The National tribune., 1906-06-21

RACES, ana commit aenfOld the havoc he
| actually made IN 1traversing Georgia:
simply cutting the communications OF
the Army Of Northern Virginia with its
| largest fields fors supplies. Sherman
| would have tarried long enough upon
his march to effect irreparable damage.
Preliminaries - the Campaign.
shall now recite the preliminaries
| to the campaign In rear OF Sherman.
and give an account OF operations, re-
suits accomplished. together with those
| events which led me to conceive the
idea Of the campaign into Tennessee.
foreshadowed my intention OF NOV
ing upon Sherman's communications in
the following telegram to the President,
dated Sept. 6:
| (No. 10.)
/ II shall make dispositions to prevent
the enemy. as far as possible, from for
| aging south of Atlanta. and at the same
| time endeavor to prevent his massing
supplies at that place. I deem 1t inn
portant that the prisoners at Anderson
| Vile should be SO disposed Of as not to
| prevent this army from moving in any
direction 1t may be thought best. Ac-
cording to all human calculations. we
| should have saved Atlanta had the off,
! GERS and men of the army done what
was expected Of them. 1t has been
| Gods will for it to be otherwise. l am
| of good heart, and feel that we shall
yet succeed. The army is much in need
| of a little rest. After removing the
prisoners from Andersonville, 1 think
i our army upon the communications OF
i the enemy, drawing our supplies from
| the West Point & Montgomery Railroad.
/ Looking to this, l shall at once proceed
to strongly fortify Macon. Please do
not fail to give me advice at all times.
1t is my desire to do the best for you
and my country. May God be with you
| and us.
i ~. B. Hood, General"
Having requested and obtained au-
thority from the War Department to
propose an exchange OF prisoners, cap
tured during the siege, made on the
8th Of September, by flag Of truce, a
/ proposition to the enemy to that effect.
An exchange Of 1000 was agreed upon.
Some delay. however, resulted from a
| refusal upon the part OF Gen. Sherman
to exchange Confederates for Federal
prisoners whose term Of service had
ceased or was about to expire.
Upon the 9Th was initiated the CORE
| spOndence between Gen. Sherman and
| myself in regard to the treatment of
the Inhabitants, Of Atlanta, and which
| embodied in the narrative of the siege
OF that city On the 18th / sent every
wagon which could be spared in the
army to Rough and Ready. and per-
formed the sad duty of transferring
| within our lines the women and chill
dren. the sick and the infirm.
In the meantime intelligence had been
| received from Gen. Wheeler, announc-
| ing that he had destroyed several
bridges and about so miles of railroad
in Tennessee, and that he had thus far
been successful in every engagement
/! with the enemy
| During the progress of the exchange
| OF prisoners the transportation of the
army was carefully inspected and re-
| paired, pontoon trains made ready for
| active operation, and every exertion
| made to inaugurate a forward move
| ment at the earliest hour possible. At
this period I deemed 1t to the interest
Of the Confederacy. because of Gen.
Hardee's failure to obey instructions on
the goth and 22d of July and 31st Of
August. to request that this officer be
| relieved from duty with his corps, and
that another be assigned to it's COM
mand. I dispatched to Gen. Bragg as
| follows:
| Hardee Retired.
tNo.l4.)
= Sept 8. 2:30 o. m.
II suggest that all the reserves of
Georgia, under Gen. Cobb, be- ordered
to this army. since the prisoners have
i II.
Taylor be ordered to relieve Gen. Har-
dee. bringing with him all the troops
he can.
~. B. Hood. General"
l. The unfortunate events connected
with Gen. Hardee's service during the
siege OF Atlanta rendered obligatory
this unpleasant duty on my part.
/ have already stated the opinions at the
time of Lieut.-Gens. Lee and Stewart
L - Enl ~
| to this painful subject. So decided were
| these officers in their convictions that
| determined to inform the President Of
| my own loss CT confidence and to in
| vite him to visit the army, and confer
with the corps commanders in relation
| to the operations around Atlanta. Ac-
cordingly. / sent the following telegram
| to His Excellency:
(No. 24.)
'In the battle OF July 20 we failed on
account OF Gen. Hardee Our success
on the 22d of July was not what 1t
should have been, owing to this officer
| Our failure on the 31st Of August, am
convinced, was greatly OWN to him.
Please confer with Leut.-Gens. Stewart
and $. ID. Lee as to operations around
Atlanta. 1t is OF the utmost Importance
that Hardee should be relieved at once
He commands the best troops of this
army. ! must have another command
| er. Taylor or Cheatham will answer
| Hardee handed in his resignation a few
| days since, but withdrew 1t. Can Gen.
Cobb give me all the reserve regiments
! he has?
~. B. Hood. General"
Maj.-Gen. Gustavus w. Smith, in his
official report Of the operations of the
Georgia State troops, dated 18th of Sep
| TENDER, 1864, shortly after these occur
rences, says in this regard:
Commanding a peculiar Organiza-
| ton, the ranking officer of the forces OF
| the State in which you were operating,
l was invited to. and participated in
your councils. l had every opportunit .
of knowing what was going on Your
plans were fully explained to your
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. your Chief of Ar
| tillery. Chief Engineer. and myself
Opinions and views were called for.
and then specific orders were given.
have never known one of them to dis
sent to any plan OF yours. a doubt ex-
| pressed as to the meaning or intent of
| your orders. nor a suggestion made by
them Of plan they supposed :. Guild be
| better than that you ordered. IL they
are not now unanimous, there is but
| one, IL any, who dissents from the opin-