"1. You may order all your post and district commanders that guerrillas are not soldiers, but wild beasts, unknown to the usages of war. To be recognized as soldiers, they must be enlisted, enrolled, officered, uniformed, armed, and equipped, by recognized belligerent power, and must, if detailed from a main army, be of sufficient strength, with written orders from some army commander to do some military thing. Of course we have recognized the Confederate Government as a belligerent power, but deny their right to our lands, territories, rivers, coasts, and nationality-admitting the right to rebel and move to some other country, where laws and customs are more in accordance with their own ideas and prejudices. 2. The civil power being insufficient to protect life and property, ex necessitate rei, to prevent anarchy, which nature abhors,' the military steps in, and is rightful, constitutional, and lawful. Under this law everybody can be made to stay at home and mind his and her own business,' and, if they won't do that, can be sent away, where they must keep their honest neighbors in fear of danger, robbery, and insult. "Your military commanders, provost-marshals, and other agents may arrest all males and females who have encouraged or harbored guerrillas and robbers, and you may cause them to be collected in Louisville, and when you have enough-say three or four hundred-I will cause them to be sent down the Mississippi through their guerrilla gauntlet, and by a sailing-ship send them to a land where they may take their negroes and make a colony, with laws and a future of their own. If they won't live in peace in such a garden as Kentucky, why, we will send them to another if not a better land, and surely this would be a kindness to them, and a God's blessing to Kentucky. "I wish you to be careful that no personalities are mixed up in this, nor does a full and generous 'love of country,' 'of the South,' of their State or country, form a cause of banishment, but that devilish spirit which will not be satisfied, and that makes war the pretext of murder, arson, theft in all its grades, perjury and all the crimes of human nature. "My own preference was, and is, that the civil authorities in Kentucky would and could do this in that State; but, if they will not, or cannot, then we must, for it must be done. There must be an end to strife,' and the honest, industrious people of Kentucky, and the whole world, will be benefited and rejoiced at the conclusion, however arrived at. "I use no concealment in saying that I do not object to men or women having what they call 'Southern feeling,' if confined to love of country, and of peace, honor, and security, and even a little family pride, but these become 'crimes' when enlarged to mean love of murder, of war, desolation, famine, and all the horrid attendants of anarchy. I am, with respect, your friend, "W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General.” CHAPTER LX. The New Position of the Enemy.-Johnston again Turned and Pushed Back upon Atlanta.-Rousseau's Raid.-Hood Succeeds Johnston.-Investment of Atlanta.Battles of July 20th and 22d.-Death of McPherson.-Cavalry Raids of Stoneman and McCook.-Defeat and Capture of Stoneman.-Battle of July 28th.-Prolongation of the Union Right Wing.—Changes of Commanders in Sherman's Army. THE oft-recurring difficulty again presented itself to General Sherman of the enemy holding a position too strong to be carried by assault, even with the superior force that the Union general maintained in spite of the continued waste by battle and disease. The position could only be turned by crossing the rapid and deep Chattahoochee on bridges. It was necessary to move promptly, and Schofield was ordered to cross at Soap Creek, eight miles above the railroad bridge. This movement was completed July 7th, and a gun and some prisoners were captured. At the same time Garrard moved with his cavalry upon Roswell, still farther up the river, destroying some cloth factories that displayed the French flag. He was ordered to hold the ford at Roswell, but was soon relieved in that duty by a division of Thomas, until McPherson's Corps was transferred from the extreme right to the extreme left. By the 9th three good points of passage had been secured over the Chattahoochee, above the railroad bridge. Johnston thereupon abandoned his tête de pont on the night of the 9th, leaving Sherman master of the country north and west of Atlanta, and eight miles distant from that place. The Federal army had now been advanced from the line of the Tennessee to the line of the Chattahoochee, and in view of the long marching and hard fighting to which they had been subjected, the troops were permitted to enjoy a few days' repose. Meantime a cavalry force under Rousseau had been sent to cut the railroad at Opelika, Alabama, leading from Georgia to Alabama and Mississippi. He started on the 10th of July from Decatur, Alabama, and reached Marietta on the 23d, having accomplished his mission with considerable success and trifling loss. Meantime, the long retreat of Johnston having brought him to the south side of the Chattahoochee, and within eight miles of Atlanta, vehement demands were made at the South that he should be relieved of his command. Accordingly, on July 17th, he was succeeded by General Hood.* The impatience of the Southern people demanded more vigorous operations than those which had been conducted by Johnston, who, with a force considerably less than that of Sherman, had opposed him step by step, as he advanced from Tunnel Hill to the Chattahoochee, inflicting much loss, without himself sustaining any serious disaster. The arduous task imposed upon him was overlooked, and the fact only was noticed that Sherman had been enabled to press steadily on, until Atlanta, under the flanking process, was in danger. A new offensive policy was to be adopted under General Hood, who, however, was provided with no additional means to carry it out. The fact that Johnston's army, after sixty days' retreat, was still considered available for the duty to be imposed upon it, is a sufficient proof of the ability of that commander. On the 17th of July, Sherman, having rested and recruited his army, resumed his forward movement. Thomas was ordered to cross at Powers's and Paice's Ferry bridges, and to march by Buckhead. Scho * John B. Hood was born in Bath County. Ken- | tucky, in 1831, and graduated at West Point in 1853. After seeing considerable service in the West, he resigned his commission, in April, 1861, and joined the rebel army. He was appointed colonel of a Texas regiment, in September, and in the succeeding spring a brigadier-general, and for gallantry at the battle of Gaines's Mill was promoted to be a major-general. He commanded a division in Longstreet's Corps in the second Bull Run campaign and in the succeeding battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg, and at the battle of Gettysburg was severely wounded in the arm. He accompanied Longstreet to the West, in the autumn of 1863, and lost a leg at the battle of Chickamauga. He was now commissioned a lieutenant-general, and appointed to command one of the three corps of Johnston's army in Georgia. In July, 1864, he superseded that general, and on the 20th, 220, and 29th of the month had severo encounters with Sherman in front of Atlanta, in which he suffered prodigious losses. On September 1st, being flanked by Sherman, he evacuated Atlanta and retired upon McDonough. In October he moved against Sherman's communications and, passing through Northern Alabama, invaded Tennessee in the latter part of November. After the hard-fought battle of Franklin, he moved upon Nashville, in front of which place he was disas trously defeated, on December 15th and 16th, by Thomas, in a series of battles, which broke the rebel strength in the Southwest. He retreated into Mississippi with the remnant of his army, and in January, 1965, was relieved of his command. field, already across at the mouth of Soap Creek, was ordered to march by Cross Keys, and McPherson was to direct his course from Roswell straight against the Augusta road at some point east of Decatur, near Stone Mountain. Garrard's Cavalry acted with McPherson, and Stoneman and McCook watched the river and roads below the railroad. On the 17th, the whole army advanced from their camps, and formed a general line along the Old Peach-tree road. McPherson reached the Augusta Railroad on the 18th. On Tuesday, July 19th, a reconnoissance was pushed forward as far as Peach-tree Creek, an insignificant stream rising five or six miles northwest of Atlanta, and flowing southwesterly to the Chattahoochee, near the railroad bridge northwest of Atlanta. Behind this stream the rebels lay sheltered and awaiting our approach. They sought by stratagem to take General Sherman at a disadvantage. But a show of opposition was made to the passage of Peach-tree Creek, and our whole army were soon across and in line of battle, the Fourteenth Corps, Palmer's, and the Twentieth, Hooker's, on the right; Newton's Division of the Fourth Corps, Howard's, on the right centre; the Twenty-third, Schofield's, on the centre; the Sixteenth, Dodge's, on the left centre; and in reserve, the Fifteenth, Logan's, and the Seventeenth, Blair's, on the right. Our right was carried by Garrard's Cavalry Division. On the 20th, all the armies had closed in, converging towards Atlanta; but as a gap existed between Schofield and Thomas, two divisions of Howard's Corps of Thomas's Army were moved to the left to connect with Schofield, leaving Newton's Division of the same corps on the Buckhead road. Meantime, the main body of the enemy lay concealed in the woods in front, prepared to assail our columns while changing position and unprepared. They hoped by massing against our weakened centre to break through there, dividing our army in twain, and leaving both wings open to attack. It was a well-laid scheme, and one that seems to have failed as much from fortuitous circumstances as from preparation on our part. At four o'clock, their columns emerged from the concealment of the woods, advancing without skirmishers against our lines. The attack took Newton by surprise, but, being behind a line of hastily-erected rail-piles, his men were almost instantly rallied, and held the enemy in check, with the assistance of twelve guns which they were fortunately able to get into position on the left, where the rebels were pressing to cut off their retreat. Four guns were also now in position on Newton's right, where they rendered important service. Almost at the instant of the attack on Newton, the advance division of Hooker, under Geary, was struck by the advancing columns of the enemy and hurled back in confusion. But they, too, ultimately rallied and recovered their former position, closing up the gap through which the enemy had entered. On Newton's right, Ward was advancing with his division, when the enemy were discovered charging upon him. With promptitude the order was given to meet the charge with counter-charge, the two columns mingling in battle, and the enemy being finally driven back. Farther to the right, next to Geary, Williams's Division was engaged, and suffered more or less. By nine o'clock in the evening, the enemy, thoroughly repulsed in every attack, had fallen back to his intrenchments, leaving many of his dead and wounded and a thousand prisoners in our hands. His total loss was estimated by Sherman at five thousand. Our loss is summed up officially as fol lows: Williams's Division, six hundred and twenty-seven; Geary's Division, four hundred and fifty-one; Ward's Division, five hundred and twenty-seven-total, one thousand six hundred and five. Newton's Division (official), one hundred and two; Fourteenth Corps, two hundred-total loss, one thousand nine hundred and seven. On the night of the 21st, the day succeeding the assault, the enemy's line on Peach-tree Creek was drawn in and shortened, their forces being massed for a second assault, this time on our left wing, our right having defied their stubborn attempt to turn it. Though the noise of their movement was heard in our lines, its full meaning was not discovered, the withdrawal of the enemy from their main line of fortifica tions, one and a half miles nearer Atlanta, seeming to follow legiti mately from the repulse they had received on our right. But it was soon evident that Hood, determined on another assault, had sought, by retiring, to drag us on farther, that he might again attack our lines before they had opportunity to re-form in their new position nearer Atlanta. The first impression of General Sherman, when the lines of the enemy were found to be abandoned, on the morning of the 22d, was that it was no longer the intention of Hood to defend Atlanta. Accordingly, our advancing ranks swept across the strong and well-finished parapet of the enemy, and closed in upon Atlanta, until they occupied a line in the form of a circle of about two miles radius, where the enemy was again found, occupying in force a line of finished redoubts, which had been prepared for more than a year, covering all the roads leading into Atlanta, and busy in connecting these redoubts with curtains strengthened by rifle-trenches, abatis, and chevaux-de-frisc. McPher son, who had advanced from Decatur, continued to follow substantially the railroad, with the Fifteenth Corps, Logan, the Seventeenth, Blair, on its left, and the Sixteenth, Dodge, on its right; but as the general advance of all the armies contracted the circle, the Sixteenth Corps was thrown out of line by the Fifteenth connecting on the right with Schofield, who held the centre. Meantime, McPherson, on the night of the 21st, had gained a high hill to the south and east of the railroad, whence the Seventeenth Corps had, after a severe fight, driven the enemy, which gave him a commanding position within easy view of the very heart of the city. He had thrown out working parties to it, and was making preparations to occupy it in strength with batteries. The Sixteenth Corps, on the morning of the 22d, was ordered from right to left to occupy this position and make it a strong general left flank, and Dodge moved his men by a diagonal path or wagon track leading from the Decatur road in the direction of Blair's left flank. While this movement of Dodge was going on, the enemy, under Hardee, had issued out of Atlanta, and, making a wide circuit to the east, enveloped Blair's left flank, and struck Dodge's column in Blair's line was substantially along the old line of rebel motion. HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. trench, but it was fashioned to fight outward. A space of wooded ground of near half a mile intervened between the head of Dodge's column and Blair's line, through which the enemy had poured, and to fill which Wangelin's Brigade of the Fifteenth Corps was by General McPherson ordered across from the railroad. It came across on the double-quick and checked the enemy, though not in time to prevent the capture of Murray's Battery of regular artillery, which was moving past, unsuspicious of danger. While Hardee attacked in flank, Stewart's Corps was to attack in front, directly out of the main works, but fortunately these two attacks were not simultaneous. The enemy swept across the hill which our men were then fortifying, and captured the pioneer company, its tools, and almost the entire working party, and bore down on our left until he encountered Giles A. Smith's Division of the Seventeenth Corps, who was somewhat "in air," and forced to fight first from one side of the old rifle parapet, and then from the other, gradually withdrawing, regiment by regiment, so as to form a flank to General Leggett's Division, which held the apex of the hill, which was the only part that was deemed essential to hold. The line, thus formed by the connection of Smith by his right with Leggett, was enabled for four hours to meet and repulse all the enemy's attacks, which were numerous and persistent. The obstinacy with which the ground was held discouraged the enemy, and at four o'clock he gave up the attempt. In the mean time, Wheeler's Cavalry fell upon General Sprague at Decatur, where the trains of the Army of the Tennessee were parked. Sprague succeeded in bringing them off, however, with the exception of three wagons. Meantime, McPherson,* who at ten o'clock in the morning was in consultation with General Sherman at head-quarters, rode to the front on hearing the firing, and having sent off his staff with various orders, *James B. McPherson was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, in November, 1828, and graduated at West Point in 1853, joining the Engineer Corps 28 brevet seco d lieutenant. Until September, 1534, he was assistant instructor of practical engineering at the Military Academy. From that time till August, 1561, he was engaged, first on the defences of New York Harbor, next in facilitating the navigation of the Hudson, next in constructing Fort Delaware, and finally in fortifying Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay. He became full second lieutenant in December, 1854, and first lieutenant in December, 1858. In August, 1861, he was ordered from California to attend to the defences of Boston Harbor. Soon after, he got his captaincy, dating from August, 1861. In November, 1861, he became aide-de-camp to General Halleck, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and was chief engineer of the Army of the Tennessee, under Grant, in the reduction of Forts Henry and Donelson, receiving for his service a nomination as brevet major of engineers, to date February 16th, 1862. He was a Shiloh, and for services there rendered was nominated for a brevet coloneley of engineers, to date April 7th, 1862. He had, as colonel on Halleck's staff, the chief engineering charge of the approaches to Corinth, which ended in its evacuation. On the 15th of May, 1862, he became brigadier-general of volunteers, and, the next month, superintended with great skill all the military railroads in General Grant's department. He was at Iuka, and again at Corinth in October, 1862, acting with so |