CHAPTER XXXVII.

ATLANTA CAMPAIGN.

JOHNSTON AND SHERMAN.-THE TWO ARMIES.-CARS AND LOCOMOTIVES WANTED.-THOMAS'S CIRCUS.-DALTON TO RESACA.-DALLAS.-NEW HOPE CHURCH.-ROME TAKEN.-KENESAW MOUNTAIN.-BRAVE ENGINEER.-DEATH OF GENERAL POLK.-BAD WEATHER.-WOOD TICKS. -SHERMAN REPULSED.-JOHNSTON CROSSES THE CHATTAHOOCHEE.-ROUSSEAU'S RAID.ARE THESE YANKS?-HOOD SUCCEEDS JOHNSTON.-ATLANTA.-HOOD'S SALLY.-HE FIGHTS AGAIN. DEATH OF MCPHERSON.-RAIDS ON THE RAILROADS.-HOOD STRIKES A THIRD TIME.-SIEGE OF ATLANTA.-HOOD CUT OFF.-EVACUATION OF ATLANTA.-HONORS TO SHERMAN.-ATLANTA DESOLATED.-DAVIS VISITS HOOD.-HOOD MARCHES NORTHWARD.

ALLATOONA. SIGNALLING.-A DUPLICATE TUNNEL.-ATLANTA IN ASHES.-GLORY, HALLELUJAH!-GRANT IS WAITING FOR US!

HEN Grant moved against Lee in Virginia he ordered General Sherman, who had succeeded him in the West, to make a similar movement against General Joseph E. Johnston, who had taken Bragg's place in command of the principal Confederate army in the West. Johnston was then stationed at Dalton, in the northwest part of Georgia, in which position he guarded Atlanta, the meeting-place of railways and the site of many important manufactures. His army, which consisted of about fifty-five thousand men, was divided into three corps, under command of Generals Hardee, Hood, and Polk.

To march against this force General Sherman had near Chattanooga about one hundred thousand men, or nearly two to one; but in calculating the relative strength of the two armies we must remember that Johnston was in his own country, with his lines of communication open behind him, while Sherman had to draw all his supplies from Nashville, through a hostile country, over nearly a hundred and fifty miles of railway, all of which had to be kept strongly guarded against guerrillas; and as the army advanced still further southward from Chattanooga many more men had to be left behind to keep the roads open and to guard places taken. Besides the hundred thousand men, there were thirty-five thousand horses to be fed. General Sherman calculated that to feed this great army would require the delivery every day at Chattanooga of one hundred and thirty car-loads of provisions. As there were not enough cars and locomotives to do this work, General Sherman requested the authorities at Louisville to hold on to

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all trains coming from the north, and to send them to him, and he soon had running to Chattanooga trains marked with the names of almost every railroad north of the Ohio River. By this means he succeeded in getting supplies enough for his army in time for the movement against Johnston.

The army was made up of three different armies-the Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas; the Army of the Tennessee, under General McPherson; and the Army of the Ohio, under General Schofield. In order to move as quickly as possible, Sherman ordered that but little baggage should be taken. No tents were al

lowed, except for the sick and wounded, and each officer and soldier was obliged to carry on his horse or person food and clothing enough for five days. Sherman himself set the example of going without a tent, and he and his officers, like the common soldiers, used only tent-flies, or squares of canvas, which could be spread over saplings or fence-rails so as to make a shelter to sleep under. General Thomas only, who needed a tent, had a wagon-train, which the soldiers used to call in fun "Thomas's Circus."

WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.

On the 5th of May, 1864, the army started on its march southward from Chattanooga, and the campaign was begun. Sherman could not go directly to Dalton on account of a chain of mountains, lying between it and Chattanooga, through which there was in front only one pass, too strongly fortified to be taken. So, while a false attack was made on this pass, McPherson was ordered to march southward, through another pass in the rear of Johnston, to Resaca, eighteen miles south of Dalton, and there to cut the railroad by which Johnston received his supplies. McPherson went to Resaca, but finding it too strong to be taken, fell back to the pass in the mountains and waited for the main army to come up.

Sherman was disappointed at the failure to cut the railroad, but sent more troops and ordered another movement against Resaca. Johnston, afraid of having his line of supplies cut, abandoned Dalton (May 13) and fell back to Resaca. Sherman attacked him there on the 14th, and during that and all of the next day there was sharp fighting between the two armies. During the night of the 15th Johnston left Resaca and retreated across the Etowah River. Sherman followed, but feeling that Johnston would defend the Allatoona Pass, where the railroad passes through the mountains south of the river, he marched (May 23) toward Dallas. The country around there is very rough and thickly wooded, and the roads are few and poor. When Sherman reached New Hope Church, near Dallas, he found that Johnston had posted his army in a very strong position, his lines extending eastward nearly to Marietta. A severe battle took place near the church (May 25), in which nothing was decided, the Confederates still holding their position. In the meantime part of Thomas's army had taken Rome, destroyed the important mills and foundries there, and left a garrison to defend it.

There was almost continual fighting for several days, which ended in Johnston's giving up Allatoona Pass, falling back from New Hope Church, and taking another strong position on Kenesaw, Pine, and Lost Mountains. These three mountains, which guard the railroad leading into Marietta, are peaks of one chain, but occupy nearly the points of a triangle, Kenesaw on the east and Lost Mountain on the west end of the base, and Pine Mountain forming the apex or point toward the north. Lost and Pine Mountains are almost perfect cones, but Kenesaw is a twin mountain, its top being divided into two peaks. About two miles south of Kenesaw lies Marietta, then a little town of nearly two thousand inhabitants.

When Sherman reached Johnston's position he found his army posted on a line about ten miles long. On the tops of the three mountains were signal stations and batteries, and the sides were alive with men cutting down trees to form breastworks and abatis, and digging rifle-pits. Sherman had been. reinforced by troops under General Frank Blair, so that notwithstanding his losses, he was as strong as when he left Chattanooga, and he now determined to drive the enemy from

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his position, rather than to try another flank movement. In the mean time the railroad bridge across the Etowah had been rebuilt, and loaded trains of cars followed the army nearly up to Kenesaw. One day an engineer ran his locomotive to a water-tank within range of the Confederate guns on the mountain. The batteries opened on him, but he coolly waited until he had filled his tank, and returned safe to his train, his engine whistling defiance to the enemy's guns, and the soldiers giving him hearty cheers and a "tiger" for his bravery.

The army was soon in position opposite the Confederate lines, but this was not accomplished without great labor, for roads for the supply trains had to be cut through dense and tangled woods, and heavy rains fell almost daily. On the 14th of June the rain slackened, and General Sherman rode along the lines to look for a good place to attack. When near Pine Mountain he saw a battery on the crest, and near it a group of Confederates looking down with spy-glasses. Sherman ordered some gunners to fire on the Confederates to drive them back, and continued his ride. Soon after he heard the guns, and when he reached his headquarters at night he was told that Lieutenant-General Polk had been killed by the fire. It seems that Generals Johnston, Hardee, and Polk had ridden to Pine Mountain to reconnoitre. General Johnston, seeing the preparations to fire, told the soldiers who had gathered near him to scatter, and went himself behind the breastwork. But General Polk, who was fleshy and very dignified, walked slowly back, and was killed almost instantly by a shell, which struck him across the breast. On the next day Pine Mountain was abandoned by the Confederates, and a stake was found driven into the ground with a paper attached to it, inscribed:

"Here General Polk was killed by a Yankee shell."

On June 16th the Confederates gave up Lost Mountain, Johnston drawing back his lines so as to cover Marietta. Sherman closed up after him, and fighting took place almost every day, notwithstanding the bad weather. It rained most of the time, and the roads were impassable, while the fields and woods were turned into quagmires. The bushes were filled with woodticks, a little insect that burrows under the skin and causes great irritation and itching, and the soldiers had all they could

do to fight them and the Confederate sharpshooters, who were equally on the lookout for them. On the 27th of June, Sherman assaulted the enemy's lines, but was repulsed with much loss, the enemy, who fought from behind breastworks, suffering but little.

Sherman then made up his mind to move round the enemy again. This obliged Johnston to leave Kenesaw and Marietta and fall back further, for fear that Sherman would cross the Chattahoochee River and get between him and Atlanta. Early in the morning of July 3d the stars and stripes were unfurled on Kenesaw, and about eight o'clock General Sherman rode into Marietta. He ordered a vigorous pursuit of Johnston, and hoped to strike him a severe blow while crossing the Chattahoochee, which is only eight miles from Atlanta. But Johnston, who was too skilful a general to be caught in that way, had constructed strong works there to cover the bridges, so that he could cross safely when he pleased. General Sherman had now a very difficult task before him, for he had to pass a deep river guarded by a vigilant and strongly-fortified enemy. But he so marched his troops as to make Johnston think that he was going to try to cross below his position, and while the enemy was watching him there, other troops were sent above, who succeeded in getting over and taking possession of a strong place on high ground. By the 9th of July, Sherman had secured three crossing-places, with good roads to Atlanta, and Johnston retired with his whole army to the other side.

In the meantime Sherman had ordered General Rousseau, who was at Decatur, Alabama, to make a raid from there to Opelika with a body of cavalry, and to cut the railroad between Atlanta and Montgomery. While on this ride, he came, one hot, dusty day, to a plantation near Talladega, and halting his column, he and his staff rode up to the house of the owner. Their uniforms were gray with dust, and the planter, taking them for Confederates, met them cordially at the front porch. General Rousseau asked for water, which was brought, and while drinking he and his officers sat on the porch and talked with their host. At last the General, seeing some mules in the stock-yard, said:

"My good sir, I fear I must take some of your mules."

"I hope, General,” remarked the planter, "that you won't