The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-01-11
DESTRUCTION OF
HOODS ARMY

Il HUOU AKIN l.
the unusual turmoil. and back they
came, and this repeated until finally
: they rose high in the air and flew off
10 the gray skylight of the north.
, The Rebel Line.
The day had been bright and warm.
J distant hills, and in the hay yellow
light and with their yellowish-brown
uniforms those in the front ranks
seemed to be magnified in size; one
could almost imagine them to be phan-
toms sweeping along in the air. On
seemed to be many deep and unbroken,
tneir red, tattered flags as numerous as
thougn every company bore them, FLAIR
ing In the suns rays, with conspicuous
groups OF general and staff officers in
.nelr midst, and battery or two in
the divisions. In front OF them were
our men, bent almost to the ground.
with t..~tr heads turned to see if the
enemy were gaining ground. 1t was
every man for himself and the devil
take the last man over the works; but
hesitate as If he would like to face anu
| fight them.
| On the right of walthalps and the
left of Loring's Divisions there were
occasional breaks made by our infantry
and the terrible volleys from the bat
terfes on the opposite bank of the riy-
er; also, from Marshalls ana Canby's
Battery nj, 4th Regular Art, who
poured canister into the enemy that
were swarming through the railroad
cut; but officers on horseback and afoot
were at every gap. trying to close them
up, SO that, on the left, Stewards liv-
ing sea, with raging surf, in wave fol-
lowing wave, broke and fell. and
plunged onward DER the sloping beach
In our front. Still the great, seething
mass came rolling on to our center,
and we could not open with artillery
or infantry fire until our men were
safely over.
/ Wagner Rallies His Men.
1 Oh, what a mistake the brave wag-
ner made! Through the gap at last
and over the works they came, with
Cleburne and Brown hot after them.
Wagner by this time was on his horse,
riding backward and facing the disor-
ganfzed brigades, trying as hard as ever
man did to rally them. With terrible
oaths he called them towards, and
shook his broken stick at them; but
back they went to the town, and moth
ing could stop them.
1 A Sergeant, all made up of true
metal; and with flashing. eyes, turned
and brought his gun down on the
ground, and said: Hold on boys; 1
don't go back another STEP"
About 20 stopped with him, and went
into our reserve line; perhaps others
stopped. but the great mass went
through the town and crossed the river
Wagner was a great fiehter-it is said
that bullets ratified out of his clothes
for month after the battle of Stone
River, and his division was as good as
anv other, but they had been pressed
too close, and for some reason they
w n1 mo n,.11 Il
Their officers tried hard to check them,
but their organization was broken in
their scramble back from the front. 1t
was not the fault of the men, but of
their rash General. Poor Wagner is
now dead; his soul is In heaven with
the heroes, and let us draw over this
one error the mantle Of charity, and
cherish the memory of his personal
valOr and dauntless courage on the
hard-fought battlefields of the West
Steady as a Granite Wall.
Gen. Cox remained mounted during
the entire engagement, SO as to care
fully watch the whole line; and while
the confusion was greatest during the
break, he was in their midst display
ing heroic bravery. with hopeful look
and waving sword rallying the men,
Gen. Stanley was also there, showing
great gallantry In encouraging the
troops, but was wounded before he had
,
tired. Every charge ordered by Hood
or any of his Generals, after the first
dreadful avalanche crumbled and
broke, was foolhardy and reckless
After our line was fully re-established
1t was steady as a granite wall; it
was next to impossible to break it, and
the enemy could only get over it as
prisoners. or being killed in the at
tempt. The brave soldiers of the South
felt 1t, too. for their after-charges were
made against this furious storm with
, their heads bent, their hats pulled
down, and their arms shielding from
their sight the almost certain death
that awaited them.
1t was the writer's pleasure, about a
year since, while on a pilgrimage to
vile the late Gen. Cheatham, very
comfortable man to meet, with the
makeup about equally divided be-
tween a well-to-do Southern farmer
and Prussian Field Marshal. He
, greeted me most cordially, clasping me
in his arms, and said: "WeIl, / heard
you were here, and I've been looking
all over for you; welcome to Tonnes
, see. Any man who was In the battle
+ at Franklin, no matter which side. Is
, my friend" Then we had good chat
! about old times. Referring to the two
brigades out in front:
"Ah.' he said. IF 1T hadn't been for
the mistake your side made there, YOU
, | would nave Killed every man in our
army. and God knows you killed
enough Of them"
1t is undoubtedly a fact that If the
brigades had been called in at the
right time no part OF our line would
have been broken; and II all Of the
: brigades had needed the precaution to
, place headlogs on their works and
abatised their front. as Easements did,
the losses all along the line would have
, been as light AS his. which was COM
paratively insignificant. The officers Of
Easements Brigade had their men take
! timbers from the cOtton-gin house at
the right OF his line: also cut trees from
a the grove, and carried the logs in to be
I placed on the top of the parapet They
! rested on crOss-ties followed out to re-
ceive them. leaving a three-inch space
through which to fire.
A Terrible Obstacle.
Henderson's Brigade, on our extreme
left, reached to the railroad track, and
the works were built I'm the grounds of
a large mansion, which were bordered
, by splendid osage-orange hedge. The
, line was located about so feet from
3 this hedge, SO that by cutting off the
8 trees about four feet from the ground
4 1s.ff INN nt- III