which now advanced, reached and crossed the West Point Railroad, and intrenched for the night, facing east and north. The next day was spent in destroying the West Point Railroad, which was most effectually done from Red Oak to Fairburn, and some miles beyond, every tie being burned, and every rail twisted and warped. The enemy seemed now to be awakened to a suspicion that an extensive infantry raid upon the Macon Railroad was in process of execution, and probably believed that it was to be effected by perhaps the half, or even a smaller portion, of our whole force. He was evidently innocent of the belief that our whole army was moving upon his communications. Hood sent Hardee's corps, followed by S. D. Lee's, to Jonesboro', remaining in Atlanta with Stewart's corps and the militia. On the 30th of August Sherman put his army again in motion, in a southeasterly direction, aiming to strike the Macon Railroad from 'Rough and Ready' to Jonesboro'. The Army of the Tennessee, marching from Fairburn, crossed Flint River in the latter part of the day, driving the enemy's cavalry before it, and had approached to within half a mile of Jonesboro', when it encountered Hardee, and Lee's corps strongly intrenched in a favorable position, and where night overtook it. The remainder of the army, en échelon towards the left, did not succeed in getting up to . the railroad. Kilpatrick's cavalry covered our right front and flank, and Garrard's our left flank and rear. About noon on the next day (August 31) Hardee, acting probably under the belief that but a small portion of our infantry was opposed to him, sallied from his works around Jonesboro', and assaulted the lines of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Corps. The assault was general, but it lacked that enthusiasm and dash which ordinarily accompany the headlong attack of rebel troops, and it was repulsed by our men with little difficulty. The enemy fell back to his lines after two more attempts to assault, leaving his dead and many of his wounded in our hands. His loss in killed, wounded and prisoners was more than two thousand, while ours was not as many hundreds. The Fourth, Fourteenth and Twenty-third Corps reached the railroad during the course of the day, and thoroughly destroyed it, from 'Rough and Ready' to within two miles of Jonesboro'. During the afternoon of the next day, the Fourteenth Corps came up and formed on the left of the Army of the Tennessee. The Fourth and Twenty-third being still at the rear, with but slight prospect of their getting up before dark to strike the enemy in rear, General Sherman ordered the Fourteenth Corps to move forward to the assault without delay. Its position enabled it to take the rebel line flank. Davis, forming his troops with the divisions of Baird and Morgan in line, and the division of Carlin in support, moved handsomely up, crossed several hundred yards of open field under a heavy fire, and came down with a run upon the enemy, whose works our men mounted with a ringing cheer, and rolled up his whole right flank like a scroll. Unfortunately, our remaining troops did not get up in season, and darkness setting in, Hardee was enabled to get away. But for this his whole corps would have been swept off like chaff. As it was, however, Davis captured two four-gun batteries, and Brigadier General Gowan and his entire brigade of Cleburn's division, the crack fighting division of Hood's army. "About midnight, heavy explosions and the brilliant illumination of burning supplies in the direction of Atlanta, twenty miles in our rear, gave us to understand that Hood had at last comprehended his situation and danger, and that, to save his army from being cut in two and crushed in detail, he had evacuated his stronghold, and Atlanta was ours. "At daylight next morning (September 2), it was discovered that Hardee had fallen back seven miles, to 'Lovejoy's Station,' where good fortune had given him a naturally strong position, which he speedily intrenched, and where Hood effected the junction of his disunited forces the same day. "Atlanta captured, our task was done, and, as General Sherman announced in his orders of the day, was 'well done.' After destroying the Macon Railroad for six miles toward Lovejoy's, the different corps at once took up their positions covering their hard won acquisition. Here they are now engaged resting from their continuous labor of four months, and reorganizing and refitting for a new campaign, and, let us hope, new conquests. "It would follow too soon upon the momentous events of this glorious summer campaign in Georgia, to discuss it critically, even with the brevity necessary for a magazine article; but those whose good fortune it has been to participate in it, however humbly, feel an honest pride in believing that its story will hold as high a place in history as that of any other in the present war." CHAPTER XII. SHERMAN AND THE OCCUPATION OF ATLANTA. MEAS SHERMAN A MILITARY GENIUS-OPINIONS OF HIS CAM- DENCE-AN ATLANTA EXILE-PERMANENT TION INTENDED OPERATIONS OF FORREST AND OTHERS HOOD'S NORTHERN MOVEMENT -ATTACK AND REPULSE AT ALTOONA THE PURSUIT -HOOD CROSSES THE TENNESSEE SHERMAN'S PLANS—BATTLES OF FRANKLIN AND NASHVILLE- SHERMAN RETURNS TO ATLANTA-A FACETIOUS LETTER. The operations of General Sherman's army, which resulted in the capture of Atlanta, and which have been partially recorded in the three previous chapters, make some of the most wonderful pages in the history of war. The army endured long marches, great hardships and bloody battles, seemingly without a murmur of complaint. The artifices to mislead the enemy were so successful, Sherman's marches were so well guarded, his army so well fed, his battles so well fought and won, that both officers |