Canyon City news. (Canyon City, Tex.) 1903-1908, 1905-04-07
Sherman S March Held Up
A FoRTIETH ANNIVERSARY WAR STORY
A FoRTIETH ANNIVERSARY WAR STORY
March l9. 1865

i
! federates in tie field ut that time. Cen
eral Hardee's division had been in
! front of us at Savannah and all the
way through the Carolinas, but there
J had been no fierce lighting. SO it was
fresh. General Bragg had brought
down Hoke's splendid division of vet
Grams from tie Army of Northern Wiz
ginia. These troops had left the
trenches at Petersburg the December
previous and had been lying idle at
Wilmington, and they were fresh.
There was also division under
General \. +. Stewart from Hoods old
Tennessee command, men who had a
good share of pluck left or they would
not have made their way from Louisi-
ana to the coast in search of more
fighting Besides that. there was a
splendid body of cavalry under Gen
eral Wade Hampton, comprising Gen
eral Joe W'hee,er's corps and tie di-
vision of General NJ G. Butler that had
fought under Ieb Stuart and Hamp-
ton in Virginia. The force was about
10000 men They fought like an army of
10000. for their leaders had filed them
with tie hope that Sherman would be
given crushing blow If they destroyed
me there at BcntOnville
The battle took place in a dense
thicket. which was very favorable to
me. for it offered cover to my troops
and enabled them to throw up hasty
breastworks out of view of the enemy.
JohnstOn's guns were we'll served. and
the valOr of his soldiers in charging
my lines would have counted for more
had his columns not been broken in
passing through the thicket As it was.
they charged again and again until a
late hour. When night came on | had
my army well in hand and intrenched.
Still | had Il strong foe in my from
and could not keep my engagement to
meet Sherman Oh the Neuse river mex
day The iierccneSS of the battle con
frmel the story of the deserter Wi
liams that the enemy had made ever
preparation to smash me, and. whia
| might hay ignored the warning and
attempted to cut my way through,
thought it was time when cou!
afford to be too slow rather than to"
fast and not risk another Balls Bluff
disaster.
The idea is generally accepted tho
the march of Sherman through tn
Carolnas at that time, threatening
come up in the rear of Lees arm
along the James and catch it betwec
two fires, decided the issue betweC
Lee and Grant and led to the surrendo
at AppomattOx. That view of the case
makes it plain that blow like the one
Johnston would have been able to
strike had not been warned of his
presence and continued my march witt
the columns strung out would havH
been Il terrible disaster just at that
time
civilians was the hero of that cri-
sis, and he took his life in his hands in
more respects than one when he set
out from the Confederate camps to
warn me of my danger. There was fir
ing going on between the Confedera =
skirmisherS and ours. so that Il man
risked his life passing between the
lines. Besides, if discovered by the
southern people while getting away
they would shoot him down. and tie
northerners would do the same unless
they understood his signals. 1t was
most fortunate for Williams as well as
for my army and the cause that he
happened to run right into the arms
of an old fellow soldier. so that the
Identification of him and acceptance
of his story did not take five minute
For his own safety he might better
have waite until the battle was OF
before attempting to rejoin his OIL
friends, if that was his sole object. It
would have been an easy matter then.
but he was true to the flag and h.S
former calling of scout Having learn
ed vital news for the Federal COM
mander, he rsled his life to carry it
to the opposing camp.
"The dspatching of Foraker to Sher-
man for help was the next act in the
drama, and after night march Sher-
man came up with Logan's corps and
joined me on the battlefield at Benton
vile the morning of March 20. AS