Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-08-16
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF
THE WAR.
The Veterans of the Rebellion Tell Of
Whistlin9 Bullets, Bright Bayonets,
Bursting Bombs, Bloody Battles,
Camp Fire, Festive Bugs, Etc, Etc.

D. T.. Ambrose, lieutenant in Com
pany n, Seventh Illinois Infantry now
Of Canton, ILL.,, was in the battle Of AL
latoona Pass Besides giving interest
ing points on that contest he has some
thing interesting to say about the IA
nous Hold the fort" dispatch sent
from Kenesaw to General Corse. Like
everyone / have ever heard speak Of 1t,
Mr.. Ambrose is strongly opposed to
SCATTERING that particular idol, and yet
he says that Hold the fort, for l am
coming" were not the exact words
used by General Sherman. He says:
1.-THE exact words were Hold Allatoona
and / will assist you. This has sub
stantially the same meaning as Hold
the fort, for am coming, though 1t is
not as poetical, not as tuneful. AS
stated by Colonel Watrous, the dis
| patch was not signaled early In the
morning; 1t came through the smoke
and flame that envelOped the hill be
| tween l and O'clock about the time
| that General Corse was wounded. Not
| long after It's receipt as If to repeat
| General Shermans order, Corse, who
was Frustrated by his wounds, every
now and then would lift his head,
stained with blood, and cry out fran
| tically: Hold Allatoona Hold ALA
| toona y" That reminds me of the
story recently told in the Times Her
aid, in which General Bragg while
wounded on the field, rose on his elbow
as his brigade commander came along
and in a daZed condition cried out:
'"They are fanking the brigade and
charging the battery - For some time
after he was wounded General Corse
was so stunned that he seemed to be
out Of his mind. 1t was while in this
condition that he frequently lifted his
head and cried out, Hold Allatoona.
Hold Allatoona ~ Though half crazed
by his hurts he remembered his orders
and realized the disaster a defeat
meant
Mr.. Ambrose says that the commu-
nication which General Sherman had
with Allatoona Pass early in the morn
ing had no connection whatever with
the famous Hold the fort, for l am
| coming dispatch. The signal which
General Sherman received from ALA
toona the morning of the 4th, and of
which he spoke when he said to his
| staff officers: Gentlemen, we are all
right Corse has reached there and the
| 11nahln tn taEn tho nlQpp =
was received before the battle COM
menced, before General Sherman knew
| that 5000 of the enemy were to storm
the pass defended by 1900. He knew
that there would be terrible battle,
but he was confident that the outcome
would be favorable. He knew Gen
eral Corse and the troops under his
command-knew the men of Iowa, Min
nesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. He
knew that our regiment, the Seventh
Illinois, had armed themselves at their
own expense, with sixteen-shooters
Knowing Corse and the men under him
and about the sixteen-shooters enabled
him to say, Gentlemen, we are all
right The Rebels are unable to take
the pass
1T was in the midst of the great bat
tie" says Ambrose, when lead, shot,
shell and canister were pouring in upon
us as if driven by a mighty tornado
that Sherman's other dispatch came :
| Hold Allatoona and l viii. assist you,
or, as the genius with a pen said, and
l;,rht ND Of no
world, Hold the fort, for l am coming
Without the promised assistance, with
| out Sherman's coming, Allatoona was
held and a great victory was won );
1900 men, nearly half of whose num-
Der had been killed or wounded, held
at bay 5000 picked veterans of the
South. General Sherman, in speaking
of the battle, said: For the number
of troops engaged the battle of Ala
toona Pass was the most holly contest
| ed ever fought on the American CONT
nent.'"
w. G. Whitefeld, first sergeant of
Company d, Thirty fifth Alabama
Scott's brigade, Loring's division, Stew
arts corps, Of the army Of the Tennes
see, c. S. A, writing from Paducah
KY, talks on the same subject. His
regiment was between Kenesaw Noun
tain and Allatoona Pass, and there was
with that part of the Confederate army
a signal officer who had discovered the
key to the union signals and read the
dispatches that were sent from AlTa-
/ toona to Kenesaw and from Kenesaw
to Allatoona. Between 10 and II the
| Confederates saw the message from Al
latoona to General Sherman: I'VE hold
out. General Corse here. Tourtelotte,
lieutenant colonel commanding" Later
| another dispatch was sent: I'VE still
hold out General Corse is wounded"
One of the dispatches sent from Kene-
saw to Allatoona Pass was: Tell AL
latoona to hold on General Sherman is
working hard for YOU" Whitef1eld
agrees with Lieutenant Ambrose as to
! the language of the dispatch General