The work of our army today amounted to just nothing; during the entire day the contending armies rested in their rifle-pits and beneath their "pup tents," contenting themselves with an occasional shot to remind each other that they were still there, and had not evacuated their works. No more noise was caused by the entire army than would be produced by a dozen sportsmen in a forest where game was plenty. Our skirmishers, I understand, were ordered to fire but occasionally, and the enemy manifested no desire to provoke a severe skirmish along the line. Why this order was given I know not, but knowing ones assert that it was to give the enemy an impression that we were short of ammunition, and thereby induce them to come out of their works and attack us. If this was the object, it failed, for no attack was made. At seven P. M., six or eight shots were feed at Kenesaw by McPherson's artillery, but they called forth no response.
During the night however, the quietude was broken by pretty sharp skirmishing, lasting from ten o'clock until reveille this morning. The loss, however, was very light. The rest today has been fully appreciated by the over-taxed surgeons at the hospitals, who for many days have been on duty night and day, dressing the wounds of and caring for the sufferers under their charge.
In the absence of skirmishing, both armies have occupied the day in erecting new, and strengthening their old works. The lines are now so close before the Fourth and Fourteenth Corps that the skirmishers in the "rifle-pits keep up a lively conversation with each other.
RIGHT WING — "NOTHING FRESH."
The intense heat which begins to prevail at this season of the year in this latitude, was, on the 24th, well-nigh at its maximum. Staff officers lay in their marquees or booths, endeavoring to kill time with such vile "commissary" as could begot, and ancient newspapers, and the pickets only occasionally roused themselves from a comfortable nap in their little trenches, peered out over the small heaps of dirt which lay between their heads and rebel bullets, and fired off a gun at random to keep up appearances, and again subsided. Has it never occurred to any one that this campaign is a very slow one? To those who are uninitiated and have not the key to strategies and policies, the reasons for this slowness does not appear. The heated term is already inaugurated, and active operations are weekly becoming more tedious by reason of the heat. Rebel prisoners almost unanimously say there is very little to offer a substantial resistance to our march into Atlanta, after getting to the banks of the river, and the men are eager for a battle to end the campaign. Are we waiting for something to turn up?
REBEL PRISONERS
These have not been taken in any considerable numbers of late, but representatives from all States and regiments are found in the small squads that are picked up now and then. They all present the same general appearance. An observer cannot but be struck with the listless, jaded motions and sallow countenances with which these men come among us, as of those whose spirits are broken, whose hopes are few, and who have no heart for the fight. Prisoners and deserters alike wear the countenances and speak the words of men who have been over-worked, of men who have been duped by fair speeches, into a service which promised great things and yielded nothing but disappointment, of men whose minds and muscle have been goaded by a lavish use of stimulants to a feverish activity, and who are now suffering the inevitable reaction and languor which follow unnatural elevation.
They act like men who are thoroughly tired, worn out and disgusted. We have as little to hope from the deserters as the rebels, nor have the latter much to hope from the prisoners we may return to them by exchange, for, in the rough phrase of both alike, "they don't care a cuss, so they can got out of it and get home." A very unpromising confession from those who are looked to as the material out of which to erect new and thriving States.
OPERATIONS OF JULY 4TH.
Late in the afternoon of the 3d, the skirmishers of General Smith's Division, after advancing out about two miles, became engaged briskly with those of the enemy, and driving them across Nickajack creek, and out of a few slight works, discovered that the rebels were occupying a fortified position in their front. They were prepared to make an assault next morning, but any considerable advance would have carried them quite beyond the supporting forces on the flank, and it must be delayed till later in the day. Meantime the Twentieth Corps was slowly advancing, (forenoon of the 4th) skirmishing slightly and shelling, and at the same time moving to the right, so that it gradually came in front of the Twenty-Third Corps, leaving the latter in reserve. About the middle of the afternoon, General Hooker reported his right resting on Nickajack creek, by which movement only Colonel Swayne's Brigade, of the Twenty-Third Corps, was between the Twentieth and Fifteenth Corps. On the right of the Fifteenth were the two divisions of the Sixteenth Corps, commanded by General Dodge, somewhat less advanced than the rest. The Seventeenth Corps had marched on down a road leading South to the river, and General Harrow's Division of the Fifteenth Corps, was in reserve yet.
The troops being formed in line ready to advance, about five o’clock, the skirmishers were thrown out preparatory to starting, to feel the enemy's position. Those in front of Fuller s Brigade, Veatch's Division, had advanced more nearly to the enemy's main line than any had hitherto done, and by them it was discovered that the enemy were very strongly entrenched behind masked breastworks, protected in front by abatis. So formidable were the works ascertained to be, that it was not considered prudent to assault them that evening with the forces then at command. A few shells were thrown into the position, and it was left for the night. On the left, three regiments, two of which were the 129th and 130th Indiana, were advancing toward the works, and appear to have been without skirmishers in front, when they were suddenly met by a severe volley coming from an unseen foe, which disabled from twelve to twenty men in each regiment. Falling flat on their faces after the first volley, they escaped further loss. This line had been formed fronting in the direction it did before the evacuation of Kenesaw, i. e., about South-east
A BLACK FLAG.
On the 3d a portion of General Stoneman's command captured from the 3d Texas Cavalry, a black flag, with a skeleton figured upon it, together with a death's head and cross-bones. This flag is no myth or creation of the wild fancy of some terrified trooper, but a reliable thing now in possession of a surgeon in the General's command, and seen and handled by the members of General Schofield's staff. They are said to have carried it from the first. What they expect to have understood by it is easily arrived at from the remark of a member of another Texas regiment, who was taken prisoner and brought to headquarters. When asked by a member of the staff if he belonged to the regiment which carried the black flag, he replied that he did not, else he should not have been brought there. It is, perhaps, needless to state that our men are reported to have taken no prisoners from the 3d Texas Cavalry.
WHAT THE REBELS ABANDONED.
I visited yesterday and inspected a portion of the works built by the rebels in the rear of Kenesaw. They were located about five miles, a little West of South, from the mountain, and in front of the left of the Twenty-Third Corps; and I have not seen, anywhere, fortifications built with more solidity, regularity and finish, in any portion of our system of defences in this campaign. Crowning the summits of two slight elevations in a cleared field, surrounded by woods and commanding a main road leading to Marietta, were two regular earth-forts, pierced for eight guns each. These forts stood a few rods in advance of a heavy line of breastworks crossing the road, and which were pierced within a space of four hundred yards, for nineteen guns. Thus within the space of four hundred yards, the rebels could have brought to bear upon an approaching force, thirty-five guns. No better evidence could be asked of the indomitable industry and resolution with which the rebels contest our advance into this country, and of the obstacles the army has to encounter in making the advance.
THE NEW REBEL LINE.
After falling back from Kenesaw, it was supposed the rebels would delay on this side the river no longer than was necessary to cover
the transportation of their baggage and their retreat. Instead of that they have constructed another powerful line of breastworks, some sections of which can be plainly seen with a good glass on the crest of a hill, and seem determined to make still another fight and another flank movement necessary, this side of the river. This line appears to assume the general shape of a semi-circle, resting on the river, and curving around the railroad bridge as a centre, with its farther point Northward, about seven miles below Kenesaw. They are said to have employed in its construction, a large force of negroes; but our signal officers have seen white soldiers mainly, and speak of the alacrity and vigor with which the latter throw dirt, and heave huge logs as evincing a very commendable development of the instinct of self-preservation at least, if not a lively enthusiasm in promoting their cause. The rebels have learned at last, as well as ourselves, by bitter experience, that it is a most desirable thing to fight, if fight they must, behind a friendly wall. Yesterday our forces appear to have got into line after the confusion and changes in following the evacuation, and now invest a semi-circle in the following order from right to left: McPherson, Schofield and Thomas.
HAZARDS WHICH ARE PAST.
It is safe, at this date, to speak of the hazards undergone by certain portions of the army within a week past, of which, at the time, it would have been imprudent to make particular mention. Before the assault on Kenesaw, the right wing had already been greatly extended Southward, apparently with the purpose and hope of causing the enemy to evacuate the mountain. This movement failed of its object, simply because it was not prosecuted far enough. This is proven by the fact that after the assault in front had been made, and failed, and the original flank movement was resumed and continued, the rebels were compelled to withdraw, by a simple continuation of that which was the strategy at first, out abandoned too soon. If the perils of this prolongation of the right wing were considerable before the evacuation of Kenesaw, (and they were evidently sufficient to cause the further prosecution of the movement to be stopped) much more were they after the evacuation. While the rebels held their grasp upon the mountain, they could throw against our right wing only their cavalry and a small force of infantry, though if they had fully known how weak it was, they might, even with this force, have inflicted much more mischief than they did; but when they let go their hold upon it, they were at liberty to double back rapidly, and by massing heavily on our right before a force could be sent all the way around from our left to support the right, to strike a heavy blow in that quarter. Our line was long drawn out.
Our Generals were fully aware of the risks of the situation, but it seemed necessary that they should be incurred, since any considerable part of our forces in line before the rebels could not be spared by reason of the superior strength and inferiority of the rebel line, until the withdrawal of some portions of the enemy should liberate the men in their front; and, even then, the rebels could arrive first, going across a circle which we must go round. Nevertheless, the mingled audacity and caution which controlled the move, was destined to succeed, and without disaster. The stake was won. The rebels thought it safest not to make a bold push against our right, but secure to themselves a strong position on the river, and endeavor to cover a retreat. A division of the Fifteenth Corps arrived from the left, and presently the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps followed, and the Twenty-Third Corps breathed easier.
To one who has closely scanned the map of Northern Georgia, and familiarized himself with the news of the day since this campaign opened, it must be apparent that in two months the army under General Sherman has accomplished a vast work. Marching over one hundred and twenty miles through a country unknown to them, skirmishing and fighting almost daily, butting up against works capable of resisting a force double the number under Johnston, only to gain some slight advantage, or meet with a temporary check, contesting every foot of ground from Ringgold to the Chattahoochie, without once having its lines broken, or a regiment stampeded, it challenges the world to show a better record. The secret of its great success lies in the superior material of which it is composed, and the foresight of the men who command. The same invincible host that under Rosecrans and Buell cut their way through Kentucky and Tennessee to Chattanooga, and, when broken and shattered at Chickamauga, reformed their lines, and held in check a vastly superior number, still carries the flag of their country forward through blood and fire.
Here we are at the Chattahoochie, within ten miles of the chief city of Georgia, looking down into its streets from the mountain heights that line the Northern bank.
THE RETREAT OF THE ENEMY.
This morning the division commanders of Howard's Corps, at three o'clock, discovered that the enemy had disappeared from their front, at Neil Dow, and were in full retreat. Breakfast was hurriedly eaten, camps broken, and at five, Howard's columns were in motion, Wood moving along the railway, Newton following, with the exception of one brigade that was sent along the road to the left, of the railway, in pursuit of a wagon train, and a battery of artillery guarded by rebel cavalry who brought up the rear, but which failed to overtake the train. Stanley moved through the woods on the left of the railway, and picked up a large number of rebel prisoners and deserters. Wood took fifty-eight, and Newton also gathered up a respectable number.
The Fourteenth Corps moved on a road running parallel with the railway on the right, Baird being in the advance. Skirmishing commenced about Fulton, one mile and a half North of the river, with the enemy's rear-guard, who retreated rapidly before our advance.
Hooker, who was on the right of Palmer, swung round his right and advanced toward the river, meeting with but little opposition as he marched rapidly to a position within about three miles of the river. Tonight, our line is an irregular one, conforming somewhat to the course of the river, the centre being two or three miles from it, and both flanks resting upon its banks. Howard's Corps on the left at this point, race's Ferry, and McPherson on the right, near where Nickajack creek empties its waters into the muddy waters of the Chattahoochie, some five miles from the railroad bridge.
A very large number of prisoners have been taken today by the army, but these are our only captures, as the enemy got over with every wagon. The Fourth Corps has taken about one hundred and fifty, and the other Corps have done equally well. I have no particulars of McPherson's and Schofield's movements on the flank, for the past two days, as they have been isolated from the rest of the command. They have had some severe fighting, however, and driven the enemy to the river.
SHELLING THE ENEMY'S REAR.
Arriving at Vining Station yesterday, it was discovered that the enemy's rear-guard was crossing at the ferry, one mile South-east of the station. At the right of the station are two very high mountains, from the summit of which a plain view of the road leading from the rebel pontoons to Atlanta, was obtained. Palmer promptly ordered the 5th Indiana Battery, Captain Morgan, to take a position on the mountain, and to open with one section. The shots were deposited into the road in splendid style, and exploding in the road, raised quite a dust about the cavalry, who, for over an hour, could be distinctly seen with the naked eye, rushing out at the height of speed, and goading their horses forward. Never have I witnessed cavalry so thoroughly demoralized; many horses fell down exhausted beneath their cowardly riders, who flanked themselves out of the way with remarkable agility. When all had been driven across who were in Howard's front, the enemy fired his pontoons, which were burned. Hazen, who had the advance in driving the enemy across the river, inflicted considerable loss upon them, losing five men in his brigade.
VIEW FROM MOUNT LOOKOUT.
The view from the mountain at this point, from which our artillery today shelled the retreating enemy, is exceedingly interesting. Away off to the South-east, ten miles distant, can be distinctly seen the farm houses that nestle in the forests around Atlanta — the tall spires of the churches and public buildings, and the fortifications that guard the approaches to the "Gate City." Stretching away to the So
uth, the eye beholds a vast forest, dotted by innumerable plantations and villages. Nearer, almost at the base of the mountain, the serpentine river can be seen through the thick growth of trees that line its banks, while the military, State and private roads to the East and South, remind the beholder of a huge spider's web, so numerous are they, and forming so many angles.
Captain Messenger and Lieutenant Burton, of General Howard's staff, have opened a signal station here, and daily take observations of the country around them, which, to the South-east and South-west, is quite level, but on other points of the compass quite mountainous and broken by ravines and ridges.
Yesterday the curiosity of the troops to see Atlanta, was so strong that stragglers left their regiments and climbed the side from which they viewed the Promised Land, to which they are "pilgrimaging." Many of the poor fellows, I fear, will never live to obtain a nearer view, as a desperate defense will be made ere Johnston evacuates it for another position, and by surrendering it, open the doors for greater Federal success beyond and on either side.
A SHOCKING SIGHT.
While on the mountain yesterday, the body of a man was found, mortified and rotten, suspended to a tree. To all appearances he had been dead three weeks. Papers were found in his pockets, identifying him as a railway employee named Ben Duncan, of Griggsville, Georgia. It is believed he committed suicide, as money was found on his person. The rebel citizens and soldiers taken by us profess to know nothing as to how he met his death.
Personal Recollections of Sherman's Campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas Page 12
