Evening star., 1946-05-08


Atlanta, and visited the Cyclorama.
The Cyclorama is the worlds
largest painting Of warfare. 1t de-
picts, in twice than life-size figures,
the Battle of Atlanta and belliger-
ent suburbs. It costs IS cents to get
in, unless you are a bold journalist
who asks for a pass at the gate. I
am a bold journalist. 1t cost me
nothing to get in.
Little Old Lady Is Guide.
I went in with a group of IL or
Is people. We passed by Jeffer-
son Davis bust on the way to the
gallery from which the mural is
viewed. Our guide was little old
lady. She wore high buttoned shoes
and carried in her right hand a
long wooden pointer. In her left
hand she carried a flashlight.
Ladies and gentlemen" the lit
tie old lady said. you are just about
to view one of the great battles in
history-the Battle of Atlanta"
She turned on her flashlight and
Illuminated about square feet
Of the canvas. This Is Dinwoodie
Ridge" she said. We were all glad
that she said it was a ridge" be-
cause it couldn't have been more
than 4 feet high. On top of this
ridge were all sorts of Union soldiers,
guns pointed straight down the hill,
and shooting. Every muzzle showed
a blast. In front of this slight rise
in the ground were Confederate SOL
diers who were dead. who were
dying, and who were severely
wounded.
Ladies and gentlemen" the little
lady said, seven times our gallant
Southern boys attacked this hill,
Seven times they were forced to re-
treat. Unfortunately, they we're
beaten back by the rough terrain.
Had it not been for natures miser-
able mistake in placing rocks and
stones in front of our gallant South
ern warriors, they would have cap
tured the hill with the first charge"
She Was Dead Right.
Having been a soldier myself, I
readily understood that the little
lady with the buttoned shoes was
dead right. No Union soldier held
his position. No Union soldier shot
q Confederate. The rough country
was to blame for the casualties on
Dinwoodie Ridge. The little lady
with the buttoned shoes switched
her f1ashlight to a bit of the canvas
that showed William Tecumseh
Sherman, in all his splendor, astride
a very white horse.
"At a crucial moment of this
battle" our guide explained, Gen.
Sherman had to come down and
personally take charge Of a regiment
of Union soldiers that were being
severely defeated by six men from
Georgia. The Georgia boys had no
ammunition, no food, no water, and
were completely cut of from help,
but so amazing was their marks
manship, so greatly did they believe
in the cause, that they were near
ing point where they might turn
the tide of battle. I say again. had
it rot been for the personal appear
ance Of Gen. Sherman, the South
and not the North would have die
tated the terms of peace"
Two Yankees in the audience
snickered. They are now languish-
ing in the Atlanta Jail, I hope. The
rest of us believed every word that
our little guide said to us. AS
matter of fact, we all Clipped in
and gave her money enough to go
back to the home that Sherman
burned down, and to hire some one
to dig for her silver that was buried
when the Union troops came march
ing through Georgia.
/ How Gid we know that her home
was burned down by Sherman? How
did we know that she buried the sill
yer in the back yard? This is how
we knew-no Southerner in history
was allowed to keep his home, his
silver, his bond stuff, his
bsndannas for his oil nanny.
AS a native Georgian, and man
whose forebears lost everything
mentioned above, I am going to tell
you that I know Southerners who,
during the Civil War, lost the most
precious possession they ever had
a phony accent.
distributed BY McNaught Syndicate, Inc.)