The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-03

\ Times.
You have doubtless heard that His
tory repeats itself" l have lived long
enough to have seen 1t. Another
strange thirg is that two persons Will
read the same narrative of current or
older events which they have not wit
messed and arrive at totally different
conclusions as to its reliability.
The very graphic description In The
Times of June 20 in the dispatch from
Lao Yang of the battle of Vafangow
was brought to me by friend and
shown as proof of an old contention
of his that the news from the Far East
was totally untrustworthy. He knew
that l thought the same way about
news from Chefoo and Shanghai. based
on statements of Chinese refugees
reaching those neutral points where
military censorship does not prevail;
but l called his attention to the fact
that The Times's dispatch was from
correspondent in the field with the Rus
slams at Liao-Yang. and that 1t must
have been passed by the Russian CEN
sor before transmission.
But" he insisted a bit angrily. 1T
bears evidence on it's face of Its exag-
geration. IL not absolute falsity.
"Wherin?" l asked him.
"All parts" he exclaimed; even in
the headlines. Look at these big lines:
Attacking Party Stoned, Rage of
Mikado's Men in Trenches Met With
Muscovite Chaff"
We'll. that isn't proof of anything
except that history docs occasionally
repeat itself"
Then" he continued. lin the body III
the dispatch it says. The battle at this
point became a hand-to- ha nd fight with
stones and rife butts.
'.Thera iS acaiD " I said those far
away fighters in 1904 doing Just what
the Union and Confederate troops did
at Chattanooga in 1891
Then again in the body Of the dispatch
it says: Thirteen Russian guns were
smashed to atoms and THEN horses
killed. A majority of their gunners
killed or wounded. The guns were use :
less to the japanese, as they were lit
orally shot to pieces before they were
abandoned"
You wouldn't believe that unless you
had seen it," suggested.
mo. neither would you" the incred-
ulous one replied.
But I did see just that thing happen
at Resaca, Ga. on May 10. 1854" I said.
He was thoroughly angered by this
time and Indignantly exclaimed with
what Horace Greeley used to call yer
bal emphasis" but which is commonly
amy uoh bSiie'N
a id word of it,
charitably construed this to refer
to the correspondents words. and in
stead of resenting 1t as personal /
rushed to pen. ink. and paper in this
defense 90 of war correspondent
5000 miles away who gets his story to
New York in less than two days. where
as 1t took me ten days to get there
with similar stories from points not
over 1000 miles away. But that was
in our war time. forty years ago, when
railroad trains ran at speed OF about
ten to fifteen miles an hour and New
York war correspondents did not use
the telegraph very freely in those
days.
l send you this defense 90 in TIL.
hope that The Times readers will be ds
much interested in the illustrations of
history repeating itself as my friend
seemed to be after I had outlined the
story below.
At the battles of or at Chattanooga.
fought Nov %. % and "a Gen William
T. Sherman, commanding the Army of
the Tennessee. was assigned to the
duty of crossing the Tennessee River
above Chattanooga, and attacking the
extreme right wing of Bragg's ARM
posted on Mission Ridge, in such force
as not to drive 1t away. but with such
n demonstration of strength as would
Bragg to weaken his centre. In
front of which the Army of the Cum
berland under General Thomas, lay
in woods now long since re-
placed by blocks of houses.
Gen. Thomas Ewing's division was
employed by Sherman for this demon
stration against Bragg's right, and his
three brigades under Corse, Loomis.
and Matthias made the assault in the
strong position of the enemy on Tunnel
Hill, the northern extremity of Mission
Ridge, lowlying range of hills
about 500 feet high.
crate shells from this elevation began
to drop among Ewing's troops, who
went along singing at one time. John
Browns body lies a-moldering in the |
grave" at another. We'll hang JEFF
Davis on a sour apple tree to the
summit of the hill. was march of |
about a mile, a quarter of II up the |
steep ascent of the ridge. General |
Sherman had made his headquarters On |
a detached hill overlooking the roint
Of attack. and l. having a wholesomS !,
regard for an entire skin and knowing |
that Sherman. like every General who |
wa sn't insane wisely selected safe |
place for headquarters during the bat |
tie. followed to his point of vantage.
had splendid pair OF field glasses
through which / could gee plainly evc~Y |
movement of the attacking and |
defending forces, And saw
he Union troops get so near
the Confederate stronghold that
the enemy actually laid down their
guns and began rolling great boulders
from the summit, and hurting stones
at our advancing troops.
! saw, too through my good glasses
that Bragg was reinforcing his right,
and told Gen. Frank P. Blair. who was
ne lr me. of that fact. He grabbed my |
glasses, looked for himself and then
handed them to Gen. Sherman. who
them on the spot. q have
never vet recovered them. This is by
way of diversion, however,
Our troops were repulsed, but Grant
had achieved his object in compelling
Rragg to weaken his centre, and he
hurried Thomass army of the Cum
,erland at the heights and broke Bragg
n two.
I rublised an account Of this stone
scene in letter dated NOV
IS. 1863. using these words among
1thers: The enemy put into execu-
ion system of warfare worthy of
he ancients They began throwing
stones" and then I went on to de-
scribe the new style OF bombardment
The publication was received with in
,redulitv I was nost numerically
'idiculed by papers all over the coun-
nv for the fertility of my imagination.
md some said very plainly that I was
~ incorrigible liar who was defomfnE
he Union troopa by representing that
hoy had heen whinDed nv COnfederatcS