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Battle of Allatoona October 5th 1864 - William Ludlow · Dracula

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Speaker 1: Section one of the Battle of Alatouna, October fifth, eighteen
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Speaker 1: sixty four. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Jeffrey Smith, The
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Speaker 1: Battle of Alatuna, October fifth, eighteen sixty four by William Ludlow,
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Speaker 1: Companions and Gentlemen, and the general situation Companions and Gentlemen.
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Speaker 1: It appears strange to me that an action which all
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Speaker 1: who mention it, and they are many agree in characterizing
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Speaker 1: as one of the most brilliant exploits of a war,
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Speaker 1: as thick set with deeds of gallantry, as a rose
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Speaker 1: bush with its blossoms, should not long send have had
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Speaker 1: its adequate historian and monographer. The contest was so famous,
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Speaker 1: the issue so glorious, the recollection of the day still
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Speaker 1: must be so vivid in the minds of the survivors,
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Speaker 1: that I could not anticipate any lack of material wherefrom
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Speaker 1: to procure data to formulate a reasonably satisfactory narrative of
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Speaker 1: such a gallant feat of arms, and in such detail
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Speaker 1: as to give it life and color. But of all
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Speaker 1: the war papers that have been written on affairs great
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Speaker 1: and small, None that I know has had Alatuna for
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Speaker 1: its special subject. And from the sources of information at
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Speaker 1: my command, I have found it quite impracticable to construct
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Speaker 1: an account that is not, in some respect at variance
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Speaker 1: with others made by authority. The official reports, while giving
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Speaker 1: the general features of necessity, exclude most of the minor
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Speaker 1: but equally interesting details, and the omissions inaccuracies and discrepancies
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Speaker 1: not important in some particulars and material in others. For
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Speaker 1: the purposes at least of a fully detailed and authenticated
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Speaker 1: narrative cannot at this time be corrected, and even the
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Speaker 1: numbers engaged on each side and of those who fell
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Speaker 1: as victims, are not known with certainty. This paper, therefore
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Speaker 1: can pretend to be no more than an outline sketch,
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Speaker 1: which enabler hand must put itself to filling out and completing.
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Speaker 1: When the war records shall have been made fully public,
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Speaker 1: as they will be presently, and at least all the
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Speaker 1: official material be available, the historian of Alatuna, by extended
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Speaker 1: research and correspondence with survivors, should address himself to the
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Speaker 1: task of preparing an authoritative narration in order to preserve
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Speaker 1: to posterity the record of a memorable and typically American event.
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Speaker 1: For an event, it was a vital one, as it
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Speaker 1: would appear to the full success of Sherman's campaign, and
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Speaker 1: with the March to the Sea hung in the balance
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Speaker 1: and awaiting the issue. The importance of a given moment
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Speaker 1: in the world's history is not of necessity to be
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Speaker 1: estimated by the numbers occupying the stage at the time,
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Speaker 1: nor even with the degree of activity or turmoil with
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Speaker 1: which their parts are playing. Much labor is wasted in
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Speaker 1: the lives of men, and mountains of effort result often
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Speaker 1: in mere noise or discomfiture, making no real history. The
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Speaker 1: center of gravity of two worlds may be an immaterial point,
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Speaker 1: and the Earth itself revolves upon a slender axis. So
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Speaker 1: a turning point of history may be concentrated upon a
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Speaker 1: comparatively narrow field, while the reverberation of its potency shall
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Speaker 1: resound forever, as the silent nod of Jove lets loose
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Speaker 1: the thunders of Olympus to shake the earth and change
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Speaker 1: the fate of nations. Some preliminary remarks are in order
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Speaker 1: explanatory of the general situation and its relation to the
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Speaker 1: Battle of Alatuna. The general situation, it was the fall
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Speaker 1: of sixty four, the fiery comet of secession, that, blazing
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Speaker 1: out in sixty for three long years, had scorched the firmament,
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Speaker 1: spreading death and pestilence over all. The land was waning
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Speaker 1: in its course, doomed presently to disappear forever in chaos,
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Speaker 1: but emitting malignant emanations to its latest spark. The structure
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Speaker 1: of the Confederate government, practically a military despotism founded on
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Speaker 1: the enforced servitude and sale of human beings, reared and
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Speaker 1: upheld by the lives, the fortunes, and the constrained or
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Speaker 1: misguided energies of a deluded and chivalrous people to feed
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Speaker 1: the vain ambition of an oligarchy, was toppling to the
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Speaker 1: ruin that six months later overwhelmed it. Great was to
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Speaker 1: be the fall thereof, and not even today is the
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Speaker 1: atmosphere fully cleared of the dust of its destruction. Too famous,
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Speaker 1: and as the outcome proved, morally conclusive, campaigns had been
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Speaker 1: fought and closed in the East, Grant moving against Richmond
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Speaker 1: through the wilderness and swamps of Virginia all the long
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Speaker 1: summer had been dealing trip hammer blows as deadly and
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Speaker 1: sickening to his foe as the stroke of the axe
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Speaker 1: and the shambles, and at length, wresting from the slaughter,
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Speaker 1: lay before Petersburg and astride the James, feeling out with
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Speaker 1: his left to cut Lee's lines of communication to the
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Speaker 1: south and west, and pressing him close that he should
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Speaker 1: not detach any of his force to act against Sherman
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Speaker 1: in the west. Sherman, starting from Chattanooga with an antagonist
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Speaker 1: the wariest, wisest, and most skillful captain of the rebel
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Speaker 1: host to oppose him, had overreached his foe at every point, and,
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Speaker 1: stretching out his sinewy arm, had seized in a relentless
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Speaker 1: grasp the gate city of the South and electrified the
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Speaker 1: country with the exultant shout Atlanta is ours and fairly won,
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Speaker 1: opening wide the door into the hollow trunk of the
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Speaker 1: Confederacy and exposing its emptiness. Of this campaign, Halleck wrote,
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Speaker 1: I do not hesitate to say that it has been
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Speaker 1: the most brilliant of the war, and grant himself with
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Speaker 1: that mutual magnanimity that characterized the two great friends and
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Speaker 1: competitors for fame, declared to Sherman, you have accomplished the
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Speaker 1: most gigantic undertaking given to any general in this war,
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Speaker 1: and with a skill and ability that will be acknowledged
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Speaker 1: in history as unsurpassed, if not unequaled. But much remained.
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Speaker 1: The Dragon of Rebellion, though sorely smitten, still lay writhing
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Speaker 1: and would not die until his time was fully come. Lee,
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Speaker 1: sullen and desperate, lay within the still invincible entrenchments of Richmond,
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Speaker 1: nursing his wounds but with power, able yet to strike
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Speaker 1: a heavy blow, and gathering his remaining strength for the
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Speaker 1: final effort. Sherman's antagonists, though demoralized and bewildered, were still
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Speaker 1: unconquered and forced out from Atlanta, filled the open country
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Speaker 1: with an angry buzzing as of an overturned hive. To
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Speaker 1: add add to their discomfiture, the astute Johnson, the most
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Speaker 1: intellectual soldier of the Confederacy, whose stubborn dispute of every
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Speaker 1: inch of territory, perfect skill in defending his successive positions,
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Speaker 1: and marvelous success in withdrawing without loss at the latest moment,
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Speaker 1: displayed a capacity second only to that of his opponent,
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Speaker 1: and whose patient policy of drawing Sherman after him to
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Speaker 1: a constantly increasing distance from his base, without himself risking
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Speaker 1: the disaster of a defeat was, as history is proved,
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Speaker 1: the last crutch of the rebellion had been plucked from
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Speaker 1: his command by the narrow minded Confederate President and replaced
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Speaker 1: by Hood, whose fighting qualities had been proved on many
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Speaker 1: a field of battle, but who otherwise lacked every rerecor
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Speaker 1: was it for leadership in such a contest. But one
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Speaker 1: thousand long miles still separated Atlanta from Richmond, and these
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Speaker 1: must be traversed before that approximate conjunction of forces could
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Speaker 1: take place that was needed to give rebellion its coup
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Speaker 1: de gras, and to tear forever from the free sky
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Speaker 1: of America the fluttering and ragged emblem of a moleficent
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Speaker 1: and arrogant domination. Sherman in Atlanta was resting, granting well
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Speaker 1: earned furloughs to his veterans, recruiting his ranks, guarding from
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Speaker 1: the cavalry who swarmed in his rear and sought to
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Speaker 1: break it. The extended line over two hundred and fifty
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Speaker 1: miles of railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga, and thence to Atlanta,
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Speaker 1: upon which he depended for his supplies and in cesse planning.
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Speaker 1: His next move, which he had already determined, would be
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Speaker 1: to the sea, with Savannah as an intermediate base for
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Speaker 1: the farther march to the rear of Lee's army, and
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Speaker 1: a conjunction with Grant, upon whom, in his correspondence he
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Speaker 1: repeatedly urged assent to his proposal, and suggested the capture
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Speaker 1: of Savannah by the Eastern forces in advance of his
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Speaker 1: own arrival there. The Washington authorities, always timorous and vacillating,
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Speaker 1: were not yet brought to assent to this superb strategic project.
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Speaker 1: Based upon the military theorem an army operating offensively must
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Speaker 1: maintain the offensive, and constructed with Sherman's solid judgment that
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Speaker 1: he must go onward, since to withdraw would be to
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Speaker 1: lose all the morale of his success up to that point.
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Speaker 1: Even Grant, with all his confidence in and reliance upon Sherman,
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Speaker 1: expressed unwillingness that he should embark upon it while Hood's
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Speaker 1: army was still undestroyed. Meanwhile, Sherman, in full conviction that
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Speaker 1: the necessity would presently be demonstrated was watching Hood, who
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Speaker 1: lay some thirty miles to the southeast of Atlanta, and
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Speaker 1: whose intentions he could not even guess at, and with
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Speaker 1: tremendous energy, was endeavoring to accumulate supplies in excess of
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Speaker 1: daily needs, in order that when the time was ripe,
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Speaker 1: he should be ready to start. End of the general
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Speaker 1: situation two of the Battle of Alatuna, October fifth, eighteen
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Speaker 1: sixty four. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. The Battle of Alatuna October fifth,
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Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four by William Ludlow, Grand Tactics and course,
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Speaker 1: Grand Tactics. On his zigzag way south early in June,
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Speaker 1: with Atlanta as his then objective point, Sherman, with that
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Speaker 1: wonderful mental vision of the whole horizon that characterized him,
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Speaker 1: seeking for a depot where supplies could safely be accumulated,
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Speaker 1: near enough at hand to be of ready access, but
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Speaker 1: sufficiently removed from the scene of actual conflict to be
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Speaker 1: secure from casual attack, had selected the famous Alatuna Pass
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Speaker 1: and directed that it be prepared for defense as a
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Speaker 1: secondary base, the place was well chosen. The diminishing extension
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Speaker 1: of the Great Smoky Mountains stretches across the northern end
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Speaker 1: of Georgia from northeast to southwest. The range is traversed
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Speaker 1: at Alatuna, pass by the Edowah River, flowing west and
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Speaker 1: north to unite at Rome, thirty miles distant with the
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Speaker 1: Oustanala and form the Cusa the railway coming down from Kingston.
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Speaker 1: Whence a branch ran westward to Rome and crossing the Edowa,
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Speaker 1: winds southeasterly, among them the hills and at Alatoona station
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Speaker 1: about four miles from the river, penetrates a minor ridge
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Speaker 1: and emerges from a cut some sixty five feet in depth.
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Speaker 1: It was at this point, referred to by Sherman as
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Speaker 1: a natural fortress, that the secondary base was established and
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Speaker 1: the surplus supplies were accumulated. The advantages for defense were admirable.
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Speaker 1: The entire region is hilly and heavily timbered, rolling off
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Speaker 1: to the southward to a less rugged country, and from
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Speaker 1: the heights of Alatuna, looking southeasterly down the line of
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Speaker 1: railway towards Atlanta, are visible ten to fifteen miles away
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Speaker 1: the noble isolated masses of Kennesaw Lost Mountain and Pine Mountain, which,
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Speaker 1: raising their wooded crests high above the neighboring forest, command
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Speaker 1: a wide prospect towards every quarter. The narrow ridge cut
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Speaker 1: by the railway is abruptly terminated to the northeast by
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Speaker 1: the valley of Alatuna Creek, crooking among the hills to
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Speaker 1: join the Ottawa, and its slopes facing northwest and southeast
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Speaker 1: are steep and difficult. Towards the west and southwest, the
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Speaker 1: descent is more gradual, and a country road follows the
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Speaker 1: rolling crest of the ridge, along which from the westward
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Speaker 1: the main attack was ultimately to be made. The storehouses
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Speaker 1: for the supply stood near the railway station and were
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Speaker 1: fully commanded from the dominant elevations rising immediately behind them.
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Speaker 1: Upon these elevations, the defensive works were located by Colonel Poe,
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Speaker 1: the chief engineer of Sherman's Army. Their plan was in
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Speaker 1: conformity with the requirements of the ground and of the
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Speaker 1: service to be expected of them, and while the actual
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Speaker 1: construction by the troops left somewhat to be desired, and
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Speaker 1: could have been bettered had Poe been able to supervise
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Speaker 1: the completion of his work. When it came to the test,
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Speaker 1: well did they serve their purpose. The main features were
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Speaker 1: two redoubts, about one thousand feet apart at easy supporting distance,
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Speaker 1: one on each side of the railway, cut with ditches
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Speaker 1: and outlying intrenchments near at hand, covering the approaches and
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Speaker 1: overlooking the storehouses for the defense of which they were built.
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Speaker 1: Near the close of September, Sherman in Atlanta was roused
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Speaker 1: by indications of activity on the part of Hood, who
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Speaker 1: had sent his cavalry north across the Chattahoochee and into Tennessee,
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Speaker 1: and had moved his infantry to a more westerly camp,
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Speaker 1: thus leaving the Savannah Road open to Sherman had he
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Speaker 1: seen fit to take it habitually. Sensitive as to his
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Speaker 1: railway base, Sherman surmised that Hood's intention was to move
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Speaker 1: round him to threaten his rear. September twenty fourth, he
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Speaker 1: telegraphed Howard, I have no doubt Hood has resolved to
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Speaker 1: throw himself on our flanks to prevent our accumulating stores,
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Speaker 1: et cetera. And September twenty fifth, to Halleck, hoods seems
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Speaker 1: to be moving, as it were, to the Alabama line,
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Speaker 1: leaving open to me the road to Macon, as also
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Speaker 1: to Augusta. But his cavalry is busy on our roads.
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Speaker 1: He therefore reinforced the detachments guarding the numerous railway stations
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Speaker 1: and bridges, sent a division of the fourth Corps and
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Speaker 1: one of the fourteenth northward to time strengthen Chattanooga, and
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Speaker 1: put Thomas in command there, and thence back to Nashville
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Speaker 1: to guard against Forest, the noted rebel cavalry leader who
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Speaker 1: was ravaging Tennessee and capturing gunboats with horsemen. Corse's division
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Speaker 1: of the fifteenth Corps was sent to occupy Rome on
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Speaker 1: the extreme western flank, with instructions to complete the defensive
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Speaker 1: works and hold it against all comers, meanwhile observing closely
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Speaker 1: any movement of the enemy in his vicinity. A glance
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Speaker 1: at the map is desirable for the better understanding of
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Speaker 1: the immediately ensuing events. From Atlanta to Alatuna, near the
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Speaker 1: railway crossing of the Attawa Is as the crow flies,
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Speaker 1: thirty two miles northwest by west. From Alatuna to Rome
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Speaker 1: is thirty miles west north windy thirteen miles from Alatuna
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Speaker 1: towards Atlanta is Kennesaw, the railway sweeping round its north
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Speaker 1: and east flanks fifteen miles west by south from Kennesaw,
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Speaker 1: and the same distance southwest from Alatuna is Dallas, in
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Speaker 1: the vicinity of New Hope Church, where had been three
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Speaker 1: days of heavy fighting late in May. Rome again is
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Speaker 1: equidistant from Dallas and from Alatuna thirty miles. The central
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Speaker 1: position of Alatuna is evident, and it will also be
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Speaker 1: seen that a force at Dallas occupied in a sense
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Speaker 1: a strategic point, whence a rapid movement could be made
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Speaker 1: either upon Alatuna or Rome, with the west and southwest
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Speaker 1: to fall back upon in case of need. By October one,
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Speaker 1: the ambiguity as to Hood's plans was in part relieved.
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Speaker 1: It was at least certain that he had crossed from
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Speaker 1: the south to the north bank of the Chattahoochee, although
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Speaker 1: it was impossible to surmise whether he intended to make
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Speaker 1: a direct attack on the railroad or to undertake an
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Speaker 1: invasion of Tennessee from the westward. In any case, it
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Speaker 1: behooved Sherman to bestir himself and promptly. Two. It was
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Speaker 1: absolutely necessary to keep Hood's army off the railroad so
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Speaker 1: long as the question of cutting loose for Savannah remained undecided,
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Speaker 1: and at Allatoona was stored an accumulation of nearly three
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Speaker 1: millions of rations of bread, the loss of which, with
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Speaker 1: the railway endangered, would be a serious blow and one
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Speaker 1: possibly fatal to Sherman's cherished project. Leaving therefore the twentieth
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Speaker 1: Corps in at Leant to hold it and to guard
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Speaker 1: the bridges across the Chattahoochee above and below the railway bridge.
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Speaker 1: Sherman put the rest of his forces in rapid motion
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Speaker 1: northward towards kennesaw twenty miles distant, and October first telegraphed
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Speaker 1: Course at Rome that Hood was across the river and
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Speaker 1: might attack the road at Alatuna or near Cassville, on
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Speaker 1: the north side of the Edawah, about midway between Rome
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Speaker 1: and Alatuna. If Hood went to Cassville, Course was to
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Speaker 1: remain at Rome and hold it fast. If to Alatuna,
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Speaker 1: Course was to move down at once and occupy Alatuna,
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Speaker 1: joining forces with troops in the vicinity for its defense.
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Speaker 1: While Sherman cooperated from the south. Repeated dispatches were sent
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Speaker 1: to Alatuna, directing the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Turtelott, to
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Speaker 1: hold the place at all hazards and that relief would
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Speaker 1: be speedy. These have been paraphrased into hold the fort
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Speaker 1: for I am coming, which set to an inspiring air,
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Speaker 1: caught the ear of the country and is still in
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Speaker 1: active service. Sherman crossed the Chattahoochee October third and fourth, and,
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Speaker 1: finding his wires cut north of Marietta, signaled to the
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Speaker 1: station on Kennesaw and thence to Alatuna over the heads
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Speaker 1: of the enemy. A dispatch to be telegraphed to course
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Speaker 1: at Rome to move at once, with all speed, and
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Speaker 1: with his entire command, to the relief of Alatuna. Sherman
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Speaker 1: himself reached Kennesaw early on the morning of the fifth,
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Speaker 1: and from the summit, to use his own language, had
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Speaker 1: a superb view of the vast panorama to the north
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Speaker 1: and west. To the southwest about Dallas and Lost Mountain
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Speaker 1: could be seen the smoke of campfires indicating the presence
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Speaker 1: of a large force of the enemy, and the whole
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Speaker 1: line of railroad from Big Shanty up to Alatuna full
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Speaker 1: fifteen miles, was plainly marked by the fires of the
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Speaker 1: burning railroad. We could plainly see the smoke of battle
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Speaker 1: about Alatuna, and hear the faint reverberation of the cannon.
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Speaker 1: The fact was disclosed that Hood lay in force near Dallas,
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Speaker 1: fifteen miles to the west and south of Kenesaw, and
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Speaker 1: had detached a heavy column eastward to destroy the railroad
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Speaker 1: and capture the scattered garrisons, including the all important post
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Speaker 1: of Alatuna. About eight thirty a m. Alatuna signaled Kennesaw,
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Speaker 1: Courses here with one brigade. Where is Sherman as received
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Speaker 1: at Kennesaw. This message read courses here with. My recollection
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Speaker 1: is that while the signal officer was working his flag,
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Speaker 1: it was cut from his hands by a fragment of shell,
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Speaker 1: interrupting the message, the latter part of which was not received,
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Speaker 1: or at least not recognized. I find, however, no official
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Speaker 1: confirmation of this. The mutilated report gave Sherman immense relief,
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Speaker 1: but left him to suppose that Course had arrived with
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Speaker 1: his entire division. Had he known that the reinforcement was
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Speaker 1: only a portion of one brigade, his satisfaction would have
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Speaker 1: been less. As he says, himself. I watched with painful
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Speaker 1: suspense the indications of the battle raging there. But about
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Speaker 1: two PM I noticed, with satisfaction action that the smoke
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Speaker 1: of battle about Allatoona grew less and less, and ceased altogether.
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Speaker 1: About four pm. Later in the afternoon, the signal flag
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Speaker 1: announced the welcome tidings that the attack had been fairly repulsed.
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Speaker 1: The signal officer at Kennesaw reports that Sherman at the
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Speaker 1: time pronounced these signal messages worth a million dollars. Course,
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Speaker 1: leaving now this bird's eye view of what was happening,
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Speaker 1: let us go back a little and follow Course's movements.
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Speaker 1: He had arrived at Rome from Atlanta September twenty seventh
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Speaker 1: with two of his brigades, the third being already there,
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Speaker 1: and thereafter had been busy, in accordance with his general
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Speaker 1: instructions and frequent communications from Sherman, in organizing and equipping
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Speaker 1: his command for the special work intrusted to him, which
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Speaker 1: was in effect to reconstruct and perfect the earthworks and
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Speaker 1: defenses so as to make Rome impregnable to assault, and
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Speaker 1: at the same time to act as a core of observation,
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Speaker 1: constantly feeling out for and spying after the enemy, and ready,
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Speaker 1: should occasion offer to strike a heavy blow in any
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Speaker 1: direction where he should be discovered. It was isolated, difficult
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Speaker 1: and responsible service, and a dangerous one, since the first
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Speaker 1: contact might be with Hood's whole strength. But of the
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Speaker 1: very first importance to Sherman, whose ignorance of Hood's schemes
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Speaker 1: and inability to anticipate his movements perplexed and harassed him,
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Speaker 1: and upon course he mainly relied to discover by any
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Speaker 1: or all means the US movements and presence of the enemy.
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Speaker 1: Course was well equipped for such service. He had acted
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Speaker 1: as inspector on Sherman's staff, and stood high with his chief,
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Speaker 1: both in personal regard and professional estimation of medium height, erect,
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Speaker 1: active and alert, ambitious, combative, decided of sound judgment and
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Speaker 1: indomitable courage. The task of holding Alatuna could have fallen
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Speaker 1: into no better hands, as Grant, giving over a page
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Speaker 1: of his memoirs to mention of the battle, says of him,
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Speaker 1: course was a man who would never surrender. On the
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Speaker 1: third of October, Sherman sent him a warning to be
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Speaker 1: wary that Hood was meditating some plan on a large scale,
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Speaker 1: and at noon of the fourth Course received the message
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Speaker 1: already mentioned by Say Signol from Vinings to Kennesaw, fence
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Speaker 1: to Allatoona, and fence by wire to Rome, summoning him
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Speaker 1: instantly to the rescue of the threatened garrison. Course had
29:13
Speaker 1: fortunately already telegraphed to Kingston that cars be sent him.
29:20
Speaker 1: The train in moving to Rome was partly derailed, but
29:24
Speaker 1: the single engine and about twenty cars were ready by dark.
29:29
Speaker 1: On these was loaded a portion of one of his
29:31
Speaker 1: brigades under command of Colonel Rowitt, namely eight companies thirty
29:39
Speaker 1: ninth Iowa two hundred eighty men, Lieutenant Colonel Redfield commanding
29:46
Speaker 1: nine companies, seventh Illinois two hundred ninety one men, Lieutenant
29:51
Speaker 1: Colonel Perrin commanding eight companies, fiftieth Illinois two hundred sixty
29:59
Speaker 1: seven men, Lieutenant Colonel Hannah commanding two companies fifty seventh
30:07
Speaker 1: Illinois sixty one men. Captain van Steinberg commanding detachment of
30:14
Speaker 1: the twelfth Illinois one hundred and fifty five men, Captain
30:19
Speaker 1: Kohler commanding, making a total of one thousand, fifty four men, which,
30:25
Speaker 1: with the ammunition for the division, was all that the
30:29
Speaker 1: available transportation could accommodate the train left Rome at eight
30:34
Speaker 1: thirty pm and reached Allatoona a little after midnight. The
30:40
Speaker 1: troops were debarked, the ammunition unloaded with all speed, and
30:45
Speaker 1: the train immediately started back to Rome for another cargo
30:49
Speaker 1: of troops. As it happened in returning, possibly with undue
30:54
Speaker 1: haste considering the rough and insecure condition of the track
30:58
Speaker 1: and roadbed, the train was again derailed and in consequence,
31:04
Speaker 1: no further reinforcements reached Alatuna until about eight p m
31:09
Speaker 1: of the fifth, four hours after the battle was over.
31:15
Speaker 1: Course immediately took command, and after a rapid survey of
31:19
Speaker 1: the field with tortelot in the quiet of the starlit night,
31:24
Speaker 1: proceeded to make his dispositions for defense. End of grand
31:30
Speaker 1: tactics and Course Section three of the Battle of Alatuna,
31:41
Speaker 1: October fifth, eighteen sixty four. This is a LibriVox recording.
31:48
Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
31:53
Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
31:58
Speaker 1: Battle of Alatuna, October fifth, eighteen sixty four by William Ludlow.
32:05
Speaker 1: The Defenses of Alatuna and the Morning of the battle.
32:10
Speaker 1: The defenses of Alatuna. Alatuna was garrisoned as follows ten companies,
32:18
Speaker 1: Fourth Minnesota, four hundred and fifty men, of whom one
32:23
Speaker 1: hundred eighty five were recent recruits. Major Edson commanding ten companies,
32:30
Speaker 1: ninety Third Illinois two hundred ninety men. Major Fisher commanding
32:37
Speaker 1: seven companies, eighteenth Wisconsin one hundred fifty men. Lieutenant Colonel
32:43
Speaker 1: Jackson commanding a total of eight hundred ninety men, organized
32:49
Speaker 1: as a brigade with six guns of the twelfth Wisconsin
32:53
Speaker 1: Battery under Lieutenant Amsden, number of men not given, and
32:59
Speaker 1: all under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Turtelot of the
33:03
Speaker 1: fourth Minnesota, as earnest, brave, and steadfast a man in
33:08
Speaker 1: the discharge of duty as ever drew a sword. Prior
33:12
Speaker 1: to course's arrival, the little garrison, with a full consciousness
33:17
Speaker 1: of its responsibility for the defense of the post and
33:21
Speaker 1: of the safety of the huge accumulation of rations stored
33:25
Speaker 1: in the neighboring warehouses, warned of danger, and later stimulated
33:31
Speaker 1: to the utmost endeavor by messages from Sherman, and inspired
33:36
Speaker 1: by the calm and fearless determination of its commander, had
33:41
Speaker 1: been busily preparing for the attack. The two small redoubts,
33:46
Speaker 1: one on each side of the railway cut, have been mentioned.
33:51
Speaker 1: The eastern one, perhaps seventy five feet in diameter, stood
33:56
Speaker 1: at the extreme eastern end of the ridge, looking into
34:00
Speaker 1: the valley of Alatuna Creek, and distant about two hundred
34:05
Speaker 1: eighty yards from the railroad and three hundred forty yards
34:09
Speaker 1: from the western redoubt, towards which it had an open view.
34:15
Speaker 1: Guarding the crooked crest. Between the railroad and redoubt were
34:20
Speaker 1: three detached lines of entrenchments, one looking southward towards the
34:26
Speaker 1: storehouse two hundred yards distant, and two guarding the northern aspect,
34:33
Speaker 1: with flanks refused on each side of a ravine that
34:36
Speaker 1: lay between them and down which went a road to
34:40
Speaker 1: the northward. On the west side of the railway cut,
34:44
Speaker 1: and almost on its verge, stood the other redoubt, about
34:49
Speaker 1: ninety feet in diameter, occupying an elevation from which the
34:53
Speaker 1: ground fell in all directions westwardly. After a moderate dip,
35:00
Speaker 1: the ground rose again to a second elevation or spur,
35:03
Speaker 1: on which stood a house distant from the redoubt about
35:08
Speaker 1: one hundred seventy yards Beyond this, the ground again fell
35:13
Speaker 1: and the road ran west and southwest, undulating with the
35:18
Speaker 1: roll of the ground. The exterior defenses of the west side.
35:24
Speaker 1: In addition to the ditches surrounding the redoubt, were a
35:27
Speaker 1: short line of entrenchments near the crest southwest of the redoubt,
35:32
Speaker 1: and a longer line of rifle pits lying completely across
35:36
Speaker 1: the ridge beyond the house and about two hundred sixty
35:41
Speaker 1: yards distant from the redoubt. These rifle pits, held by
35:46
Speaker 1: the thirty ninth Iowa and the seventh Illinois, were later
35:50
Speaker 1: the scene of one of the most savage encounters in
35:53
Speaker 1: the history of the war. About three quarters of a
35:57
Speaker 1: mile out on the road, occupying an open elevation, were
36:01
Speaker 1: still other small works and rifle pits, not however, any
36:06
Speaker 1: portion of the regular defenses. They had low parapets, and
36:12
Speaker 1: were supposed to have been constructed by Johnston's army when
36:17
Speaker 1: it occupied the locality in June previous. It was from
36:21
Speaker 1: these outer works, which there was of course no serious
36:26
Speaker 1: attempt to hold, that our outposts were driven in by
36:30
Speaker 1: the arrival of French's troops on the morning of the fifth.
36:35
Speaker 1: Tourtelot was made aware on the third that the enemy
36:39
Speaker 1: was operating on the railroad south of them, and on
36:43
Speaker 1: the fourth was signaled by Sherman through Kennesaw that the
36:48
Speaker 1: enemy was moving upon him and that he must hold out.
36:53
Speaker 1: But not till the evening of the fourth was any
36:55
Speaker 1: direct demonstration made on Alatoona. Feeling the paucity of his
37:01
Speaker 1: isolated force, he had worked night and day to construct
37:06
Speaker 1: and strengthen his defenses and mature his plans. The two
37:12
Speaker 1: redoubts were well located for mutual support, each being able
37:17
Speaker 1: to take in flank an enemy assaulting the other from
37:22
Speaker 1: the north or south. The relative disadvantage of the West Redoubt,
37:28
Speaker 1: irrespective of its exposure to the probable brunt of an attack,
37:33
Speaker 1: was the fact that higher elevations to the west and
37:36
Speaker 1: southwest partly commanded it. Tourtelot therefore built the rifle pits
37:43
Speaker 1: across the crest of the ridge to the westward, with
37:46
Speaker 1: the object of holding off the enemy as long as possible,
37:51
Speaker 1: and if the crest were taken, of retiring to the
37:54
Speaker 1: redoubt to reach, which the enemy must cover a distance
37:59
Speaker 1: of some two hundre under twenty yards without shelter. In addition,
38:04
Speaker 1: he partly enclosed the West redoubt with a stockade at
38:08
Speaker 1: the junction of the outer slope and the surrounding ditch.
38:12
Speaker 1: To prevent escalade if the enemy should reach it, slashed
38:17
Speaker 1: such timber as remained for Abytus, and collected some cotton
38:21
Speaker 1: bales with which to close the entrance. His gunners in
38:25
Speaker 1: the east redoubt and the infantry as well on the
38:29
Speaker 1: east side of the cut, were charged to watch the
38:33
Speaker 1: flanks of the west redoubt and direct their fire so
38:37
Speaker 1: as to cover the slopes to the north and south
38:40
Speaker 1: of it. His garrison was depleted by his orders to
38:44
Speaker 1: maintain a force to guard the blockhouse at the bridge
38:48
Speaker 1: across Alatuna Creek, about two miles south of the post,
38:54
Speaker 1: where three companies of the eighteenth Wisconsin were stationed. The
39:00
Speaker 1: summoned by French on his way to Alatuna to surrender,
39:04
Speaker 1: but refused and held the block house. But as French
39:09
Speaker 1: was sullenly withdrawing after the battle, the post was heavily
39:14
Speaker 1: shelled and set on fire, and when the roof was
39:17
Speaker 1: blazing and the men suffocating with the heat and smoke,
39:21
Speaker 1: they surrendered, four officers and eighty men being taken prisoners.
39:28
Speaker 1: These men, though included in the return of casualties of
39:32
Speaker 1: the eighteenth Wisconsin were not concerned in the Battle of Alatuna. Tourtelot,
39:40
Speaker 1: on the evening of the fourth, apprehending a night attack
39:44
Speaker 1: which would impair the advantages of his position, strengthened his
39:49
Speaker 1: grand guard, barricaded as well as he might the roads
39:53
Speaker 1: to the south and west, and made arrangements to fire
39:57
Speaker 1: a house or two so as to illuminate the sight
40:01
Speaker 1: of the little village and the storehouses. But about midnight
40:05
Speaker 1: was immensely relieved by the arrival of Course, which more
40:10
Speaker 1: than doubled the strength of the garrison and made it
40:13
Speaker 1: possible to man the defenses with some measure of effectiveness.
40:20
Speaker 1: The morning of the battle, there was but little delay
40:25
Speaker 1: in getting down to work. By two in the morning,
40:28
Speaker 1: a rapid fire was opened on the skirmish lines south
40:32
Speaker 1: of the post, as though the enemy were pushing up
40:36
Speaker 1: the railroad straight at the stores. Turtelot immediately dispatched the
40:41
Speaker 1: eighteenth Wisconsin to reinforce the outposts in that direction, and
40:48
Speaker 1: an hour later Course threw out a battalion of the
40:51
Speaker 1: seventh Illinois in further support. Five companies of the ninety
40:57
Speaker 1: third Illinois were also sent out to the westward near
41:02
Speaker 1: the outlying works already referred to. At daybreak, under cover
41:08
Speaker 1: of a strong skirmish line, course withdrew the troops from
41:12
Speaker 1: the open ground in the vicinity of the village to
41:16
Speaker 1: the summit of the ridge, placing the fourth Minnesota and
41:21
Speaker 1: the twelfth and fiftieth Illinois in the redoubt and intrenchments
41:27
Speaker 1: on the east side of the railway cut under the
41:30
Speaker 1: immediate command of Turtelot and himself occupying with the rest
41:35
Speaker 1: of his force under the immediate command of rout the
41:39
Speaker 1: western side, upon which it was evident the weight of
41:43
Speaker 1: the attack must fall. The seventh Illinois and the thirty
41:48
Speaker 1: ninth Iowa, on the left and right, respectively, facing west,
41:54
Speaker 1: were ordered to occupy the line of rifle pits crossing
41:58
Speaker 1: the ridge about two high one hundred and fifty yards
42:01
Speaker 1: in advance of the redoubt. As no defenses intervened between
42:06
Speaker 1: this line and the ditch encompassing the redoubt itself, it
42:11
Speaker 1: was of vital importance to hold it and keep the
42:15
Speaker 1: enemy in check to the last moment, and the two
42:18
Speaker 1: regiments were instructed to maintain their position at all hazards.
42:24
Speaker 1: The event proved with what fidelity and devotion the trust
42:28
Speaker 1: was discharged. Three companies of the ninety third Illinois were
42:34
Speaker 1: stationed in the rifle pits adjacent to the west redoubt,
42:39
Speaker 1: and the remainder of the troops were distributed forward on
42:43
Speaker 1: skirmish and outpost duty. The six guns of the battery
42:48
Speaker 1: were equally divided, two being stationed in each redoubt, with
42:53
Speaker 1: the third outside behind a low parapet. The day broke
42:58
Speaker 1: calm and clear, with the crisp air and bright warm
43:02
Speaker 1: sun of that superb mountain region. Sherman on Kennesaw takes
43:09
Speaker 1: occasion to record it as a beautiful day, with some
43:13
Speaker 1: vague consciousness in his mind, perhaps of the contrast between
43:18
Speaker 1: the shining peace that reigned above and the devil's work that,
43:23
Speaker 1: in smoke in fury waged below. At half past six,
43:28
Speaker 1: a rebel battery of twelve pieces opened from an elevation
43:32
Speaker 1: three quarters of a mile south and east of Allatoona,
43:37
Speaker 1: and for two hours maintained a furious cannonade that concentrated
43:42
Speaker 1: upon the two redoubts, filled the air with smoke and
43:46
Speaker 1: fragments of shell, and deafened the ear with almost incessant detonations. Meanwhile,
43:54
Speaker 1: French's skirmish lines were vigorously pushed round to the west
43:58
Speaker 1: and north, until with the exception of the steep and
44:02
Speaker 1: timbered valley of Alatuna Creek on the extreme east, the
44:06
Speaker 1: garrison was completely invested. At eight thirty amid a temporary
44:12
Speaker 1: lull of the uproar that had prevailed, a flag of
44:16
Speaker 1: truce was sent in bearing the following message. It was
44:22
Speaker 1: dated around Alatuna, October five, eighteen sixty four seven A m.
44:31
Speaker 1: Commanding Officer US Forces Alatuna, Sir, I have placed the
44:38
Speaker 1: forces under my command in such a position that you
44:42
Speaker 1: are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood,
44:47
Speaker 1: I call on you to surrender your forces at once,
44:51
Speaker 1: and unconditionally five minutes will be allowed you to decide.
44:57
Speaker 1: Should you accede to this, you will be treated in
45:00
Speaker 1: the most honorable manner as prisoners of war. I have
45:05
Speaker 1: the honor to be very respectfully years SG French Major
45:11
Speaker 1: General CSA in making his report. Subsequently, French endorses on
45:18
Speaker 1: a copy of this summons the following Major Sanders. The
45:23
Speaker 1: bearer of this communication was attacked while bearing the flag
45:27
Speaker 1: of truce. He delivered the communication to an officer and
45:33
Speaker 1: told him he would wait outside the works fifteen minutes
45:36
Speaker 1: for an answer, none came, none was sent, and so
45:42
Speaker 1: the attack was made SGF, Major General Commanding. Whatever may
45:50
Speaker 1: have been the external conditions that led to this view
45:54
Speaker 1: of the matter on the part of General French, there
45:57
Speaker 1: is no question that Course did reply and promptly, and
46:02
Speaker 1: to the point. He wrote his answer on the top
46:05
Speaker 1: of a neighboring stump, and a splinter or two may
46:09
Speaker 1: have gotten in it. Major General French, CSA, et cetera.
46:16
Speaker 1: Your communication demanding surrender of my command, I acknowledge, receid of,
46:23
Speaker 1: and respectfully reply that we are prepared for the needless
46:27
Speaker 1: effusion of blood whenever it is agreeable to you. I
46:32
Speaker 1: am very respectfully your obedient servant, John M. Corse, Brigadier
46:38
Speaker 1: General Commanding US Forces. When this reply had been dispatched,
46:45
Speaker 1: Course remarked, they will now be upon us, and nothing
46:49
Speaker 1: remained but to notify the several commands of the purport
46:53
Speaker 1: of the correspondents, and to prepare for the bloody work
46:57
Speaker 1: that lay before them. French commanded a division in the
47:02
Speaker 1: core of Lieutenant General Stuart, which had been dispatched by
47:06
Speaker 1: Hood eastward from Dallas, to destroy the railroad. As witnessed
47:12
Speaker 1: by Sherman from the summit of Kennesaw, and his report
47:17
Speaker 1: dated November five, from which the following particulars of his
47:21
Speaker 1: movements are derived, is of great interest. Stewart had struck
47:27
Speaker 1: the railroad at Big Shanty, four miles north of Kennesaw,
47:32
Speaker 1: on the evening of October third, and his three divisions
47:36
Speaker 1: labored all night at their task, completing it as far
47:41
Speaker 1: as Acworth. This work accomplished, French's division was sent northward
47:47
Speaker 1: under direct orders from Hood, which are given in French's
47:51
Speaker 1: report and have some peculiar features. Both orders are dated
47:56
Speaker 1: October fourth, and were handed to French, which had Big
48:00
Speaker 1: Shanty by Steward at noon. The earlier ones said that
48:06
Speaker 1: French shall move up the railroad and fill up the
48:09
Speaker 1: deep cut at Alatuna with logs, brush, dirt, et cetera.
48:15
Speaker 1: Also that when at Alatuna, French was, if possible, to
48:20
Speaker 1: move to the Edowah Bridge, the destruction of which would
48:24
Speaker 1: be of great advantage to the army and the country.
48:29
Speaker 1: The second order again urged the importance of destroying the
48:33
Speaker 1: Edowah Bridge if such were possible, and that as the enemy,
48:39
Speaker 1: Sherman could not disturb him before the next day he
48:43
Speaker 1: was to get his artillery in position, and then call
48:47
Speaker 1: for volunteers with lightwood to go to the bridge and
48:52
Speaker 1: burn it. The curious points about these instructions are, in
48:57
Speaker 1: the first place, the absurdity of a wearied body of
49:01
Speaker 1: troops undertaking such a task as that of filling up
49:06
Speaker 1: a railway cut sixty five feet deep and some three
49:10
Speaker 1: hundred or four hundred yards long in the way described
49:16
Speaker 1: with logs and dirt, and the futility of doing it.
49:20
Speaker 1: If it were possible, it would have taken French several
49:25
Speaker 1: days to fill up that cut, even assuming him to
49:29
Speaker 1: be uninterfered with, and one day's labor would open it again.
49:35
Speaker 1: The second point is the absence of any reference to
49:39
Speaker 1: a garrison at Allatoona or to the accumulation of stores there.
49:46
Speaker 1: French was a good soldier, and after stating in his
49:49
Speaker 1: report that as both he and Stuart knew the facts
49:53
Speaker 1: in the case and were aware of the large amount
49:56
Speaker 1: of stores, they considered it important that the place be captured,
50:02
Speaker 1: contents himself with saying dryly, it would appear, however, from
50:07
Speaker 1: these orders, that the General in Chief was not aware
50:11
Speaker 1: that the pass i was sent to have filled up
50:15
Speaker 1: was fortified and garrisoned. The fact is that it requires
50:20
Speaker 1: something more than mere courage to command an army, and
50:24
Speaker 1: it seems likely that a few such specimens of leadership
50:28
Speaker 1: cost Hood the confidence of his subordinates and thoroughly justified
50:35
Speaker 1: Sherman in a disparaging remark he made respecting him. A
50:39
Speaker 1: day or two later, Stuart gave French twelve pieces of
50:44
Speaker 1: artillery under Major Myrick, and at three point thirty p m.
50:49
Speaker 1: Of the fourth he marched away to Acworth, but was
50:53
Speaker 1: detained there until eleven at night by lack of rations.
50:59
Speaker 1: The night was dark, the roads bad, and he didn't
51:03
Speaker 1: know the country. From Ackworth, he reports seeing night signaling
51:08
Speaker 1: between Kenesaw and Alatuna, and fearing that reinforcements might be
51:14
Speaker 1: sent from the northward, he dispatched a small cavalry force
51:19
Speaker 1: to reach the railroad as close to the Etowah as
51:23
Speaker 1: possible and take up the rails. It was a wise precaution,
51:29
Speaker 1: but undertaken too late, as course was at Alatuna by midnight.
51:35
Speaker 1: French arrived there about three in the morning, and as
51:39
Speaker 1: he writes, nothing could be seen but one or two
51:42
Speaker 1: twinkling lights on the opposite heights, and nothing was heard
51:47
Speaker 1: except the occasional interchange of shots between our advance guards
51:53
Speaker 1: and the pickets of the garrison in the valley below.
51:57
Speaker 1: He placed his artillery in position at Moor's thirteen hundred
52:02
Speaker 1: yards south and east of the post, an admirable location
52:07
Speaker 1: for the purpose, intended having an open view of the
52:11
Speaker 1: defenses across the intervening hollow, left with it the thirty
52:16
Speaker 1: ninth North Carolina and the thirty second Texas of Young's
52:21
Speaker 1: brigade as supports, and sought to gain the ridge west
52:26
Speaker 1: of the fortifications, intending to attack at daybreak, But after
52:31
Speaker 1: floundering in the Egyptian darkness of the forest, with no
52:35
Speaker 1: roads and over a rugged country, and unavailingly seeking, notwithstanding
52:41
Speaker 1: the aid of a guide, to get upon the ridge
52:44
Speaker 1: westward of the works, was compelled to wait for daylight. Finally,
52:50
Speaker 1: at seven point thirty the head of the column arrived,
52:53
Speaker 1: about six hundred yards distant from the west redoubt, and
52:58
Speaker 1: here French got his first view of the works, which
53:02
Speaker 1: impressed him at once as much more formidable than he
53:06
Speaker 1: had anticipated. Instead of one small redoubt on each side
53:11
Speaker 1: of the railroad cut, as he had been led to believe,
53:15
Speaker 1: He declares he saw no less than three on the
53:18
Speaker 1: west side, and a star fort on the east, with
53:23
Speaker 1: outworks and approaches defended to a great distance by abbotus,
53:29
Speaker 1: and nearer the forts by stockades and other obstructions. It
53:35
Speaker 1: may have been the weariness of a long night march,
53:39
Speaker 1: or perhaps the too early morning air that conjured these
53:44
Speaker 1: formidable defenses to French's eyes, or possibly it is the
53:49
Speaker 1: exterior aspect of these works that, to a covetous and
53:54
Speaker 1: hostile apprehension, enlarges their numbers and proportions. It must be
54:01
Speaker 1: admitted that from the interior standpoint they shrunk mightily from
54:06
Speaker 1: French's description, and the defenders at least would have been
54:11
Speaker 1: hugely gratified could they have had the privilege of occupying
54:16
Speaker 1: what French thought he saw. He rapidly made his dispositions
54:22
Speaker 1: for assault, sending Sears Mississippi Brigade round by the left
54:27
Speaker 1: to gain the north flank of the works, while Cockrell's
54:31
Speaker 1: Missouri brigade formed line across the ridge, with Young's Texas
54:37
Speaker 1: Brigade behind it to support and follow up the attack.
54:42
Speaker 1: Myrick had been ordered to open up with his guns
54:45
Speaker 1: and continue his fire until the attacking troops were so
54:50
Speaker 1: close up to the works as to prevent it. Sears,
54:54
Speaker 1: having the longer distance to traverse, was to begin the
54:58
Speaker 1: assault when Cockrell would immediately move forward. Sears was delayed
55:04
Speaker 1: by the ruggedness of his route to the north side
55:07
Speaker 1: of the works, and in fact for a time lost
55:11
Speaker 1: his bearings among the wooded hills, and was not in
55:14
Speaker 1: position until nine a m. By French's time. French says
55:20
Speaker 1: that when he sent his summons to surrender, the federal
55:24
Speaker 1: officer entrusted with the missive was allowed seventeen minutes within
55:29
Speaker 1: which to bring the answer, and this time expiring, Major
55:34
Speaker 1: Sanders returned without any Nothing is said in the report
55:39
Speaker 1: as to the firing upon him noted in the endorsement
55:43
Speaker 1: on the copy of the summons already mentioned. End of
55:49
Speaker 1: the Defenses of Alatouna and the Morning of the Battle,
55:58
Speaker 1: Section four. The Battle of Alatouna, October fifth, eighteen sixty four.
56:06
Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
56:10
Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
56:16
Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. The Battle of Alatuna, October fifth,
56:22
Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four by William Ludlow, the assault and the defense.
56:32
Speaker 1: The assault, Cockrell was at length ordered forward, and the
56:37
Speaker 1: attack began. According to French's account, everything went as successfully
56:43
Speaker 1: as possible. He represents the triple lines of entrenchments and
56:48
Speaker 1: redoubts on the west side as being captured one after another,
56:54
Speaker 1: his troops resting but briefly at each to gather strength
56:58
Speaker 1: and survey the work before them, and again rushing forward
57:03
Speaker 1: in murderous hand to hand conflict that left the ditches
57:07
Speaker 1: filled with dead, until they were masters of the second redoubt,
57:13
Speaker 1: and the third or main redoubt, was filled with those
57:16
Speaker 1: driven from the captured works, and further crowded by the
57:21
Speaker 1: refugees from the eastern fort and its defenses who had
57:26
Speaker 1: been driven out by the attack of sears. He represents
57:31
Speaker 1: the Federal forces, their fire almost silenced, as being herded
57:37
Speaker 1: into the one redoubt on the west of which French's
57:42
Speaker 1: troops occupied the ditch and were preparing for the final attack.
57:47
Speaker 1: At this critical moment, with the garrison and the precious
57:51
Speaker 1: stores as it were, in the hollow of his hand,
57:55
Speaker 1: French received word that General Sherman, who had been repeatedly
57:59
Speaker 1: sign during the battle, was close behind him, with his
58:03
Speaker 1: whole army, and within two miles of the road he
58:07
Speaker 1: would have to take to rejoin his corps. On this
58:11
Speaker 1: point of Sherman's proximity to French as his reason for leaving,
58:17
Speaker 1: We have not only full knowledge of the exact position
58:20
Speaker 1: and movement of our troops to show that such was
58:24
Speaker 1: really not the case, but a brief piece of testimony
58:28
Speaker 1: from the other side, in the shape of a dispatch
58:31
Speaker 1: from Major Mason Hood's adjutant general, from which it is
58:36
Speaker 1: evident that French, becoming hopeless of success, had sought in
58:41
Speaker 1: advance to justify at headquarters the failure of his enterprise.
58:48
Speaker 1: The date and hour of this dispatch, which reads as follows,
58:52
Speaker 1: are of interest. Carly's House, October five, eighteen sixty four,
59:00
Speaker 1: eight fifteen pm. Lieutenant General Stewart, Commanding Corps. General French's dispatch,
59:09
Speaker 1: forwarded by yourself, is just received. General Hood directs me
59:14
Speaker 1: to say that he does not know where a division
59:17
Speaker 1: could march at this time to give any assistance to
59:21
Speaker 1: General French, but that you will endeavor to send some
59:25
Speaker 1: scouts to him and direct him to leave the railroad
59:28
Speaker 1: and march to the west to New Hope Church. General
59:33
Speaker 1: Hood does not understand how General French could be cut
59:36
Speaker 1: off at the point he designates in his dispatch, as
59:40
Speaker 1: he should have moved directly away from the railroad to
59:43
Speaker 1: the west if he deemed his position precarious apm. It
59:51
Speaker 1: is of course obvious from the map that if French
59:53
Speaker 1: found Sherman approaching from the south, he had only to
59:57
Speaker 1: follow westward the road up which he had been charging
1:00:02
Speaker 1: at Alatuna all day, and free himself from danger in
1:00:06
Speaker 1: an hour. It would be of interest to see this
1:00:09
Speaker 1: dispatch of Frenches and observe the hour when sent, but
1:00:15
Speaker 1: it is not forthcoming. The hour of the reply is significant.
1:00:20
Speaker 1: It need not have taken a mounted man three hours
1:00:24
Speaker 1: to get word to Stewart, then near a junction with Hood,
1:00:28
Speaker 1: and to Hood himself less than fifteen miles away. The
1:00:33
Speaker 1: reply made at once is written at eight fifteen pm,
1:00:38
Speaker 1: and French's message must certainly have been sent later than
1:00:42
Speaker 1: four pm. And French's message must certainly have been sent
1:00:47
Speaker 1: later than four pm. French had probably been gone from
1:00:51
Speaker 1: Alatuna an hour or more when he bethought him to
1:00:56
Speaker 1: send the request for a division to extricate him. The
1:01:00
Speaker 1: facts are that it was not until the night of
1:01:03
Speaker 1: October fifth, that the nearest troops of Shermans went into
1:01:08
Speaker 1: camp at Brushy Mountain, eleven miles distant in an airline,
1:01:13
Speaker 1: and none reached Alatuna until the seventh. But to return
1:01:18
Speaker 1: to French. It was really an immense pity that he
1:01:22
Speaker 1: should feel obliged to leave just when he had but
1:01:26
Speaker 1: to put forth his hand to snatch the prize. But
1:01:30
Speaker 1: then it would not do to have his division cut
1:01:33
Speaker 1: off from the army. And on the whole it might
1:01:37
Speaker 1: be well to start, And if so, why not at once.
1:01:42
Speaker 1: So about one thirty, he says, an order was sent
1:01:45
Speaker 1: to Sears and Cockrel to withdraw. The ground was too
1:01:50
Speaker 1: rough to carry badly wounded men over it, so that
1:01:54
Speaker 1: those who could not get away on their own feet
1:01:57
Speaker 1: had to be left. The art 'tillery, unable to operate
1:02:01
Speaker 1: effectively with the assaulting column close up on the works,
1:02:06
Speaker 1: had already been in part ordered to take the road,
1:02:10
Speaker 1: And after the assaulting troops had left, French went to
1:02:14
Speaker 1: the two regiments who had supported it and sent a
1:02:18
Speaker 1: battery to the blockhouse at the railway crossing of Alatuna Creek,
1:02:24
Speaker 1: fired fifty shots at it, knocked it about the ears
1:02:28
Speaker 1: of the garrison and setting fire to it, smoked them out,
1:02:33
Speaker 1: and marched them off as prisoners. French's report of this affair,
1:02:38
Speaker 1: written a month later, from which the above is condensed,
1:02:42
Speaker 1: is very interesting and dramatic, and regarded as a literary
1:02:47
Speaker 1: composition of no mean merit. He has certainly made the
1:02:52
Speaker 1: best of a bad business, and if his facts do
1:02:56
Speaker 1: not quite tally with those of his opponents, at least
1:03:00
Speaker 1: the discrepancies were not officially noticed at headquarters, nor probably
1:03:05
Speaker 1: would a gloomier account of the affair have been considered
1:03:10
Speaker 1: more inspiriting. Those rations would have been extremely convenient. Could they,
1:03:17
Speaker 1: or even a part of them, have been hauled away
1:03:20
Speaker 1: for distribution among the hungry confederates, And if that were impracticable,
1:03:26
Speaker 1: it would have been at least a noble stroke to
1:03:29
Speaker 1: have destroyed them. On this head French's report is silent,
1:03:35
Speaker 1: nor does he endeavor to explain how it happened that
1:03:39
Speaker 1: so vital a part of his own program was omitted.
1:03:44
Speaker 1: In effect, the play had been badly broken up by
1:03:47
Speaker 1: the attentions of the gallery, and Hamlet had slipped out
1:03:50
Speaker 1: of it. French is without excuse for his fear of
1:03:55
Speaker 1: Sherman's approach baseless, as we know it to have been.
1:04:00
Speaker 1: Armstrong is responsible for dispatches to him suggesting it. All
1:04:06
Speaker 1: the same. The evidence is conclusive that French was beaten,
1:04:10
Speaker 1: that he knew it, and that he had to withdraw,
1:04:14
Speaker 1: quite independently of Sherman's movements. A Confederate historian K. S.
1:04:20
Speaker 1: BeVier writes as follows. On this point, the men of
1:04:25
Speaker 1: French's division had now become so much scattered that it
1:04:30
Speaker 1: was impossible to gather a sufficient number to give any
1:04:34
Speaker 1: hope of successful assault on the fort. What can wholly
1:04:38
Speaker 1: be pardon to French is the unstinted commendation he bestows
1:04:44
Speaker 1: on the gallantry of his men. These poor fellows, ragged
1:04:49
Speaker 1: and hungry, with but a handful or two of parched
1:04:52
Speaker 1: corn in their haversacks, had marched all day on the third,
1:04:57
Speaker 1: had worked all that night destroying the railroad, had worked
1:05:02
Speaker 1: and marched all day on the fourth, had marched to
1:05:05
Speaker 1: Alatouna during that night, and had fought nearly all day
1:05:10
Speaker 1: on the fifth. Nor is it forbidden to those who
1:05:14
Speaker 1: felt the vigor of their dashing onset and the undaunted
1:05:18
Speaker 1: determination with which they rallied again and again to the
1:05:22
Speaker 1: assault of the entrenchments, or who witnessed the hand to
1:05:27
Speaker 1: hand encounters with sword and bayonet, with butts of guns,
1:05:33
Speaker 1: and even with loose pieces of rock, to appreciate the
1:05:37
Speaker 1: intrepidity and resolution with which they hung to their bloody
1:05:42
Speaker 1: and fruitless task. Brave men may honor bravery the world over.
1:05:49
Speaker 1: We can, in all sympathy and common brotherhood say they
1:05:53
Speaker 1: were of our blood and race. Peace to their ashes,
1:05:58
Speaker 1: give us the like to stand side by side with us,
1:06:03
Speaker 1: and we could fear no quarrel were it with the
1:06:06
Speaker 1: whole round world the defense. Having glanced at the situation
1:06:14
Speaker 1: from French's standpoint, let us step over to the other side,
1:06:19
Speaker 1: as we may safely do at this lapse of time,
1:06:22
Speaker 1: and see how it actually fared with the beleaguered garrison
1:06:26
Speaker 1: which we left in momentary expectation of attack. And since
1:06:31
Speaker 1: General French has been heard, it is no more than
1:06:35
Speaker 1: fair to quote from the graphic reports of the federal commander.
1:06:40
Speaker 1: After narrating his preliminary movements and the stations of the troops,
1:06:46
Speaker 1: he proceeds. I directed Colonel Rowitt to hold the spur
1:06:51
Speaker 1: on which the thirty ninth Iowa and seventh Illinois were formed,
1:06:56
Speaker 1: and taking two companies of the ninety third Illinois down
1:06:59
Speaker 1: a US spur parallel with the railroad and along the
1:07:03
Speaker 1: bank of the cut, so disposed them as to hold
1:07:07
Speaker 1: the north side as long as possible. Three companies of
1:07:11
Speaker 1: the ninety third, which had been driven from the west
1:07:14
Speaker 1: end of the ridge, were distributed in the ditch south
1:07:18
Speaker 1: of the redoubt, with instructions to keep the town well
1:07:22
Speaker 1: covered by their fire and to watch the depot where
1:07:26
Speaker 1: the rations were stored. The remaining battalion of the ninety third,
1:07:32
Speaker 1: under Major Fisher, lay between the redoubt and row its line,
1:07:37
Speaker 1: ready to reinforce wherever most needed. I had barely issued
1:07:43
Speaker 1: the orders when the storm broke in all its fury
1:07:46
Speaker 1: on the thirty ninth Iowa and seventh Illinois. Young's brigade
1:07:52
Speaker 1: of Texans had gained the west end of the ridge
1:07:55
Speaker 1: and moved with great impetuosity along its crew till they
1:08:01
Speaker 1: struck Rout's command. When they received a severe check, but
1:08:07
Speaker 1: undaunted came again and again. Rout, reinforced by the gallant Redfield,
1:08:15
Speaker 1: encouraged me to hope we were safe here. When I
1:08:19
Speaker 1: observed General Sears's brigade moving from the north it's left,
1:08:24
Speaker 1: extending across the railroad opposite Turtelot. I rushed to the
1:08:30
Speaker 1: two companies of the ninety third Illinois, which were on
1:08:33
Speaker 1: the brink of the cut, running north from the redoubt,
1:08:37
Speaker 1: they having been reinforced by the retreating Pickets, and urged
1:08:42
Speaker 1: them to hold on to the spur. But it was
1:08:45
Speaker 1: of no avail. The enemy's line of battle swept us
1:08:50
Speaker 1: back like so much chaff, and struck the thirty ninth
1:08:54
Speaker 1: Iowa in flank, threatening to engulf our little band without
1:08:58
Speaker 1: further ado. Fortunately for US, Colonel Turtlott's fire caught Sears
1:09:04
Speaker 1: in flank and broke him so badly as to enable
1:09:08
Speaker 1: me to get a staff officer over the cut with
1:09:11
Speaker 1: orders to bring the fiftieth Illinois over to reinforce Rowit,
1:09:17
Speaker 1: who had lost very heavily. However, before the regiment sent
1:09:22
Speaker 1: for could arrive, Sears and Young both rallied and made
1:09:27
Speaker 1: their assaults in front and on the flank with so
1:09:30
Speaker 1: much vigor and in such force as to break Rowit's line.
1:09:35
Speaker 1: And had not the thirty ninth Iowa fought with the
1:09:38
Speaker 1: desperation it did, I never would have been able to
1:09:42
Speaker 1: get a man back inside the redoubt, as it was
1:09:47
Speaker 1: their hand to hand conflict and stubborn stand broke the
1:09:51
Speaker 1: enemy to that extent that he must stop and reform
1:09:55
Speaker 1: before undertaking the assault on the fort. Undercover of the
1:10:00
Speaker 1: blows they gave the enemy, the seventh and ninety third
1:10:04
Speaker 1: Illinois and what remained of the thirty ninth Iowa fell
1:10:08
Speaker 1: back into the fort. The fighting up to this time
1:10:12
Speaker 1: about eleven am was of the most extraordinary character. Attack
1:10:18
Speaker 1: from the north, from the west, and from the south,
1:10:22
Speaker 1: these three regiments, thirty ninth Iowa and seventh and ninety
1:10:26
Speaker 1: third Illinois, held youngs and a portion of seers and
1:10:31
Speaker 1: Cockrell's brigades at bay for nearly two hours and a half.
1:10:37
Speaker 1: The gallant Colonel Redfield of the thirty ninth Iowa fell
1:10:42
Speaker 1: shot in four places, and the extraordinary valor of the
1:10:46
Speaker 1: men and officers of this regiment and of the seventh
1:10:50
Speaker 1: Illinois save to us allatoona. So completely disorganized were the
1:10:56
Speaker 1: enemy that no regular assault could be made on the
1:10:59
Speaker 1: fourth till I had the trenches all filled and the
1:11:03
Speaker 1: parapets lined with men. The twelfth and fiftieth Illinois, arriving
1:11:09
Speaker 1: from the East Hill, enabled us to occupy every foot
1:11:13
Speaker 1: of trench, and keep up a line of fire that,
1:11:17
Speaker 1: as long as our ammunition lasted, would render our little
1:11:21
Speaker 1: fort impregnable. The broken pieces of the enemy enabled them
1:11:26
Speaker 1: to fill every hollow and take every advantage of the
1:11:29
Speaker 1: rough ground surrounding the fort, filling every hole and trench,
1:11:34
Speaker 1: seeking shelter behind every stump and log that lay within
1:11:38
Speaker 1: musket range of the fort. We received their fire from
1:11:42
Speaker 1: the north, south, and west of the redoubt, completely infilating
1:11:47
Speaker 1: our ditches and rendering it almost impracticable for a man
1:11:52
Speaker 1: to expose his person above the parapet. An effort was
1:11:56
Speaker 1: made to carry our works by assault, but the battery
1:12:00
Speaker 1: twelfth Wisconsin was so ably manned and so gallantly fought
1:12:05
Speaker 1: as to render it impossible for a column to live
1:12:08
Speaker 1: within one hundred yards of the work. Officers labored constantly
1:12:14
Speaker 1: to stimulate the men to exertions, and almost all that
1:12:18
Speaker 1: were killed or wounded in the fort met their fate.
1:12:21
Speaker 1: While trying to get the men to expose themselves above
1:12:25
Speaker 1: the parapet, and nobly setting them the example, the enemy
1:12:31
Speaker 1: kept up a constant and intense fire, gradually closing around
1:12:36
Speaker 1: us and rapidly filling our little fort with the dead
1:12:39
Speaker 1: or dying. About one PM I was wounded by a
1:12:44
Speaker 1: rifle ball that rendered me insensible for some thirty or
1:12:47
Speaker 1: forty minutes, but managed to rally on hearing some person's
1:12:51
Speaker 1: cry cease firing, which conveyed to me the impression that
1:12:57
Speaker 1: they were trying to surrender the fort. Again. I urged
1:13:02
Speaker 1: my staff, the few officers left unhurt, and the men
1:13:06
Speaker 1: around me to renewed exertions, assuring them that Sherman would
1:13:10
Speaker 1: soon be there with reinforcements. The gallant fellows struggled to
1:13:15
Speaker 1: keep their heads above the ditch and parapet in face
1:13:19
Speaker 1: of the murderous fire of the enemy now concentrated upon us.
1:13:24
Speaker 1: The artillery was silent, and a brave fellow, whose name
1:13:28
Speaker 1: I regret having forgotten, volunteered to cross the railway cut,
1:13:33
Speaker 1: which was under fire of the enemy, and go to
1:13:36
Speaker 1: the fort on the east hill to procure ammunition. Having
1:13:40
Speaker 1: executed his mission successfully, he returned in a short time
1:13:45
Speaker 1: with an armload of canister and case shot. About two
1:13:49
Speaker 1: thirty PM, the enemy were observed massing a force behind
1:13:53
Speaker 1: a small house and the ridge on which the house
1:13:56
Speaker 1: was located distant northwest from the fort about one hundred
1:14:00
Speaker 1: and fifty yards. The dead and wounded were moved aside
1:14:05
Speaker 1: so as to enable us to move a piece of
1:14:07
Speaker 1: artillery to an embrasure commanding the house and ridge. A
1:14:13
Speaker 1: few shots from the gun through the enemy's column into
1:14:16
Speaker 1: great confusion, which, being observed by our men, caused them
1:14:21
Speaker 1: to rush to the parapet and open such a heavy
1:14:25
Speaker 1: and continuous musketry fire that it was impossible for the
1:14:29
Speaker 1: enemy to rally. From this time until near four PM,
1:14:34
Speaker 1: we had the advantage of the enemy and maintained it
1:14:38
Speaker 1: with such success that they were driven from every position
1:14:42
Speaker 1: and finally fled in confusion, leaving their dead and wounded,
1:14:47
Speaker 1: and our little garrison in possession of the field. The
1:14:52
Speaker 1: hill east of the cut was gallantly and successfully defended
1:14:56
Speaker 1: by Colonel Turtlot with the fourth Minute Soda and a
1:15:00
Speaker 1: portion of the eighteenth Wisconsin, which was drawn from outpost
1:15:05
Speaker 1: duty towards the south about ten thirty. Colonel Turtelot, though
1:15:11
Speaker 1: wounded in the early part of the action, remained with
1:15:14
Speaker 1: his men until the close and rendered valuable aid in
1:15:18
Speaker 1: protecting my north front from the repeated attacks by Sears Brigade.
1:15:24
Speaker 1: A notable struggle truly and stirringly told, even though the
1:15:29
Speaker 1: limitations of an official report forbid that amplification of incident
1:15:34
Speaker 1: that would make as thrilling a tale as tongue could utter.
1:15:39
Speaker 1: From start to finish, seven solid hours of as desperate
1:15:44
Speaker 1: fighting as ever was done under the sky of heaven,
1:15:48
Speaker 1: and with multiplied acts of individual heroism that would tax
1:15:53
Speaker 1: the pen of Homer to narrate. With the exception of
1:15:57
Speaker 1: about two hundred and fifty rounds, the supply of ammunition
1:16:01
Speaker 1: brought from Rome for the entire division had been expended
1:16:06
Speaker 1: by a portion of a single brigade. Every one of
1:16:10
Speaker 1: the subordinate commander's reports on both sides bears testimony to
1:16:15
Speaker 1: the unparalleled fierceness and concentration of the struggle, and the
1:16:20
Speaker 1: closeness and duration of the action, and the terrific slaughter.
1:16:26
Speaker 1: And these reports, it may be noted, are made by
1:16:29
Speaker 1: the ruggedest of Sherman's and French's veterans, men inured to
1:16:34
Speaker 1: war in every aspect, and as familiar with bloody battlefields
1:16:40
Speaker 1: as we of today, with the street we daily tread.
1:16:45
Speaker 1: In reading these scant records, one scarce knows whether to
1:16:49
Speaker 1: admire the more the daring, vigor and persistence of the attack,
1:16:55
Speaker 1: or the spirit valor and heroic determination of the defense.
1:17:01
Speaker 1: With both, it was to do or die, and each
1:17:05
Speaker 1: can feel that none save his rival, can challenge supremacy
1:17:09
Speaker 1: and warlike exploit courses signal dispatch to sherman after the fight.
1:17:15
Speaker 1: Can therefore well be excused. I am short, a cheekbone
1:17:21
Speaker 1: and an ear, but able to whip all hell yet
1:17:26
Speaker 1: end of the Assault and the Defense. Section five of
1:17:35
Speaker 1: the Battle of Alatuna, October fifth, eighteen sixty four. This
1:17:42
Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
1:17:46
Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
1:17:51
Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. The Battle of Alatuna, October fifth, eighteen
1:17:58
Speaker 1: sixty four by by William Ludlow. Incidents of the battle
1:18:05
Speaker 1: and the stores saved Incidents of the battle. It is
1:18:12
Speaker 1: a thousand pities that the many notable incidents of this
1:18:16
Speaker 1: fight are not on record, but so far as I
1:18:19
Speaker 1: am aware, no one has sought to gather them in
1:18:22
Speaker 1: any complete and authentic form. Course caught his wound about
1:18:28
Speaker 1: one o'clock while scanning the movements and position of the
1:18:32
Speaker 1: enemy from the redoubt. It was a close call for
1:18:36
Speaker 1: his life, the ball plowing his cheek and splitting his ear,
1:18:40
Speaker 1: and as might be imagined, dazing him. A surgeon took
1:18:46
Speaker 1: him in charge and ministered as well as the circumstances permitted.
1:18:51
Speaker 1: At intervals. Course was unconscious, but rallied from time to time,
1:18:57
Speaker 1: as though the spirit within him crowded its elf up
1:19:00
Speaker 1: through the physical deadening of his senses. At one of
1:19:05
Speaker 1: these occasions he caught the words cease firing, and, as
1:19:10
Speaker 1: mentioned in his report, feared some attempt to surrender on
1:19:15
Speaker 1: this point. In a private letter, he speaks as follows,
1:19:20
Speaker 1: do you remember our losing a large number of Springfield
1:19:24
Speaker 1: rifled muskets that exploded near the muzzle after becoming foul
1:19:29
Speaker 1: from overshooting. I saw some that had exploded, say about
1:19:34
Speaker 1: the shank of the bayonet. It was so phenomenal as
1:19:39
Speaker 1: to make a decided impression on my mind at the time.
1:19:44
Speaker 1: I think a large number of these must have been lost,
1:19:47
Speaker 1: And when the order was given to cease firing, it
1:19:50
Speaker 1: was under the impression that if the men were not
1:19:53
Speaker 1: given a chance to clean their guns, we would lose
1:19:57
Speaker 1: them all and be overwhelmed. My impression. You remember at
1:20:02
Speaker 1: the time was that the order to cease firing meant surrender,
1:20:07
Speaker 1: but Rawit removed that impression in subsequent interviews during and
1:20:12
Speaker 1: after the war. Raout's order to cease firing had, of course,
1:20:17
Speaker 1: nothing to do with the cry of surrender. It is
1:20:21
Speaker 1: true that there were men in that redoubt ready to
1:20:24
Speaker 1: surrender or to do anything else in order to get
1:20:29
Speaker 1: out of it alive. Happily, these were few, and most
1:20:34
Speaker 1: of them lay prone close under the parapet, playing dead,
1:20:39
Speaker 1: with the combatants and wounded, standing and sitting upon them.
1:20:44
Speaker 1: If I mistake not coorse himself, at least for a time,
1:20:48
Speaker 1: was holding down of these living corpses who preferred to
1:20:53
Speaker 1: endure all the pain and discomfort of his position rather
1:20:57
Speaker 1: than get up and face the deadly music that filled
1:21:00
Speaker 1: the air with Leaden notes. It came about this way.
1:21:06
Speaker 1: The redoubt was crowded and as bloody as a slaughter pin.
1:21:11
Speaker 1: In its actual construction, the parapet encircled a higher elevation
1:21:16
Speaker 1: in the center which had not been sufficiently excavated, so
1:21:21
Speaker 1: that a man standing or in fact lying in the
1:21:25
Speaker 1: middle of the work was exposed to bullets coming in
1:21:28
Speaker 1: close over the parapet. It was absolutely necessary to keep
1:21:34
Speaker 1: room for the fighting force along the parapet, So the
1:21:38
Speaker 1: wounded were drawn back, and in some cases were shot
1:21:41
Speaker 1: over and over again. The dead were disposed of in
1:21:46
Speaker 1: the same way, except that as the ground became covered
1:21:50
Speaker 1: with them, they were let lie as they fell, and
1:21:54
Speaker 1: were stood or sat upon by the fighters. Several of
1:21:58
Speaker 1: the skulkers lay among these, but a few were in
1:22:02
Speaker 1: the ranks. The slaughter had been frightful. One of our
1:22:07
Speaker 1: guns was disabled from the jamming of a shot, and
1:22:11
Speaker 1: we were out of ammunition for the other two, thereby
1:22:15
Speaker 1: losing both the deterrent effect upon the enemy and the
1:22:20
Speaker 1: moral encouragement that the friendly roar of cannon always gives
1:22:25
Speaker 1: to infantry in action. I recall distinctly the fact that
1:22:30
Speaker 1: a regimental flagstaff on the parapet, which had been several
1:22:35
Speaker 1: times shot away, fell again at a critical moment towards
1:22:40
Speaker 1: the end of the action. There was a mad yell
1:22:44
Speaker 1: from our friends outside, and a few cries of surrender
1:22:47
Speaker 1: among our own people. But a brave fellow leaped to
1:22:51
Speaker 1: the summit of the parapet, where it did not seem
1:22:55
Speaker 1: possible to live for a single second, grasped the flagstaff
1:23:00
Speaker 1: waved it, drove the stump into the parapet, and dropped
1:23:04
Speaker 1: back again, unhurt. Of course, nobody knows the name of
1:23:09
Speaker 1: that man, but his action restored confidence, and a great
1:23:13
Speaker 1: Yankee cheer drowned the tumult, and no cry of surrender
1:23:18
Speaker 1: was afterwards heard. What saved us that day, among forty
1:23:23
Speaker 1: other things, was the fact that we had a number
1:23:26
Speaker 1: of Henry rifles sixteen shooters, since improved and known as Winchester's.
1:23:34
Speaker 1: These were new guns in those days, and Routt, as
1:23:38
Speaker 1: I remember, had held in reserve a company of an
1:23:41
Speaker 1: Illinois regiment that was armed with them until a final
1:23:46
Speaker 1: assault should be made. When the artillery reopened. After the
1:23:51
Speaker 1: incident related by course of the man crossing the cut
1:23:55
Speaker 1: and coming back with an armful of case shot, this company,
1:24:00
Speaker 1: many of sixteen shooters, sprang to the parapet and poured
1:24:04
Speaker 1: out such a multiplied, rapid and deadly fire that no
1:24:08
Speaker 1: men could stay in front of it, and no serious
1:24:12
Speaker 1: effort was thereafter made to take the fort by assault.
1:24:17
Speaker 1: It is not possible, within any reasonable limits for a
1:24:21
Speaker 1: paper already too long for your patients to undertake the
1:24:25
Speaker 1: recital of the numerous thrilling incidents. One may be mentioned.
1:24:32
Speaker 1: An artillery sergeant whose gun was at first stationed outside
1:24:36
Speaker 1: the fort behind an exterior parapet, was driven in by
1:24:41
Speaker 1: the rush of the enemy, and his men being all killed,
1:24:45
Speaker 1: he had to abandon it, wounded himself in several places.
1:24:51
Speaker 1: He came into the redoubt frothing with rage at the
1:24:55
Speaker 1: loss of his peace, and demanded a crew of volunteers
1:24:59
Speaker 1: to go out with him and get it. Notwithstanding the
1:25:04
Speaker 1: deadly fire. He got them and in three minutes was
1:25:08
Speaker 1: back with his recovered prize, with more wounds to his account.
1:25:14
Speaker 1: A bloodier man was never seen, but he kept at
1:25:17
Speaker 1: his work, loading and firing until a musket ball passed
1:25:22
Speaker 1: through his neck and he dropped dead. The same ball
1:25:26
Speaker 1: traversed the body of an Iowa officer, with whom I
1:25:30
Speaker 1: was standing further back, and then struck me with force
1:25:34
Speaker 1: enough to take my breath. That ball had killed two men,
1:25:39
Speaker 1: and I preserved it, with the name and date of
1:25:42
Speaker 1: the battle scratched on its but slightly distorted surface. On
1:25:48
Speaker 1: Turtelot's side, a grim war comedy was enacted the remains
1:25:54
Speaker 1: of two Mississippi regiments, the thirty fifth and thirty ninth
1:25:59
Speaker 1: of Sears Brigade that had charged with desperation found themselves
1:26:05
Speaker 1: as the surge of battle that broke upon the hill
1:26:09
Speaker 1: went back lodged in a sheltered depression of the north front,
1:26:14
Speaker 1: whence they could move neither up nor down without concentrating
1:26:19
Speaker 1: upon themselves the fire of Turtelot's whole front. Unable to
1:26:26
Speaker 1: determine what course to take, they remained where they were
1:26:30
Speaker 1: to think it over, and Turtelot, observing their embarrassment, thoughtfully
1:26:36
Speaker 1: sent a portion of the fourth Minnesota to their rescue
1:26:40
Speaker 1: and invited them to come in one field, and several
1:26:45
Speaker 1: line officers and eighty men with the colors of the
1:26:48
Speaker 1: two regiments were the reward of the Yankee courtesy. After
1:26:54
Speaker 1: the fight was over, we thankfully emerged from the shambles
1:26:57
Speaker 1: and went out to survey the field. The dead, the dying,
1:27:02
Speaker 1: and the wounded lay everywhere. The ditches immediately outside the
1:27:07
Speaker 1: redoubt were crammed with corpses. There were dead rebels within
1:27:13
Speaker 1: one hundred feet of the work, and they were piled
1:27:16
Speaker 1: in stacks near the house where they had masked for
1:27:19
Speaker 1: the final assault, which was never made against the reopened
1:27:24
Speaker 1: artillery and the rattle of the Henry rifles. But the
1:27:29
Speaker 1: appalling center of the tragedy was the pit in which
1:27:32
Speaker 1: lay the heroes of the thirty ninth Iowa and the
1:27:36
Speaker 1: seventh Illinois. Such a sight probably was never before presented
1:27:42
Speaker 1: to the eye of heaven. There is no language to
1:27:46
Speaker 1: describe it. With all the glad reaction of feeling. After
1:27:50
Speaker 1: the prolonged strain of that mortal day and the exultant
1:27:55
Speaker 1: surge of victory that swelled our hearts, it was difficult
1:27:59
Speaker 1: to stand on the verge of that open grave without
1:28:02
Speaker 1: a rush of tears to the eye and a spasm
1:28:06
Speaker 1: of pity clutching at the throat. The trench was crowded
1:28:10
Speaker 1: with the dead, Blue and homespun, Yank and Johnny, inextricably
1:28:16
Speaker 1: mingled in their last ditch, Our heroes, ordered to hold
1:28:21
Speaker 1: the place to the last with supreme fidelity, had died
1:28:25
Speaker 1: at their posts as the rebel line run over them.
1:28:30
Speaker 1: They struck up with their bayonets as the foe struck down,
1:28:34
Speaker 1: and rolling together in the embrace of death, we found them,
1:28:38
Speaker 1: in some cases mutually transfixed. The theme cannot be dwelt
1:28:45
Speaker 1: upon for relief. Take another one so unique in the
1:28:49
Speaker 1: circumstances that I doubt at times my own recollection of it.
1:28:55
Speaker 1: It was in the morning when French first gained the
1:28:59
Speaker 1: west in end of the ridge. The ninety third Illinois
1:29:03
Speaker 1: was in the vicinity of the outworks, a quarter of
1:29:06
Speaker 1: a mile or so from the redoubt. I had been
1:29:10
Speaker 1: reconnoitering the ground, and the rebel column charged us sharply,
1:29:16
Speaker 1: and without warning. We ran, of course, but in passing through,
1:29:21
Speaker 1: or rather over, an old work of low relief, one
1:29:25
Speaker 1: of our men stooped, grabbed a brick, and turned curiosity
1:29:30
Speaker 1: overcame discretion, and I had to look. He threw the
1:29:35
Speaker 1: bricks straight as a bullet at a rebel running toward us,
1:29:39
Speaker 1: and if I may be believed, the brick caught the
1:29:41
Speaker 1: man full in the face, and he went down like
1:29:44
Speaker 1: a log. One more incident, and I am done. After
1:29:50
Speaker 1: the battle, the wounded of both sides were collected, housed,
1:29:54
Speaker 1: and cared for. One of the surgeons invited me to
1:29:58
Speaker 1: come to the hospital with him, and on the way
1:30:02
Speaker 1: said he had a wounded woman there. I expressed surprise,
1:30:07
Speaker 1: and he said, see if you can pick her out.
1:30:11
Speaker 1: We went through the hospital and I saw no woman,
1:30:15
Speaker 1: but passing through again. On the way back, the doctor
1:30:18
Speaker 1: stopped at a bed where a tanned and freckled young
1:30:21
Speaker 1: rebel hands and face, grimy with dirt and powder, lay
1:30:26
Speaker 1: resting on an elbow smoking a corn cob pipe. The
1:30:30
Speaker 1: doctor inquired, how do you feel? And the answer was
1:30:35
Speaker 1: pretty well, but my leg hurts like the devil. As
1:30:39
Speaker 1: we turned, the doctor said, that is the woman, and
1:30:43
Speaker 1: told me that she belonged to the Missouri Brigade, had
1:30:47
Speaker 1: had a husband and one or two brothers in one
1:30:50
Speaker 1: of the regiments, and followed them to the war. When
1:30:55
Speaker 1: they were all killed. Having no home but the regiment,
1:30:59
Speaker 1: she took a mon musket and served in the ranks,
1:31:03
Speaker 1: like an actor of the old Greek dramas. War has
1:31:07
Speaker 1: its two masks of tragedy and comedy, although it is
1:31:11
Speaker 1: difficult at times to determine to which the antifanal scene belongs.
1:31:17
Speaker 1: So of this case, it is perhaps not proper in
1:31:22
Speaker 1: such a paper as this to expose or call attention
1:31:25
Speaker 1: to the shifts to which the Confederates were forced to
1:31:29
Speaker 1: fill their ranks, but the incident may be told. Nevertheless,
1:31:36
Speaker 1: the stores saved the stores, which had cost such heroic
1:31:42
Speaker 1: endeavor and expenditure of life were saved the stores, which,
1:31:48
Speaker 1: as Course says in a private letter, would have been
1:31:52
Speaker 1: such a prize as hood in all his long and
1:31:55
Speaker 1: bloody career as a soldier, had never secured. This fact
1:32:00
Speaker 1: is due independently of the main action, largely to the
1:32:05
Speaker 1: coolness and vigilance of Tourtelot, who, in addition to fighting
1:32:10
Speaker 1: seers on his north front and flanking the attacks on
1:32:13
Speaker 1: the West Redoubt, kept his mind charged with the protection
1:32:18
Speaker 1: of the warehouses, even while his wound forced him to
1:32:22
Speaker 1: physical inaction. As has been stated, he pushed out the
1:32:28
Speaker 1: eighteenth Wisconsin to the southward to hold back the two
1:32:32
Speaker 1: regiments which were in front of the rebel batteries, and
1:32:36
Speaker 1: only withdrew them at ten thirty, when the assaulting column
1:32:40
Speaker 1: had reached a point in front of the West Redoubt,
1:32:44
Speaker 1: whence it had a fire upon the rear of the
1:32:47
Speaker 1: outlying command. Thereafter, Tourtellot kept a wary eye out towards
1:32:54
Speaker 1: the stores, with men in his southern rifle pit and
1:32:59
Speaker 1: its vicinity constantly on guard and cautioned to unceasing vigilance,
1:33:05
Speaker 1: and although several attempts were made by individuals and small
1:33:09
Speaker 1: parties to reach the warehouses and fire them. They died
1:33:14
Speaker 1: on the way, and none of them ever attained their destination.
1:33:20
Speaker 1: We found several bodies scattered about in the vicinity, and
1:33:24
Speaker 1: one of them within twenty feet of the buildings, with
1:33:28
Speaker 1: the implements in his hand for firing them. As to
1:33:32
Speaker 1: the amount of these stores, General Sherman, in his memoirs
1:33:38
Speaker 1: says there were over a million rations of bread, probably
1:33:42
Speaker 1: with Courses report at hand, in which the number is
1:33:46
Speaker 1: incorrectly stated at that amount. Cox in his Atlanta gives
1:33:52
Speaker 1: it more accurately at nearly three millions. The actual figures
1:33:58
Speaker 1: two million, seven one hundred thousand are given in a
1:34:02
Speaker 1: letter from Sherman to Course in acknowledging on October seventh,
1:34:08
Speaker 1: Courses preliminary report of the same day, end of incidents
1:34:15
Speaker 1: of the battle, and the stores saved, Section six of
1:34:25
Speaker 1: the Battle of Alatoona, October fifth, eighteen sixty four. This
1:34:30
Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
1:34:34
Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
1:34:40
Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. The Battle of Alatoona, October fifth, eighteen
1:34:47
Speaker 1: sixty four by William Ludlow. The losses reporting to Sherman
1:34:55
Speaker 1: and conclusion the losses. Course's losses in this battle from
1:35:04
Speaker 1: the full official records were one hundred forty two killed,
1:35:09
Speaker 1: three hundred fifty two wounded and omitting those captured at
1:35:14
Speaker 1: the blockhouse two miles away one hundred twenty eight prisoners,
1:35:20
Speaker 1: a total loss of six hundred twenty two, nearly one
1:35:24
Speaker 1: third of his entire command. French, in his report, estimates
1:35:30
Speaker 1: that he had killed and wounded seven hundred fifty and
1:35:33
Speaker 1: captured two hundred five, which with the blockhouse prisoners, would
1:35:39
Speaker 1: make a total loss inflicted on course of over one thousand,
1:35:45
Speaker 1: which is over fifty percent too much. French's losses are
1:35:51
Speaker 1: not known. With his report, he gives a tabulated list
1:35:56
Speaker 1: of casualties by brigades, which shows footings of one hundred
1:36:01
Speaker 1: twenty two killed, four hundred forty three wounded, and two
1:36:06
Speaker 1: hundred forty three missing, a total of seven hundred ninety nine. Sears, However,
1:36:13
Speaker 1: whose report of casualties is the only one accessible to me,
1:36:18
Speaker 1: reports in his brigade alone a total loss of four
1:36:22
Speaker 1: hundred twenty five, as against three hundred fifty one attributed
1:36:28
Speaker 1: to him in French's schedule, which is an increase of
1:36:32
Speaker 1: twenty one percent. Young and Cockrel must have lost at
1:36:37
Speaker 1: least as heavily as sears, and having charged our lye repeatedly,
1:36:42
Speaker 1: and had several encounters at close quarters, probably more so.
1:36:49
Speaker 1: Allowing for these facts, it is perhaps nearer correct to
1:36:54
Speaker 1: increase French's statement of loss by twenty five percent, which
1:36:58
Speaker 1: would make it almost exactly one thousand men. As course
1:37:04
Speaker 1: actually buried two hundred thirty one rebel dead, captured four
1:37:09
Speaker 1: hundred eleven prisoners well and wounded, and picked up eight
1:37:14
Speaker 1: hundred stand of arms, and as French left behind him,
1:37:19
Speaker 1: according to his own account, only those of his wounded
1:37:23
Speaker 1: who needed litters to move them. We must add to
1:37:27
Speaker 1: the six hundred forty four rebels accounted for by course
1:37:31
Speaker 1: at least four hundred or five hundred wounded who got
1:37:35
Speaker 1: away when French left or previously. French's total loss could
1:37:41
Speaker 1: not have been much less than eleven hundred or twelve hundred.
1:37:47
Speaker 1: The number of troops with him cannot be determined. He
1:37:51
Speaker 1: gives it as but little over two thousand men, in
1:37:55
Speaker 1: which case he lost more than half his entire number.
1:37:59
Speaker 1: But he omits three regiments as forming no part of
1:38:03
Speaker 1: the assaulting column. He refers to those supporting the artillery.
1:38:08
Speaker 1: But these men were in the engagement, kept the eighteenth
1:38:12
Speaker 1: Wisconsin in their front, and French thanks their leader Colonel Andrews,
1:38:18
Speaker 1: who commanded on the south side, and Major Myrik, who
1:38:22
Speaker 1: commanded the artillery. French's field report for September twenty fourth
1:38:29
Speaker 1: showed present for duty three hundred thirty one officers and
1:38:33
Speaker 1: two thousand, nine hundred forty five men, an effective present
1:38:38
Speaker 1: of three thousand, six hundred twenty six and an aggregate
1:38:43
Speaker 1: present of four thousand, three hundred forty seven. He probably
1:38:49
Speaker 1: had not less than three thousand with him at Alatoona
1:38:53
Speaker 1: engaged in action, in which case his total loss was
1:38:57
Speaker 1: proportionally the same as ours, namely about one third. Reporting
1:39:05
Speaker 1: to Sherman on the morning of the seventh, Korps sent
1:39:11
Speaker 1: me down to Kinnesau to take his report to Sherman
1:39:15
Speaker 1: and supplement the gaps in the information which his wound
1:39:19
Speaker 1: forbade elaborating. As I reached the summit of the mountain,
1:39:24
Speaker 1: conscious of bearing welcome and important tidings of great joy,
1:39:28
Speaker 1: and considering what special form Sherman's delight might take, I
1:39:33
Speaker 1: found him surrounded by a group of generals and staff
1:39:37
Speaker 1: scanning with binoculars. The long clouds of dust that rising
1:39:41
Speaker 1: above the forest to the westward betokened a great movement
1:39:46
Speaker 1: of troops. It was Hood en route northward. As Sherman
1:39:52
Speaker 1: turned and saw me, his greeting was hello, how's Course?
1:39:57
Speaker 1: I answered that he was doing very well, And Sherman
1:40:01
Speaker 1: glanced over the report which I handed him and inquired,
1:40:05
Speaker 1: pretty hot, wasn't it, And without waiting for an answer,
1:40:09
Speaker 1: said I knew it was all right when Course got there.
1:40:13
Speaker 1: I'll write him presently. As I stood anxiously waiting an
1:40:17
Speaker 1: invitation to unbosom myself of the accumulated information that it
1:40:22
Speaker 1: wearied me to carry, he turned back to take another
1:40:26
Speaker 1: look at Hood, and someone asked, General, what do you
1:40:30
Speaker 1: think Hood is going to do? Sherman replied, with an
1:40:33
Speaker 1: outburst of irritation, How the devil? Can I tell? If
1:40:38
Speaker 1: it were Joe Johnston? Now, Johnston was a sensible man
1:40:42
Speaker 1: and did sensible things. Hood is a damned fool and
1:40:46
Speaker 1: is liable to do anything. This view of his antagonist
1:40:51
Speaker 1: is it will be observed paraphrased in his letter to Course,
1:40:55
Speaker 1: written immediately after into Hood is extent trick, but His
1:41:01
Speaker 1: offhand response was substantially as I have given it. My
1:41:06
Speaker 1: interview was over, nor since that time until this evening
1:41:11
Speaker 1: have I had a chance to unload conclusion. This practically
1:41:19
Speaker 1: closes the sketch of Alatuna. I can only hope that
1:41:23
Speaker 1: it will avail to furnish some material for a proper
1:41:27
Speaker 1: history of that memorable affair. Sherman published his congratulatory Special
1:41:34
Speaker 1: Field Orders Number eighty six, dated October seventh, proclaiming the
1:41:40
Speaker 1: vital military principle that fortified points must always be defended
1:41:46
Speaker 1: to the last, regardless of numbers, declaring the effusion of
1:41:51
Speaker 1: blood at Alatuna not useless, as the position was and
1:41:56
Speaker 1: is very important to present and future operations, and thanking
1:42:02
Speaker 1: course and Tourtelot and their men for their determined and
1:42:07
Speaker 1: gallant defense. Just how important to his future operations was
1:42:12
Speaker 1: the successful defense of Alatuna may be judged from what followed.
1:42:19
Speaker 1: October ninth, Sherman telegraphed to Grant with renewed urgency that
1:42:25
Speaker 1: the march to Savannah must be made, and stated, to
1:42:29
Speaker 1: show his preparation, we have on hand over eight thousand
1:42:34
Speaker 1: head of cattle and three million rations of bread. In
1:42:39
Speaker 1: other words, the Alatuna stores two million, seven hundred thousand
1:42:45
Speaker 1: rations were practically all he had. Sherman impatiently chased Hood northward,
1:42:54
Speaker 1: seeking to corner and devour him, but Hood, living off
1:42:59
Speaker 1: the country and traveling light, could go two miles to
1:43:03
Speaker 1: Sherman's one, and there was no catching him. Weary of
1:43:08
Speaker 1: the harassing and fruitless hunt, Sherman insisted that his march
1:43:13
Speaker 1: to Savannah be not delayed, and on October nineteenth, to
1:43:17
Speaker 1: be in readiness for it, telegraphed his chief commissary at
1:43:22
Speaker 1: Atlanta have on hand thirty days food, say one million,
1:43:28
Speaker 1: eight hundred thousand rations, two thirds of the Allatoona stores,
1:43:34
Speaker 1: which were supplies for sixty thousand men for forty five days.
1:43:40
Speaker 1: November second grant, for the first time authorized the march.
1:43:46
Speaker 1: Sherman abandoned Hood to his own devices, and the unhappy
1:43:50
Speaker 1: rebel leader pressing northward, was heavily thrown in his encounter
1:43:56
Speaker 1: with Schofield at Franklin, and finally dashed himself to pieces
1:44:01
Speaker 1: against the rock of Chickamauga. The noble George H. Thomas,
1:44:07
Speaker 1: lying vigilant within the defenses of Nashville, and like an
1:44:11
Speaker 1: old lion, silently licking his chops as he watched his
1:44:16
Speaker 1: prey draw. Nigh November twelfth, Sherman, having stripped his railroad,
1:44:23
Speaker 1: cut the telegraph wires that no message of delay might
1:44:26
Speaker 1: reach him, loaded his teams, marched his sixty thousand men
1:44:32
Speaker 1: for Savannah, and although he lived off the country, got
1:44:37
Speaker 1: there with empty wagons, with hood and forest in his
1:44:42
Speaker 1: rear and on his railroad, how was he to accumulate
1:44:45
Speaker 1: a fresh store provision? And what would have become of
1:44:49
Speaker 1: the march to the sea if Allatoona had been lost?
1:44:56
Speaker 1: End of the Losses Reporting to Sherman and can conclusion.
1:45:02
Speaker 1: End of the Battle of Allatoona, October fifth, eighteen sixty four,