Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 April 1883 — Page 2

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CATTLE OF CIIICKAMAUGA, IVhero Old Pap Thomas Stood Like a Rock of Defense. Au Engagement that Tried Mon’s Courage and Endurance ami Did a River Incarnadine. story of One of the Most Dramatic Days of the War. The Groat Contest of Sept. 20— Sheridan and Cheatham's Second Meeting—The Fight as Described by Gen. Lougstiect. Col. Frank A. Barr. The field of Chickamauga is indeed a singular selection for a battle-ground. Standing to-day on the left at the Snodgrass house, where Thomas had his headquarters. I could have seen a good many of the important points in it but for the heavy timber. You have to ride the whole line to get any impressions of it. I therefore began at the left and rode to the right, in company with and directed by General Longstreet and Captain E. P. Howell, who commanded a battery in the fight. Nearly the whole field is heavily timbered with oak and pine, and the undergrowth is so thick ae to make it difficult to get through on horseback. The ground is broken, especially toward Missionary Ridge, Into numerous hills and valleys, all heavily timbered. On such a field no human eye could follow the line of battle any distance, and such a thing as preserving a regimental formation could not have been attempted with success. Why it was ever selected by a General who was picking his place to fight a decisive engagement is still a mystery. Bragg’s line of battle and all his troops were on the west bank of the Chickamauga on the 29th, looking toward Chattanooga. It was a very dangerous position if he had met with a reverse, for the stream was just behind him. The river here winds a zigzag course toward the north and east, but fortunately it played little or no part in the great tragedy that bears lis name. When General Bragg’s troops were in line of battle they were disposed as follows: Right wing. General Polk commanding; Cheatham’s division of Polk's corps, Cleburne's. Breckenridge’s, Walker's and Liddell’s divisions of Hill’s corps. Left wing. Lieutenant-general Longstreet commanding; McLaw's, Hood's, Hindman’s divisions of his own corps, and Stewart’s. Preston’s and Johnson’s divisions of Buckner’s corps. Rosecrans’ dispositions were doubtless the be9t that could have been made. Thomas was ordered to hold the left at all hazards, and Itosecrans sent him word that he would send all of McCook’s and Crittenden’s corps to him if he needed them to hold his no&ition. It was the pivot that secured „ the main road to Chattanooga, and, therefore, the vital point of the field. To study this battle, then, so ns to get fair light upon it, one must begin and end with the position that Thomas, the cool, quiet, unpretending, yet great soldier, occupied when he sat down at the Snodgrass House and stubbornly held on to that hill, even after nearly the rest of the army had been driven from the field. "In the Furnace of Fight.” Day broke on the 20th to find the hostile forces astir. The commanders of both armies were at the front before the gray dawn of the morning had given way to the brighter light reflected by the rising sun. Rosecrans rode his lines to find serious fault with the way McCook, Wood and some others had made theirdispositions. lie gave directions for such changes to be made as he deemed best, but there was delay in executing his orders. From early morning until full meridian the Federal leader seems to have been kept busy with trying to correct the misunderstandings of the subordinates, or remedy their cross-purposes. Bragg was hardly less fortunate than Rosecrans. He had ordered Polk to attack at daylight, and he was himself ready at that hour to watch the shifting scenes of the fight. But dull dawn grew into the flush of day, and yet there was no sign of an assault. Bragg fretted and fumed and sent stafT officers again and again to know why the attack had not been made. It was not easy to find Polk. It was said that he slept beyond bis lines and could not readily be reached. Whether this be true or not, the general who was to begin the attack at dawn did not get ready to drop his first shots into the Federal line until some time after 9 o’clock in the morning. What a strange miscarriage of plans, and how clearly does a study of them bear evidence to the truth of the saying that war is a series of experiments; that battles are won oftener by an accident than by strategy or the fulfillment of matured plans. Bragg’s plan of battle depended for success on his breaking the Federal line on the left, and he seems to have made no provision for another movement if this failed. He directed Polk to make a determined attack on Thomas, and as he turned his position to wheel to the left. Each division in turn was to take up the fighting as it followed down toward the right of the line, and us each succeeded In driving the Federals it was to wheel to the left until the Union forces were swept from the field. Longstreet’s left ufc Lee and Gordon’s Mills was to bo tbo pivot upon which this peculiar swinging movement was to be made. When Polk was finally found and Ills breakfast digested he began his assault, in accordance with Brpgg’s plans, He first sent Breckinridge’s division against Thomas’s position, but he was forced to retire. lie then sent another, and still another, and for two hours kept pushing brigades and divisions of the best soldiers in the Confederate army against Thomas's corps, now reinforced by some of the strongest commands in the Army of the Cumberland. Yet tiie left was sorely pushed at times, and doubtless might have been broken had Polk kept his force well in band and sent it to the assault with determination. But he made a sort of desultory fight. To use Captain Howell’s homely, but forcible, simile: “Ha fought like a balky horse pulls at a load.” lie pushed fragments of his command in and then withdrew them, instead of massing his force and throwing it upon the flank he was expected to turn. He had some of the finest soldiers in the army with which to have made such iih opset—Breckinridge’s, Cleburne’s, Cheatham's, Walker’s and Liddell’s divisions, that Lad proved their fighting qualities on many field, Both Rosecrans and Bragg had all the merning been fretting over the miscarriage of their 1 plans, and been laboring to inspire their subordinate commanders with their spirit and purposes, Bragg got over his difficulties, however, sooner than Rosecrans. for the Federal commander was disturbed whout his line for two hours after Polk had engaged Thomas. The right and center of llosecrana’ line seems to have become more ■nixed up the more he tried to remedy it. Wood, who was a good soldier and a stubborn

fighter, appears to have been most to blame for the disturance, although McCook, Negley i and some others appear to have been accused, justly or unjustly, of a luck of promptness, j or a misconception of the necessities of the ! situation. Polk was still hammering away at Thomas with such leaders as Cleburne, Cheatham, Breckinridge, Walker and Liddell, when Longstreet asked Bragg if he had not better attack, as Polk seemed to be making no headway. Bragg said yes, and be began massing his*troops for a desperate effort to sever the Federal lines in his front. Polk’s delay in making the attack had given this commander an opportunity to ride his lines, to take a careful survey of the field, and make his dispositions with great care. He had his force in hand for hard work, and when it came his turn to attack he moved his troops forward to the assault with a thorough understanding of the desperate duty before him. It was unfortunate for the Federals that Wood had withdrawn his troops from the line, leaving a breach in it just as Longstreet sent his fresh and determined soldiers forward under Hood, with orders to push their antagonists off the field at any cost. They went with a rush, and struck the Union troops where Wood had weakened the line and Davis was trying to patch it up with his reserve brigade. To attempt to describe this charge of Longstreet’s audits effect upon the Federal line would be like picturing a whirlwind striking a forest and cutting a winrow through sturdy trees. As will appear from General Longstreet’s narrative, which is to follow, there were several reasons that combined to make it one of the most remarkable assaults of the war. It was the first time in our history as a nation that troops in such formation had been sent against an enemy. Hancock afterward tried it with success against a fortified position in the angle at Spottsylvanla after Longstieet demonstrated at Chickamauga how impossible it was for troops in the field to withstand the fur}' of such an onset. Wood’s action in withdrawing his force from the line was no doubt indefensible, and other commanders may have been to blame for defects in their line, but the plain facts seem to be that Rosecrans had massed much of his force on the left under Thomas, and the right and center were forced to yield to the fury of such a rush as Longstreet made against it. Hood, leading live brigades of Longstreet’s wing, in column by brigades at Half distance, to use a military phrase, crushed through the Federal line shortly after noon, and beat McCoc’ - and Crittenden before they had a chance to recover. He followed up his advantage with great spirit, cutting the army in two, capturing many pieces of artillery, stands of colors and prisoners. Rosecrans. who was caught in the wreck that liowed off the battle-field, as the Confederates mad with the Hush of success pushed on after the demoralized battalions, was nearly made prisoner. He thought he could stay the tide of defeat as he did at Murfreesboro by his personal daring, but tbis was a different field and here a greater peril. The more he tried to bring order out of chaos and to rally his retreating soldiers, as the enemy were pushing toward him, the creuter the confusion. It finally carried him off the field just in time to save him from capture. He thought of making his way to Thomas, but he was so firmly caught in the debris of the battle that he found his only chance was to move with his staff to the rear, toward Rossville, from which point he sent Garfield hack to urge Thomas to hold on to the left if possible. The Broken Battle Line. The disaster to McCook’s and Crittenden’s corps of Rosecrans’s army was, no doubt, greatly exaggerated by the fevered imagination of the rank and file of the shattered commands. It seems to have been serious enough, however, to be called a demoralizing defeat. Among all the splendid officers that commanded in the two corps that were broken notone could be found who could reform his lines. Sheridan did get his troops back to Rossville in something like order, and Wilder seems to have kept his mounted infantry in good condition, for he secured the commendation of Thomas and the muchcoveted star for his work upon this field. His official report furnishes a striking piece of evidence as to the general demoralization when Longstreet cut the army in two. It reads: “Lieutenant-Colonel Thurston, chief of McCook’s staff, soon appeared, and notified me that the line to my left was driven back and dispersed, and advised that t ’l had better fall back to Lookout Mountain. I determined, however, to cut niv way through and loin General Thomas, and was arranging my line for that purpose when Charles A. Dana, Assistant .Secretary of War, came up, and said that our troops had fled iu utter panic; that it was a worse route than Bull Run; that General Rosecrans was probably killed or captured, and strongly advised me to fall back and occupy the passes over Lookout Mountain to prevent the rebel occupancy of them.” Mr. Dana had come West representing the War Department to observe military operations on the field. Wilder’s report would seem to indicate that his experiences here were not pleasant, while Mr, Dana furnishes the best of testimony that Rosecrans was pretty badly whipped here. The Union loss was great, The gallant and gifted General Lytle, who wrote “I am Dying, Egypt, Dying,” lost his life during the heat of tbis portion of the fight. “No, I cannot give you a description of the field as my troops drove McCook and Crittenden before them,” said General Longstreet to-day, as lie reined up his horse right on the ground where his command broke the Federal line that day. “Those two corps were simply a wreck. Rosecrans’s whole army was saved from destruction by Bragg’s failure to follow’ up his advantages. The fighting had been serious all the morning, but without results. This break was the turning point of the battle, and it gave us a substantial victory that Bragg threw away by allowing Rosecrans to escape and reorganize bis army.” Rosecrans and Longstreet had been classmates and friends at West Point. Longstreet bad earnestly urged General Lee to make the campaign against his former friend that resulted in this battle. The irony of fate was fully exemplified in the fact that it remained for iiim to first break the Federal line and to sweep Rosecrans’s right and center from the field; When Bragg planned his battle here upon the same gauge as he did Murfreesboro he had made no provisions for the changes that the tide of the conflict might make in it. Therefore, Longstreet, when he had broken the lines and swept the greater portion of Crittenden’s and McCook’s troops through the Gap in Missionary Ridge, reversed Bragg’s order of battle and swung to the right instead of the left, with the intention of enveloping Thomas and making the defeat of the army complete. “My first thought after facing toward Thomas,” said Longstreet to-day, when speaking of this important phase of the battle, “was to cease the fighting in his front, leave a force strong enough to engage his attention. move around to his rear, cut him off from Chattanooga, and he would he at our mercy. I spoke of this plan to Bragg. He replied: ‘No, you must engage him here. I haven’t a man except yours that has any fight in him.’ With this libel upon such fine soldiers as Cleburne, Breckinridge, Cheatham, Walker, and several other generals of Polk's wing commanding in this fight, he left me. IDs first move seems to me to have been to countermand my order to Wheeler to hotly pursue Crittenden and McCook w’itii his cavalry. He directed him to turn his attention to collecting the small arms left on the field and driving in the stragglers. When I spoke to him about

TIIE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, MONDAY, APRIL 2, 1883.

sending the cavalry after the enemy he said he thought their best work was cleaning up the field.” The final move against Thomas was an important one. He had held his position and withstood the repeated and determined efforts of the Confederates to dislodge or annihilate him during that entire day. Time and again, when he was sorely pressed, he sent for reinforcements but they did not reach him, and for a long time after Longstreet had broken through the center be was in utter ignorance of the fate of the rest of the army. A staff officer from one of the * demoralized corps joined him after a hazardous ride. and first told him of the disaster. Still he held his ground, and fought in the desperate hope that some order might possibly be brought out of the chaos and he get reinforcements. By one of those strange accidents that ever seem inseparable from war, his ammunition train had been sent to the rear, and when fresh efforts were required of his men he found they were getting short of ammunition, and he had none to give them. General Gordon Granger, who was at Rossvillc witli three brigades in reserve for an emergency, heard the terrible roar of battle getting nearer and nearer as the afternoon wore on. He was ordered to remain where he was until sent for, but feeling there was trouble in front, he sent Steedman forward wish all possible speed toward Thomas’s position with two brigades, keening one at Rossville. A fresh attack had been begun upon Thomas before Granger’s troops reached the field. On a Historic Spot. General Longstreet sat to-day under the great oak tree in the door-yard of the Snodgrass house, listening to the story the proprietor told of Thomas’s movements during the closing hours of that day’s fight. “General Thomas came here late on Saturday night,” said the old gentleman. “He had his headquarters right under these trees all of Sunday. He didn’t seem much disturbed during the most of the day’s fighting, but when the attack was made on him toward night he seemed considerably worried. He would walk up and down the yard right in front of these trees, looking anxiously in all directions. When Granger’s troops came around the bit of woods yonder to the left of us he brought his glass to bear upon them, and then walked up and down more rapidly than ever, as if unable to make up his mind whether they were friend or foe. He said something in a low tone to a staff officer, who rode iu the direction of the approaching troops as fast as possible. He then kept walking up and down quite nervously until word was brought to him that they were reinforcements from Granger. This was the only time during the day that he evinced the least excitenieht. I remained here, aud so did ali my family, during all of the fight, and I reckon we were safer here than as though we had run away.” Granger’s two brigades reached Thomas at an opportune time. Longstreet had begun to move forward to drive him from his position. The head of the Confederate line, Benning's brigade, was moving through a low defile between the hills when Granger’s troops came up. Steedman, seing the peril to Thomas’s force if this brigade got in, snatched thecolors of a regiment and led his brigade in a furious rush upon the Confederate advance. For a time there was a hand-to-hand conflict, and the result hung in the balance. At last the Confederate line began to waver, and finally it broke. This movement was valuable to Thomas, because it brought him nearer to nightfall, for which he was fervently wishing. As Steedman himself expressed it: “I was fighting for time, but I thought the sun would never go down; it seemed to me as though it was hung up in the trees.” Looking off from the hill to-day to where this combat took place, General Longstreet said: “Steedman had a short fighc with our advance, but his success was not important, except that it caused a delay in the Confederate movements. We had plenty of troops to fut in as soon as Steedman drove them back. ndeed, we were forming our whole line for a final attack while this combat was going •on. As soon as we could get iu readiness to advance we moved forward, and drove Thomas’s force from its position behind the rail defenses with comparative ease. We had reached the summit of the hill, almost in sight of this point where Thomas’s headquarters were, when the gloaming thickened into the darkness, and the Federal force melted away like a phantom. “Just at this moment my men sent up a shout of victory, and it was taken up along the whole line and continued until the woods shook with the cheers of the men. Cheatham, Cleburne and their commands, down on the Lafayette road, kept up the cheering with one* long-continued shout. Forrest, who saw the Federals going to the rear, went to Bragg and begged for permission to follow’ the retreating army, and I sent him word that our victory was now complete, and the fruits of it should be rapidly gathered. He did not seem to catch the spirit of the occasion, and as Thomas’s lines faded away in the darkness toward Rossville Bragg sat down to wonder what he had better do next. “As devoutly as Thomas had wished for the sun to go down, I asked that Sunday r.ight for one single hour more of daylight. We would have swept Thomas from the field, and what was simply a victory for us would have been the destruction of the Federal army. “Thomas was beaten, badly beaten, before the darkness came and gave him a chance to slip away, and his hanging-on after the rest of the army had been driven off i3 a lasting tribute to his qualities as a soldier. It was a noble action, and his success will live in history, as it should, as a grand accident of war.” This is the plain story of Chickamauga, as I have been able to gather it right on the field with superior authority at hand to advise me. It would be easier to w’rite a book about it than a few columns for a newspaper. It w’as one of those great battles that remind one of those conflicts in which the greatest captains the world ever knew led mighty armies to battle. The faithful narrative of the war for the Union will not present the record of a single engagement that exceeded this in magnitude, or in the demands it made upon the courage and endurance of the officers and soldiers of both armies. I recall no single battle of the war where the losses were greater. Rosecrans lost from his 55,000 men 10,386 in killed, wounded and missing. Bragg, in his official report, made the astounding confession that he lost two-fifths of his 70.000 men. His estimated losses are-20,950; nearly 40,000 men from the two armies. General Longntreet’s Narrative. While riding over the field I learned a great deal about the battle from General Longstreet that cannot be found in the books or in the military records. It is the most interesting, as well as the most important, matter I gathered. This story of Chickamauga would be incomplete without it. Beginning with the causes and plans that brought him to this field, General Longstreet said: “During the latter part of the summer and early fall of 18G3 General Lee and I often talked over different plans for an aggressive fall campaign. I urged upon him tiie reinforcement of Bragg, and the superior chance of winning a decisive victory in the West. He did not approve of it, but decided to make another advance into Maryland and Pennsylvania. I was so much impressed with the iSea of making an effort that fall to transfer the battle-ground from the East to the West that I wrote a letter to Mr. Seddens, Secretary of War, giving my views in relation to such a movement. Shortly after this General Lee went to Richmond, and a few days after I re-

ceived a note from him directing me to get my corps in readiness for another advance north, and also to have Hill and Ewell’s corps prepared for the march. I replied to him that my command was ready, and that I had given the necessary instructions to Hill and Ewell to get their troops and transportation ready. In this letter I renewed the arguments that I had made to him personally against making another campaign into Pennsylvania that year. I urged that if he were stron g enough to move north again, he was strong enough, at least, to act on the defensive where he was. and spare the reinforcements necessary to win a sweeping victory over Rosecrans. I presented to him the certainty of his having to withdraw from Pennsylvania, on account of the lateness of the season at which he would find himself on Northern soil, even if the enemy did not drive him back. I also directed his attention to the fact that Rosecrans was pushing toward Georgia, and if he should succeed in inarching through that Suite the Confederacy would be virtually dead. A few days later I received a note in reply to mine, requesting me to get two divisions of my corps in readiness to move west. General Lee soon returned from Richmond to his headquarters, and we had a long, earnest talk over the effort to be made to force and win a great battle in the west; or, I might say, to transfer the battleground of that year from Virginia to Tennessee, and even to the Ohio, if we were as successful as I hoped we would be. I expressed to him great concern lest Bragg should fail to follow up with energy any success we might gain. He replied that both President Davis and himself had anticipated this suggestion, and that orders had gone to Bragg that should he win a victory he must follow it up with great vigor. I was at General Lee’s headquarters or he at mine every day during the short time it took to get Hood’s and McLaw’s divisions of my corps, about 12,000 men, in readiness to move west by rail. After he had decided to send reinforcements he was much interested in the movement, and we talked about it more or iess every day. Time and time again he would say: “General, we must have a great victory over there. The success of our cause depends upon it We need only inflict one great disaster upon the Federal army to recover everything that has been lost.’ “The morning my troops were loaded on the cars, and I was about to start, I rode over to General Lee’s headquarters to bid him good-by. We had a hurried but earnest talk, shook hands, and parted. As I walked out of his headquarters he followed me. When I put my foot in the stirrup to mount ray Lorse lie put one hand upon the animal’s mane and the other on ray shoulder, and, looking at me square in the face, said, with great earnestness: “ ‘General, you must beat these people out there.' “I withdrew my foot from the stirrup, and, turning toward him, said: “ ‘General Lee, Rosecrans shall be beaten if I live, but I would not sacrifice life. I would not part with a single man of my command to simply gain a victory. It is worthless to us unless it be followed up with such energy as to crush tiie Federal force we attack. I hope you will instruct General Bragg to let nothing prevent his pushing Rosecrans to the wail after he has beaten him upon the field.’ “ ‘Such orders have already gone to him,’ was General Lee’s response, ‘and I assure you they shall be repeated.’ “I then turned, mounted my horse, when he shook me warmly by the hand and we parted. Ido not think I ever saw him look more in earnest in his life than he did on that morning. It was a long ride to Chattanooga, and Bragg’s position was changed before I reached him; but I finally arrived at Ringgold, on my way to Chickamauga, on the 19th of Septembor. Three brigades of my command had reached the battle-field that day. The horses that belonged to my staff officers were got off the cars as soon as possible, and, without my staff', I pushed rapidly forward for Bragg’s headquarters. My troops were unloaded as fast as they could be got off the cars, and followed me. I crossed at Alexander’s Bridge, and reached Bragg about 11 o’clock at night. I met General Polk along the road. He had already received his instructions for the coming battle, and was on his way to his headquarters to rest. When I arrived at the headquarters of the army, General Bragg went over with me his plan of battle. Ho had divided his army into two wings. Polk was to command the right and I the left. Ilis first point of attack was for Polk to strike Thomas, break his line and then wheel to the left. Each division was to do the same as the fighting came to them, the whole army having for a pivot the left of my line at Lee & Gordon’s Mills on the river. Polk was to attack at daylight, lie said, and I was ifet to take up the fighting until he had broken the line, and each division to my right had beaten the enemy in its front, and swung to the left, in accordance with liis plans. I left his headquarters shortly after midnight, and rode out to where I expected my lines would be formed, and laid down for a tew moments’ rest. 1 was on my horse at daylight, putting my troops in position and carefully inspecting my line. Polk did not attack at the hour Bragg said he would. The gray of the morning gave way to broad daylight, the sun even arose, and yet there were no signs of battle. I suppose it was between 9 and 10 o’clock before Polk’s artillery announced that he had begun the assault. I believe I waited nearly two hours for the fighting to approach my line, but, finding that Polk was not likely to break Thomas, I sent a staff officer to Bragg with the suggestion that I had better see if I could not force the line, as Polk did not seem to bo able to turn the left, as he had expected. Bragg replied that I could make the attack. Breaking; the Lines. “I moved my troops into position for the assault with great care. I massed five brigades ill column by brigades at half distance, and sent them forward under the leadership of Hood. In other words, Hood led my whole force, with the exception of Buckner’s reserves, against the Federal position. I felt great interest in our winning the battle of Chickamauga. I had promised General Lee that I would do my share toward gaining a victory here, and I never remember to have taken greater chances in a battle than in directing this charge against Rosecrans. He and I had graduated in the same class at West Point, and were friends in our boyhood and early army life. He was a good soldier and a good man. I have read in his report, as well as in the stories of this battle that have been written from time to time, that my success in breaking his line and in driving McCook and Crittenden from the field is attributed to Wood’s action in withdrawing his two brigades from the Federal line about the time I started Hood to forward to the assault. The success of my attack upon Rosecrans did not by any means depend upon Wood’s mistake. The number of men and the peculiar formation of the force that I sent against the Federal line in this battle could and would have carried any position except a strongly fortified one. The action of his subordinates and the movement of Wood in and out of the line may have made the victory easier, but Rosecran’s line could never have withstood the force of the assault I sent against it that day, no matter how well his plans had been observed or his ordersobeved. No line of battle outside of fortifications ever yet successfully resisted the charge of troops in such numbers and formation. Our assaulting column was five brigades deep, each within easy supporting distance. Hood led them with great spirit and gallantry. If one brigade faltered another was there to take its place. I have been a soldier ali niy life; served in the Mexican as well as in the late war, and I never

yet saw a body of soldiers not protected by fortifications that could stand the onset of troops in formation such as Hood led against Rosecrans’ lines that September Sunday.” General Longstreet was riding up the Lafayette road, discussing the various phases of this battle as he rode along. lie was going toward the Snodgrass house, where Thomas had his headquarters during the battle of Sunday, when he reined up his horse near a clump of trees by the road, and, pointing a little distance off to an open space, said: “There is where Hood lost his leg. The battle was almost over then, and he had passed through the thickest of the fight unhurt. While we were making the final movements against Thomas he was shot. Generals Ilelm and Deshler were also killed late in the afternoon. The loss was heavy all day. There had been hard and continuous fighting ever since Polk began the attack. I might almost say desperate fighting nearly all day. It is impossible for me to recall a field in the history of wars that deserves a higher place in the records of armed conflicts than Chickamauga. It was a great, a phenomenal battle, fought upon a field where the disadvantage of sight, of locomotion and opportunity for maneuver was greater than upon any battle-field I ever saw or read of.” We rode on a short distance further, when the General reined up his horse again, and a smile played over his usually ‘immovable countenance. “There was an amusing incident occurred right here during this battle that you will enjoy,” said he, turning to Captain’ Howell. “You remember Henry L. Benning, who used to be a judge on the Supreme Bench of Georgia. lie was one of my brigade commanders, having a splendid brigade of Georgia troops. Steedman struck him with his two brigades of fresh soldiers while we were making a final movement against Thomas. He was a good soldier, but got very roughly used. I was sitting right here on my horse, when he came back in a sadly demoralized condition. He was riding an old artillery horse and urging it along with a pice of rope which he used as a whip. His liat was gone. He was greatly excited and the very picture of despair. He was looking for me, and as he saw me he rode up and said: ‘“General, General Hood is killed, my horse has been shot under me, and my brigade is gone. I have lost every man.’ “ ‘General, don’t you think you could find a single man?’ I replied. “ ‘Yes, I suppose I might find one,’ he said. “ ‘General Benning, this is Georgia soil; your home and mine. There is no better place for you and I to make a stand than on the soil of our own State. You go and find one man and come back here to me, and let us make a final stand together right here.’ My words and manner had completely restored his self-possession, and he rode away as fast as he could on the old artillery horse he had taken in the place of finer animal that had been killed. In less than half an hour he rode back with his brigade reformed, ready for another charge.” The Final Assauit. “When did you begin to make the final move on Thomas?” “After McCook and Crittenden had been driven from the field, and their troops had been pushed through the gap at Missionary Ridge, I reversed Bragg’s order of battle and wheeled to the right to envelop Thomas. The movements that followed my change of Bragg’s line of battle I gave you further down the road.” I wish time and space would permit mo to record all the details General Longstreet gave of the battle here as we rode over the field. Not far from the place where he told the story about General Benning we came upon the Dyer House and stopped for dinner. This house was, late on Sunday, at times in the focus of the battle, and not far from it Longstreet formed his troops for the final attack upon Thomas. The few fields and the woods not far from the house still bear the scars of the fight. Here and there little stones have been erected to show' where some officer or soldier tell during this conflict. At the edge of a pine thicket on the brow' of a hiH not a half mile from the front of the house, a rude headstone stands, upon which is recorded the fact that sixty-four Kentuckians are buried there. There are other evidences of the battle all round. Trees that have been cut off by artillery shots or marred by musket balls* The Widow Glenn’s house, then Rosecrans’s headquarters, no longer stands, but there have been few other changes since those days. It is not far from Dyer’s to the Snodgrass house, where, before dinner, w r e rode to inspect that and other portions of the battlefield. We easily found the little log house upon the hill, with shade trees in front, under which Thomas had his headquarters during Sunday’s fight. General Longstreet took a seat on the little shelf made by the roots of a great oak tree, the largest one in the yard. “I reckon Thomas sat on that very seat, General, the day you all were after him,” said old Mr. Snodgrass as General Longstreet seated himself at the foot of the tree. “Not many men would have held on here as Thomas did. There have been few, if any, more dramatic incidents in the war than the stubborn stand of Thomas upon this hill. He was very badly whipped, and knew it, yet he took his chances of getting reinforcements, or of holding on until the friendly darkness would give him a chance to escape. It was quite late, after Bragg refused to allow me to flank his pasition, before our line was ready for the final assault upon him. Steedman’s fight with Benning delayed us somewhat, and it was nearly dark before we reached the vital point of Thomas’s position. Night came on just as wc did, and the darkness gave him the opportunity to slip away to Rossville, and Bragg did not have the spirit to follow him. Thomas’s stand at Chickamauga was one of those grand incidents of war like leading a forlorn hope. An accident made it successful, put a man had to have great nerve to take the chances.” “Why (lid Bragg bring on the battle of the 19th with only 55,000 men, when he knew that you were on your way to reinforce him and he would have 70,000 the next da}'?” “I do not know, and I have no opinion to express. That inquiry might be material if we had not won a complete victory on the 20th. As wo were successful, the important question is, why Bragg did not obey General Lee’s instructions, follow up and get the fruits of the victory?” “When I urged him to do so he said it was dark and dangerous, as the Federals had probably only withdrawn to anew position. I visited him the morning of the 21st about daylight, and found him still in doubt as to his future movements. He had lost much by resting over night, but might still have followed up his advantage with success. He asked me what I thought he had better do. I advised him. as he was doubtful as to the policy of following up Rosecrans, that he had better march toward Nashville, threaten or destroy his line of communications and leave the defeated army to follow him or take care of itself. He agreed that this would be a good move, and ordered his troops to march toward the capital of Tennessee. The most of his command had crossed the Chickamauga river and was pushing toward Nashville, when Bragg sent to rue and said that he thought that it would have a good effect upon the Southern people if it were known that his army was inarching through Chattanooga with bauds playing and banners flying in honor of the victory of Chickamauga; he, therefore, thought that he would turn back and march upon that place. I replied that I thought it would have a much better effect upon the Southern people if they knew' that he was following up his victory by a flank movement on Rosecrans, now he had lost liis opportunity to crush him while his army

was demoralized. A short time after Bragg issued orders turning his army tow Chattanooga, and it was not long before s. was occupying Missionary Ridge, and giving the Federal commander an opportunity tc combine all the forces he needed to attack at a dozen different points at the same time, if he desired, and defeat us in detail. “It is due to the living and the dead- that*) should say that General Lee was very grea fl disappointed that the result on this field thrown away. He had agreed with me after Gettysburg there was little hope fc - Confederate cause, unless we could win cisive and overwhelming victory at point. He had finally but reluctantly Mdoned his plan to move back into Per JR i vania that fall in order to fight a great in the West and try to gain the subst; success he felt we so much needed. W ] ■ the victory here, but reaped none -J m fruits. The last chance for the Confef W., was gone when Bragg returned to Mission f Ridge. Nothing but a miracle could b /.* saved it after that; yet I gladly ]| chance for a miracle, and was anxiv I , f my duty as long as there was a ma fight, as I had tried to do it a; | mauga.” SLEEPING CARS. The Illinois Supreme Court Says ,03.' panics are Common Carrie. . pra ChiCAGO, March 31.—The m. of Illinois, full bench assenting, \ filed an opinion declaring in substi J3i j the Pullman Palace-car Company W j corporations are common carriers, [ them on the same category as railr int( ~ panies. This is contrary to given by the same tribunal some j and affirms the principle the pres#<-~ 1 Legislature has endeavored to emu statute. The suit was brought 1 Nevin against the car company for to permit him to occupy the sleepi assigned him, which he offered to The lower courts decided that the had no power to enforce accomi from the car company, and it was on its part to furnish the same. 1 % asserts that the running of J*--come a business social necessity, ant, } view the law can impose obligations 1 company, the same as on railways, \ lf and inn-keepers. In the language. J opinion: “When, therefore, a passe: • under the rules of the company is ei a berth, usual fare, and to whom no ar, objection attaches, enters the cc. gw sleeping-car at the proper time for t . pose of procuring accommodations, :B an orderly and respectful manner ap*.nd m a berth, offering or tendering the cui< o w \ price therefor, the company is I nish it; provided it has a vacant of 1 disposal. For a breach of any of t €an i | plied duties, the court holds the ’gul J clearly liable.” 1 THE WHEAT CROP. Reports as to Its Condition in the West'. and Northwest. Chicago, March 31.— Specials this morning from the principal points of the entire win- • ter-wheat growing section are not encouragingfor an abundant harvest. It is claimed the severe continuous cold weather lias been fatal to wheat not favored with considerable snow. In large areas where the snow has been light it has been'winter killed. In few, localities which might have escaped the win-} ter, wheat is injured by the fly. In ObioC the outlook is declared discouraging. Good* judges estimate the crop at 70 per cent* v tr last year; others think it not over 50 peit cent. In Illinois the prospect varies according to the locality inspected; it is generally damaged by frost; in some sections the injury is slight. The loss is variously estimated from 10 to 50 per cent. In Wisconsin considerable of the crop is winter killed.# Favorable weather is necessary to insure tht remainder. Missouri, Kansas and lowa make more favorable returns, especially Missouri. Reports are now very encouraging from the Pacific coast. The fairest estimate in the total wheat belt is 70 per cent, of the average crop. A Priestly Villain Sent to State Prison. Buffalo, N. Y., March 31. —The jury in the case of Thomas Waldron, better known as "Brother Frank,” president of the St. Joseph’s College, on trial the past week on the charge of raping a little girl six and a half years, after a deliberation of twenty-four hours, rendered a verdict of guilty in the second count of the attempt of rape. The prisoner’s counsel requested a suspension of the sentence until 8 o’clock, which was granted by the court. At that time the. court and corridors were crowded, and the, prisoner’s counsel made an eloquent pier in his behalf for mercy. Judge Haight, in fironouncing sentence, intimated the jury lad been pretty merciful in the case, anc that the parents of other children had informed him of similar attempts by the prisoner. He, therefore, sentenced the prisone: to the full extent of the law, five years ir. Auburn prison, except that he might have added a fine. The case has excited unusua’ interest both here and elsewhere, as “Brothel Frank” has held similar positions in othei places, including New York. A Fort Wayne Priest Made Bishop of Nash ville. New York, March 31.— The Catholic Review has advices from Rome stating that the holy see has appointed Ilev. Joseph Rodemacher, of the diocese of Fort Wayne, to the see of Nashville, vacant because of the promotion of the archbishop to Chicago. Bishop Brondel, of Vancouver’s Island, has been appointed apostolical administrator of the vicarate of Montana, now added to the. province of Oregon, although heretofore belonging to the province of St. Louis, and administered by the vicars of Idaho and Nebraska. Father Joucknn is appointed coadjutor to the Bishop of Vancouver. Manager Brondel will reside in Montana, and after reorganizing the diocese will be formally transferred to it. Heavy Failure in New York. I New York, March 3t.—The?firtn of R. A Cl Degener, in the West Coast, South American trade, has suspended. The suspension was a surprise. The house was established twelve years ago, and did a heavy business, especially in the importation of bark, rubber, nuts and hides. Liabilities reported at $500,’ 000; assets placed at $025,000. One cause of the failure is attributed to the impossibility: of shipping various products on account o the revolution in Ecuador, and on whicl. they had advanced heavily in “blank credits.’ Fatal Affray Among Politicians. New Orleans, March 31.— A Rayvilld La., special says a fatal affray occurred at a ward meeting to-day. M. A. Jones, a pron *| nent citizen and merchant, and N. L. Ccd lins, deputy sheriff, were both killed, TL j trouble arose between the parties regardin \ the selection of a candidate for clerk of tb j District Court. Collins killed Jones with pistol, and a party unknown shot Collin 4 * killing him instantly. There is considerabi | excitement A nvKRR who lives In Duluth, Went crazy one night with a tooth. He rubbed the gum boil, With Bt. Jacobs Oil, U cured hlui, and this is the truth.