The National tribune., 1904-09-01

the Army of the Tennessee would have been
critical, although, without doubt, the re-
suit of the battle would have been i'm our
favor. because the Armies of the Cumber
land and Ohio were close at hand. and the
enemy would have been checked and routed
further on"
Gen. Blair in his official report of the
battle says:
Il witnessed the first furious assault
upon the Sixteenth Corps, and its prompt
and gallant reepulse. 1t was fortunate
circumstance for that whole army that the
Sixteenth Corps occupied the position |
have attempted to describe. at the moment
of the attack. and although it does not be-
come me to comment upon the brave con-
duct of the officers and men of that corps,
still l can not refrain from expressing my
admiration for the manner in which the
Sixteenth Corps met and repused the re-
peated and persistent attacks Of the
enemy"
TIE SIXTEENTH CORPS PROUD RECORD.
The Sixteenth Corps has a record in that
battle which we seldom in the annals
OF war. 1t met the shock of battle and
fired the last shot late that night, as the
enemy stubbornly yielded its grasp on Bald
I'LL. 1T fought on four parts of the field,
ana everywhere with equal success it lost
no gun that it took into the engagement,
and It's losses were almost entirely in killed
captured at Decatur through getting
mIred In swamp.
AT no time during the Atlanta campagn
was there present in the Sixteenth Corps
more than two small divisions Of three br-
gades each, and at this time these two di-
visions were widely scattered; on the At
lanta field only 10 regiments and two bat
teries were present, three entire brigades
being absent from the corps. 1t was called
upon TO meet the assault of at least three
divisions or nine brigades. or at the least
40 regiments, all full TO the utmost that a
desperate emergency could swell them i'm
PEELED by the motive of the preconcerted
surprise, and orders from their commander
at all hazards to sweep over any and all
instructions; while, on the other hand, the
force attacked and surprised was fighting
without orders, guided only by the exigency
or the moment. Their captures represented
40 different regiments of the enemy. How
many more regiments were included in
those nine brigades have never been able
TO learn. The fact that this small force.
technically, if not actually. in march, in
perfectly open field with this enormously
J superior force leaplng upon them from the
cover or dense woods, was able to hold its
ground and drive its assailants, pell-mell.
back to the cover of the woods again, proves
that when great battle is in progress or
great emergency occurs, no officer can tell
what the result may be when he throws in
loI'tS, Dc lIeg OOU~ men
and it seems to me to be impossible to draw
the line that gives the right to a subordi-
nate officer to use his own judgment i'm
engaging an enemy when q great battle is
| within his hearing
| Suppose the Sixteenth Corps. with less
han 5000 men. seeing at least three times
their number in their front, should have
retreatcd, instead of standing and fighting
as it did, what would have been the result /:
| say that in all my experience i'm life,
until two forces struck and the Sixteenth
Corps stood firm, l never passed more
anxious Lloments.
SPRAGUE'S BRIGADE,
OF the same corps, was engaged at the same
time within hearing, but on q different
held, at Decatur, fighting and stubbornly
lholding that place, knowing that if he failed
the trains massed there and ell route from
Roswell would be captured. His fight was
gallant and, sometimes, seemingly almost
| hopeless One-giving ground inch by inch
until, finally, he obtained position that he
could not be driven from, and one that pro
| tected the entire trains of the army.
| AS Hardee's attack fell upon the Six
teenth Corps, his left division (Cleburnes }
Tapped over and beyond Blair's left. and
swung around his left front; they poured
down through the gap between the left OF
the Seventeenth and the right of the Six
teenth Corps. taking Blair in front flank
and rear. Cheathams Corps moved out oi
Atlanta and attacked in Blair's front. Gen
Giles A. Smith commanded Blairs left
division, his right connecting with Leggett
at Bald Hill. where Leggett's Division held
the line until they connected with the