing wa
, II officers and 65 men killed, and AZ
wounded. Gen. Johnston reports his los
) as 10S killed, $40 wounded and PIT miss
, ing. This was fight Of the Left VIM
and Cavalry.
Il On the 18th and 10Th occurred the bat