The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-08-15
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF
THE WAR.
The Veterans of the Rebellion Tell of
Whistling Bullets, Bright Bayonets,
Bursting Bombs, Bloody Battles,

pany III, Seventh. Illinois Infantry, now
of Canton, H., 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 1 have ever heard speak of it,
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 L am coming though it is
stated by Colonel Watrous, the dis
patch was not signaled early in the
morning; it came through the smoke
and flame that enveloped the hill be
tween l and 2 O'Clock, about the time
| that General Corse was wounded. Not
long after its 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! 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 thanking 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-
nicati0n which General Sherman had
with Allatoona Pass early in the morn
ing had no connection whatever with
the famous "Hold the fort, for 1 am
coming dispatch. 1.-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
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 a 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.
ut was In the midst of the great bat
tle,'' says Ambrose, when lead, shot
shell and canister were pouring In upon
tlat Sherman's other dispatch came:
Hold Allatoona and will. assist YOU
or, as the genius with pen said, and
said to the delight and profit Of the
world, Hold the fort, for / am coming
Without the promised assistance, with
out Sherman's coming, Allatoona Yves
held and great victory was won;
800 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. Whitefield, first sergeant of
Company d, Thirty-fifth Alabama,
Scott's brigade, Loring's division, Stew
arts corps, of the army of the Tennes-
see, G. 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
q signal officer who had discovered the
key to the union signals and read the
dispatches that were sent from Ala
toona to Kenesaw and from Kenesaw
n
Confederates saw the message from AL
latoona to General Sherman: 1--WE hold
out. General Corse here. Tourtelotte.
lieutenant colonel commanding" Later
another dispatch was sent: I'VE still
bold 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" Whitefield
agrees with Lieutenant Ambrose as to
the language of the dispatch General
Sherman sent to General Corse which
was converted into Hold the fort, for
am coming" In the language of Cen
eral DIX, let us all say, IL any man
for l am coming shoot him on the
spot"
There is much else of interest in the
letter Of my Confederate comrade. One
thing that catches my attention and
tickles my fancy appears at the begin
ming Of the letter. "Please regard me
as one of the truest Americans now on
top of the earth. We are all Americans
and can safely defy any set of men Of
whate. - nationality to put foot on
our grass. If the President were to
call f.. men to defend the country
there would be raised in Paducah and
the country close to it, in few days,
5000 soldiers, mostly Confederate vet
Grams and their sons, and no soldiers
would fight better for our flag, the
stars and stripes" That has the true
ring to it. Continuing, he says: II