The National tribune., 1910-07-28

thunderous wave OF men and horses
that threatened to engulf them. In an
instant all was confusion. 1t was. all
admit, one of the finest charges of the
war. Fully 100 men fell under the keen
sabers OF Minty's Brigade. The praises
of Minty and his command is on every
tongue
SHERMAN was right. He heard the
whistles of the locomotives going in
and out of Atlanta The rebels could
rebuild the road about as fast as II
could be destroyed in the vicinity of
Atlanta. Their rolling mills were there,
and they seemed to have plenty of ties
somewhere The short line of road into
and from Atlanta allowed them to mass
heavy forces much quicker than We
could. Hence the cavalry raids were
not very effective"
Bridging the ChattahOochee.
F.. ]. Holman, Leavenworth, Kan,
writes:
'In a late issue of The National Trib-
une a correspondent expresses his as
tonishment at the entrance of a rail-
road train into Atlanta soon after its
occupation. knowing that the bridge
over the Chattahoochee was destroyed.
The Construction Corps, whose duty IL
was to repair and build railroads and
bridges as fast as Sherman advanced,
was as perfect an organization as any
other part of Sherman's army. 1t con-
sisted of about rs trackmen and me-
chanics.
THE length of this bridge was 769
feet, and it was so feet high. We felled
timber on both sides. and, commencing
at both ends, erected sections of bents.
On this section another was placed,
and as fast as it was in position rod
man stood on the cap and gave me the
reading q stood behind the instrument
on the west bank), from which / gave
the builders the length of the top Sec
ton, they saving the four lengths or
legs of the bent accordingly and plac-
ing it. The stringers were then
stretched, ties placed and rails laid. On
the third day at noon the top section
met in the center, piece of timber was
thrown across and the writer was the
first to cross, just two and one-half
days from commencement
When Sherman left Atlanta we went
TO Baltimore, where We loaded on the
steamship Baltic, and went down the
coast, embarked at Morehead City, n.
c.. where we built additional wharfing
and terminal facilities and put in order
the road to Newbern, Goldsboro and
Raleigh, when the circuit was complet-
ed and we were again with Sherman,
ready to build his bread line wherever
he went"
Only Camp Follower.
P. D. Thomas, 18th u. S. C. T., Ra-
cine, Wis, writes:
II was camp follower in Sherman's
Atlanta campaign. Uncle Sar1 would
not take us black boys as soldiers in
the first part Of the war. Some Con-
gressmen and others said we would not
fight our former masters, consequently
we went into the army in most every
capacity except being soldiers. I was
a servant of Lieut.. Nelson, 18th Wis.
In order to render him assistance If
needed, 1 kept up pretty close to the fir
ing line during the battle. He said
could take a gun belonging to one of
the sick men and fight the rebels with
him. l replied that as long as Uncle
Sam would not take me as soldier I
would not fight. / talked to an Ohio
soldier boy of about my own age as to
how he felt in a fight. He said that he
felt little shaky at first, but after he
had been under fire little while that
he did not care a -.
$50 l decided not to take any chance
of getting killed or wounded by fighting
in the ranks unless 1 could get the
same credit as a white soldier. One
day Lieut.. Nelson, of Co. G, 18th Wis,
was on the firing line at Picketts Mill,
and one of the boys of his company, I
think it was Oscar Thompson, ran a
little ahead of the line into a clump of
bushes. He was firing at the Johnnies
from this position when he was seen
to fall The Lieutenant reached over
him and said: oscar, are you badly
hurt?" But he made no reply; he was
dead. AT that very moment a rebel
bullet went crashing thru Lieut.. Nell
sons shoulder. He then walked back
to the field hospital, which was near
Pickett's Mill.
1T was there that I saw a soldier
brought back on a stretcher i spoke
to one of the men, and asked who he
was. He said it was his brother, and
that they both had served 80 days over
time. They were to have been mus
tered out just as soon as the army
stopped for a few days. He had the
ball of his index finger shot off, and he
kept dipping it in the water and kept
bathing his brothers head, who was
unconscious. He was struck by piece
of shell.
Later on Uncle Sam decided to take
us black boys as soldiers, and ] went
in the army. He gave me suit of blue
and musket, and l felt like new
man, and 1 was. 1 have the gun yet
am glad to know that when you saw
a black face down there in most every
case he was your friend; and l am still
more glad that 1 had hand in helping
your dear old boys in blue in breaking
the chain that bound us black boys"