The National tribune., 1909-05-06
THE WASHINGTON

) of the Tennessee TO pass around from
right to left-and cross the river at Kos
well. The Sixteenth Corps was In the
advance. and relieved Newton's DIVE
sion. Bn nil
On the Night ysf July 10 Johnston
made another ofohis orderly retreats,
carrying off everything. and fell BACK
to the strong position which he haa
prepared behind ,-Peachtree Creck; u
| tributary of the 1Ghattahoochee. A1te.
he had gotten everything safety ecross
the river he burned the railroad, wagon
and pontoon bridges. Tho sherman
had expected that the lodgment on the
river above would compel Johnston to
retreat. he was hardly prepared for
such a prompt movement. and the
smoke of the bursing bridges was the
: first revelation that he had of It.
y As usual. Thomas. with the Army OF
the Tennessee, pushed straight across
in pursuit, and with the Armies of the
Tennessee and Ohio on his left. swung
around on a grand right wheel, pivot
ing upon the Army Of the Cumberland.
| The Line of Peachtree Creek.
With his invariable skill, Gen. Joseph
: e. Johnston had selected new lines of
the greatest possible strength. Peach
tree Creek flows around Atlanta some
u
Richmond; that is. it Is great. wet
ditch. covering the front Of a natural
fortress. 1t cuts deep gorge thru
the rocks in its path to join the, Chatta-
hoochee. and the hills behind 1t are
the natural bastions of the great forti-
fications.
Knowing from the first that Atlanta.
with its great shops. stores and railroad
connections, was Sher:nan's real objec-
tive, Johnston had selected Peachtree
Creek some time before as possible
field for the last decisive stand he would
make for Atlanta. and had perhaps ex-
pected to fight there in much the same
manner that he had fought on the
banks Of the Chickahominy for the de-
fense of Richmond in the Peninsular
Campaign.
In spite of having been forced back
100 miles. Johnston felt more sanguine
than at any previous time in the cam
paign. Sherman's army had been drawn
100 miles away from its base. and was
tangled up in the rough country. where
If it suffered a serious reverse destruc-
ton seemed certain. 1t had been great
| ly depleted by its losses in battle, by
the breaking down of men thru intense
fatigue, by the expiration of the terms
Of numbers of its regiments, and by
the necessity of guarding the contin-
ually lengthening line of communica-
tons On the other hand. Johnston's
army was strengthened by large bodies
of troops brought in from outlying po-
sitions and by the accession of the
| Georgia Militia, which Gov. Brown had
ordered into the field. The Georgia
| Militia was made up of old men and
boys. it is true: but militia can always
be made of much value in holding
fortifications. Johnston expected that
the militia would man the works. when
he would mass his troops to move out
and attack Sherman's Corps as they
were attempting to deploy in crossing
the river. He had in mind the execu-
fion of some such movement as was
executed by Stonewa1l Jackson against
IMcClellan's right flank at Gafnes's Mill.
| Sherman's Men Encouraged.
The Union soldiers and commanders
were far from feeling the discourage
ment which Johnston imagined would
weigh them down. Atlanta was in
sight, they had Succeeded in forcing
the Confedefates across the last and
greatest of the rivers which had barred
their progress. they were getting out of
the entanglihg mountains, and felt that
at last they were having their enemy
where they had been trying to get him
for monthsa-in the open field for q
lstand-up fight to q finish. This was all
that they asked They had no doubt
as to the result iffthey could only get
the enemy within arms length and out
of the proteatienaof his formidable mud
banks and head logs. He could not go
on fortifying in the open country as he
mad been doing on. the steep mountain
sides. where they had been fighting him
for the past, two months.
| 80, On the Far Right.
Johnston had built great hopes on
1 Gems. s. d. Lee and Forrest, with their
cavalry sweeping up thru Alabama, Mis-
sissippi and Tennessee to cut Shermans
communications and carry general
havoc to the Ohio River. offsetting in
4 a moral way the prestige acquired by
Sherman In his steady advance toward
Atlanta. Sherman had anticipated this,
| and ordered Gen. 8. D. Sturgis to go
out from Memphis with sufficient
force and fight Forrest, whipping him
30 badly as to render him comparative
iy harmless. Sturgis proved to be sim
gularly incompetent for the work, and
his expedition was one of the most
frightfully mismanaged affairs In the
| history of the war. He attacked For
| rest standing In strong position be-
hind swamp near Guntown, Miss,
where Sturgis's- troops could only
| fight in detail. and were whipped as
| defeat was crushing, and Forrest pur-
sued the broken remnants of the COM
mand clear back to Memphis. a dis
tance Of 100 miles, capturing great
| numbers of them. with all their artil-
lery and wagons. In the meanwhile
Maj-Gen. A. J., Smith. coming back
from the Red River Expedition with
two divisions Of the Army of the Ten
nessee. which had been lent Cen
Banks. was ordered to go out and at
tend to Forrest. He succeeded In bring
ing Forrest to bay at TupeIo, Miss.
July 10. and In giving him a decisive
defeat, which quieted that energetic
cavalryman for several weeks.
The noted Gen. John H. Morgan.
who had been under somewhat of a |
cloud since his escape from the Ohio
Penitentiary, made an ATTEMPT TO re. |
trieve his position and prestige by q |
raid with 1000 men thru Pound Can
into Kentucky. This had for one of its
objects the shaking of Sherman's posi-
tion and a threat upon his communica-
tions. On June II Morgan had actual-
ly reached and captured Cynthiana,
within few miles Of Cincinnati. but
Gen. Burbridge gathered his forces and
attacked Morgan the next day. and
drove him out Of the State. ending with
a fierce pursuit. In which Morean,s
command suffered quite severely.
The Defense Of Peachtree Creek.
While Col. Wright's wonderful Rail-
road Corps. rcas sexecutinr its highest
a achievement q tn -thA racon,truo+ia,, aSI