The Washington herald., 1914-08-26

the Confederates as their small num-
bers would allow.
During August - the movement con.
tlnued, until by evening Of the 9th prac-
ucalIy the entire army was gathered be
tween Atlanta and Sandtown Ths
twentieth Army Corps. 1000 strong. was
posted at the railroad crossing Of The
Chattahoochee River. Immediately north
OF Atlanta. to ward of any atter,nt
which the Confederates might r1aEs -
break Sherman's communications.
The bulk of the Federal army f,,rI,.
1900 men. was now marched away from
the railroad upon which IL was de
pendent for subsistence Sherman had
provided for this contingency. SurpIrIs
wagons and baggage had been sent norm
Of the ChattahOOchee. beyond the roach
OF the COnf"derates. and sufficient ra-
tions. ammunition. and medical suppIies
Ior hfteen-day campaign was stored
In the remaining wagons. which now were
gwen place in the very heart Of the army
near Sandtown.
Finding. that everything had gone as
planned up 10 the evening Of August .
sherman the following morning was pre-
pared to push his columns south AGAINST
the West Point Railroad. which swung
on to the southwest from Atlanta. and
passing through Montgomery. Ala ran
down to the Gulf coast at Pensacola and
Mobilt. That road detroyed. he was IA
continue his march until the Macon road
was reached directly in the rear nf Al
ianta- Here. after hard fighting the At
Ianta campaign practically was to end
Thought sherman Rctreating.
The movement of the Federal troops
on August . had not been unnoticed by
the defenders of Atlanta. In spite of the
precautions, Gen. Hood was well aware
that something was going on in the Fed
eral camps as early as the morning of
August D. Unable to understand lust
what the carefully veiled movements
meant. he kept a careful watch. and sent
out mis- cavalry to follow up the march
ing FoderaIs
When. II was ascertaincd late in the
evening of August q that the mass Of
the FedeTals were gathered along the
Sandtown road. Gen. Hood jumped at the
conclusion that Sherman was retreatinc
across the Chattahootchee. Earlier in
the month he had sent the bulk of his
cavalry, under Gen. Joseph Wheeler, to
destroy the railroads in Sherman's rear.
and though Hood had not vet heard
from Gen. Wheeler he supposed that the
expedition had been successful beyond
his greatest hopes. and that Sherman n
was falling back because his supplies had
been cut of.
1t Is said that this Illusion was con-
flrmed by an incident which occurred that
evening. An old woman of the neiChbOr-
hood had applied to some of Hardee's
troops for food. and stated that she had
been within the lines of SChOfeld's Fed
eral division, which lay near it. and had
been refused food: with the assertion that
the troops had not enough for them
selves. She was sent to Hardee. and the
latter took her to Hoods headquarters,
where she repeated her story. Hood ex-
claimed that her story full corroborated
his belief that Sherman was crossing the
Chattahootchee.
This story is noted by Gen. Jacob n.
Cox in his history of the Atlanta cam
paign. He declared that il was told him
by Gen. Hardee Immediately after the
close Of the war.
Gen. Hood was destined to be disillu-
stoned within a few days. when he was
to find II too late to meet successfully
the unexpected turn which the situation
IN front of Atlanta had taken.
ICopyriaht. l1l4)
Tomorrow-Cruise of the c. S. S.