The Southern States of America
The History of Georgia - Chapter III - Georgia in the Confederacy, 1865 - 1865

Secession Accomplished.

The election of a President by a purely sectional party, which had in various ways shown undisguised hostility to the South and her institutions, a party, which for the first time since the formation of the government was represented in but one section of the Union, excited in Georgia and the other South Atlantic and Gulf states a feeling of genuine alarm.

All agreed that the South was in great peril. The only point of difference was as to the remedy.

The conservative sentiment of the people of Georgia was shown in the presidential election of 1860. The most pronounced Southern rights Democrats carried the state by a plurality vote, polling for Breckinridge and Lane 51,893 votes, while the united vote for the Bell and Everett and Douglas and Johnson electors was 54,435. After the result of the election became known, the tide began to set strongly toward secession, which was stoutly advocated by Howell and Thomas R. R. Cobb, Henry R. Jackson and Francis S. Bartow, while Alexander H. Stephens, Herschel V. Johnson and Benjamin H. Hill stood just as firmly against it.

The Georgia legislature met early in November and, influenced by Gov. Joseph E. Brown, began to take measures for the defense of the state by creating the office of adjutant-general, to which position Henry C. Wayne, of Savannah, was appointed, by authorizing the acceptance of 10,000 troops by the governor, and by the purchase of 1,000 Maynard rifles and carbines for coast defense. The legislature also provided for an election on the first Wednesday in January of delegates to a convention which should determine what action the state should take in this emergency.

The secession of South Carolina on Dec. 20, 1860, added to the enthusiasm of those Georgians who favored immediate secession. Popular approval of the action of the South Carolina State Convention was manifested in the large cities and towns of Georgia by bonfires, the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon. Volunteer companies that had been organized by act of the legislature began to offer their services to the governor, and many new companies were formed even in December, 1860. The zeal of the Georgia militia had shown itself as early as Nov. 10, 1860, when a convention of military companies, presided over by John W. Anderson, heartily endorsed the recommendations of Governor Brown looking to the defense of the state against possible aggression.

Before the assembling of the State Convention, which was called for Jan. 16, 1861, the people of Georgia became alarmed because of the removal, by Major Anderson, of the Federal garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, with the plain intention of subsequently using that strong fortress as a means for accomplishing the coercion of South Carolina. Governor Brown being advised that the people of Savannah would probably seize Forts Jackson and Pulaski, decided that it was advisable to occupy them with state troops, so as to prevent their seizure by the citizens on the one hand or by a hostile force on the other hand, before the Georgia Convention could decide on the policy which the state should adopt in this emergency. Under instructions from Governor Brown, issued Jan. 2, 1861, Col. A. R. Lawton, commanding the First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia, having selected details from the Chatham Artillery under Capt. Joseph S; Claghorn, from the Savannah Guards under Capt. John Screven and from the Oglethorpe Light Infantry under Capt. Francis S. Bartow, 134 men in all, went by boat on the morning of January 3 to Cockspur Island and seized Fort Pulaski without resistance from the few men there stationed, who were allowed to continue in their quarters without restraint. These proceedings were reported to General Totten, at Washington, by Capt. Wm. H. C. Whiting, of North Carolina, afterwards a major-general in the Confederate States service.

The Georgia Convention assembled in Milledgeville Jan. 16, 1861, and was composed of 295 delegates representing every interest of the state. Among the delegates were George W. Crawford, ex-secretary of war of the United States and ex-governor of Georgia; ex-United States Senators Robert Toombs and Herschel V. Johnson, the last named being also an ex-governor of Georgia; ex-representatives of the United States Congress, Stephens, Colquitt, Poe, Bailey, Nisbet, Chastain and Murphy (the last named died on the day of the assembly of the convention) ; ex-justices of the Georgia Supreme Court Benning, Nisbet, Linton, Stephens and Warner; ex-justices of the Superior Court, among them being Hansell, Tripp, Rice, Reese, Harris and Fleming. In addition to all these able statesmen were three of Georgia's most distinguished lawyers, Benjamin H. Hill, Thomas R. R. Cobb and Francis S. Bartow. The ministry and the college were represented by Nathan M. Crawford, president of Mercer University, and Alexander Means, ex-president of Emory College.

When the convention assembled, Asbury Hull, a gentleman of unblemished character and of wellknown conservatism, nominated George W. Crawford as president and moved that he be elected by acclamation. This was done, and Albert Lamar, of Muscogee county, was then chosen secretary.

When, on the morning of the 19th, the convention met, it went into secret session on motion of Mr. Hull, and so soon as the doors were closed, Hon. Eugenius A. Nisbet, of Macon, offered the following resolutions:

"Resolved, that in the opinion of this convention it is the right and duty of Georgia to secede from the present Union and to co-operate with such of the other states as have done or shall do the same for the purpose of forming a Southern Confederacy upon the basis of the Constitution of the United States.

"Resolved, that a committee of - be appointed by the Chair to report an ordinance to assert the right and fulfil the obligation of the state of Georgia to secede from the Union."

The vote on the resolutions was taken: ayes, 166; nays, 130. The ordinance carrying the resolution into effect was then adopted, and George W. Crawford, the president, said: "Gentlemen of the convention, I, have the pleasure to announce that the state of Georgia is free, sovereign and independent."

Joined Confederacy

As soon as the result was announced to the great throng on the outside of the capitol the people applauded, the cannon thundered a salute, and that night Milledgeville was brilliantly illuminated. Similar demonstrations occurred that evening and the next in all the large towns and cities of the state. On January 28th the convention appointed commissioners to the several Southern states that had not yet seceded to present to them the ordinance of secession and the reasons which prompted its adoption. These commissioners were : to Virginia, Henry L. Benning; Maryland, Ambrose R. Wright; Kentucky, Henry R. Jackson; Tennessee, Hiram P. Bell; Missouri, Luther J. Glenn; Arkansas, D. P. Hill; Delaware, D. C. Campbell; North Carolina, Samuel Hall; Texas, J. W. A. Sanford.

On January 29th the convention adjourned to meet in Savannah in March. Meanwhile important events were occurring elsewhere. On the Sand Hills near Augusta was situated the arsenal, consisting of a group of buildings around a commodious and beautiful parade ground. Here were a battery of artillery, 20,000 stand of muskets, with a large quantity of munitions, guarded by a company of United States troops under command of Capt. Arnold Elzey, of Maryland, later major-general in the Confederate Army. On January 23d Governor Brown, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Hon. Henry R. Jackson, who had been colonel of Georgia troops in the Mexican War, and Col. William Phillips, visited Captain Elzey and made a verbal request that he withdraw his command from Georgia. Upon that officer's refusal Col. Alfred Cumming, commanding the Augusta Battalion, was ordered to put his force in readiness to support the governor's demand. These troops consisted of the Oglethorpe Infantry, Clinch Rifles, Irish Volunteers, Montgomery Guards, two companies of minute men (from which was soon after organized the Walker Light Infantry), the Washington Artillery and the Richmond Hussars. In addition to these there were about 200 mounted men from Burke county and a company of infantry from Edgefield District, South Carolina.

On the 24th, in obedience to instructions from J. Holt, Secretary of War of the United States, Captain Elzey accepted the terms offered by Governor Brown and surrendered the arsenal to the Georgia troops, who vastly outnumbered the force under Captain Elzey. The United States troops were not treated as prisoners of war, but retained their arms and company property, occupied quarters at the arsenal, had free intercourse with the city and surrounding country, and were to have unobstructed passage through and out of the state by water to New York, via Savannah. One of the terms of surrender was that the public property was to be receipted for by the state authorities, and accounted for upon adjustment between the state of Georgia and the United States.

Another noted incident of the month of January, 1861, was the seizure at New York, probably under orders of the governor of that state, of thirty-eight boxes of muskets that were about to be shipped to Savannah. After a sharp remonstrance, which was unheeded, Governor Brown directed Colonel Lawton to take sufficient military force and seize and hold every ship in the harbor of Savannah belonging to citizens of New York. Three days after this was done the guns were ordered released, but delay in forwarding them led to the seizure of other vessels. News being received that the guns were on the way,
the seized vessels were released. The Georgia Convention resumed its session at Savannah March 7, 1861, ratified the Confederate Constitution on March 16th, adopted a new State Constitution, authorized the issue of treasury notes and bonds for revenue for public defense, tendered a tract ten miles square for the Confederate seat of government, and transferred to that government the control of military operations, as well as forts and arms.

Georgia's delegation to the Confederate Provisional Congress, which met at Montgomery, Ala., consisted of Francis S. Bartow, George W. Crawford, Augustus Kennan, Alexander H. Stephens, Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Benjamin Harvey Hill and Augustus R. Wright.

When the provisional government of the Confederate States was organized with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, as president, Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, was elected vice-president, and Robert Toombs was appointed secretary of state.

The first call to Georgia made by the government of the Confederate States was for troops for Pensacola. The enthusiastic reply to this call is shown in the fact that 250 companies were tendered. Georgia had already in the field the First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia, organized prior to the war and commanded by Col. A. R. Lawton, upon whose appointment as brigadier-general H. W. Mercer was elected colonel and, when toward the close of 1861 he was promoted to brigadier-general, Col. Charles H. Olmstead was elected colonel.

Of the 250 companies that responded to the call for troops to serve outside of the state, ten were formed into a regiment and styled the First Regiment of Georgia Volunteers, with James N. Ramsey as colonel. These were sent to Pensacola, and six weeks later to Virginia where, in the Laurel Hill campaign, they were the first Georgia troops to experience actual war. The First Independent Battalion of Georgia, under Maj. Peter H. Larey, consisting of four companies, was also sent to Pensacola, and to this battalion was attached the first company of Georgia troops that had gone from that state to Pensacola, being from Atlanta and first commanded by Capt. G. W. Lee.

The Georgia Secession Convention, prior to its adjournment at Milledgeville to meet in March at Savannah, had authorized the equipment of two regiments, to be either all infantry or infantry and artillery as the governor should decide. The organization of these two regiments had not been completed when active hostilities began, so the companies that had been then formed were consolidated into one command under Col. Charles J. Williams, and turned over to the government of the Confederate States as the First Georgia Regulars. Thus it happened that there were three First Georgia regiments.

Georgia Troops.

At the time of the first battle of Manassas, Georgia had organized 17,000 men, armed and equipped them herself at an expense of $300,000, and sent them into service mostly outside of the state. So generous was this outpouring of men and munitions that in September, 1861, when Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, commanding the department of the West, called upon the governors for arms, Governor Brown was compelled to reply with great regret: "There are no arms belonging to the state at my disposal. All have been exhausted in arming the volunteers of the state now in the Confederate service in Virginia, at Pensacola and on our own coast, in all some twentythree regiments. Georgia has now to look to the shotguns and rifles in the hands of her people for coast defense, and to guns which her gunsmiths are slowly manufacturing."

Allowing for reenlistments and reorganization of commands, Georgia furnished to the Confederate cause ninety-four regiments and thirty-six battalions, embracing every arm of the service. There were commissioned from Georgia the following general officers: Maj.-Gens. Howell Cobb, Lafayette McLaws, David Emanuel Twiggs, Wm. H. T. Walker, Ambrose Ranson Wright, Pierce M. B. Young; Brig.-Gens. E. Porter Alexander, George T. Anderson, Robert H. Anderson, Francis S. Bartow, Henry L. Benning, Wm. R. Boggs, Wm. M. Browne, Goode Bryan, Thomas Reed Rootes Cobb, Alfred H. Colquitt, Philip Cook, Charles C. Crews, Alfred Cumming, George Pierce Doles, Dudley M. DuBose, Clement A. Evans, Wm. M. Gardner, Lucius J. Gartrell, Victor J. B. Girardey, George P. Harrison, Alfred Iverson, Henry Rootes Jackson, John K. Jackson, A. R. Lawton, Hugh W. Mercer, Paul J. Semmes, James P. Simms, Wm. Duncan Smith, Maxley Sorrel, Marcellus A. Stovall, Bryan M. Thomas, Edward Lloyd Thomas, Robert Toombs, Claudius C. Wilson, Wm. T. Wofford. Of these, Brig.-Gen. Clement A. Evans commanded a division for the last five months of the war, and it is said that commissions as major-general had been made out for him and for Brigadier-General Benning just before the collapse of the Confederacy.

Georgia furnished three lieutenant-generals: Wm. J. Hardee, John B. Gordon and Joseph Wheeler, the latter of whom became a citizen of Alabama and congressman from that state. Lieutenant-General Longstreet, after the war, made his home in Georgia, and all that was mortal of him sleeps in her soil. The naval officer from Georgia of highest rank was Commodore Josiah Tattnall.

Civil Officers of Confederacy.

Of civil officers of the Confederacy and members of the Military Staff of President Davis, the following were from Georgia: Vice-President Alexander H. Stephens; First Secretary of State Robert Toombs; Philip Clayton, assistant secretary of the treasury; John Archibald Campbell, assistant secretary of war; Alexander Robert Lawton, quartermaster-general of the Confederate States; Isaac Munroe St. John, commissary-general; Wm. M. Browne, an Englishman, but a citizen of Georgia, assistant secretary of state; James D. Bulloch, naval agent to England.

During 1861 the Georgia troops in Virginia did good service in the first and second West Virginia campaigns, and at the first Battle of Manassas, where the heroic Francis S. Bartow, commanding a brigade, fell dying at the close of the dashing charge which swept the Federals from the Henry House plateau. His last words, "They have killed me, but never give up the fight," were like a bugle call to valorous deeds that found an echo in the hearts of thousands of Southern patriots ready to do or die in the cause of home and native land.

War Conditions in Georgia - Campaigns in the State.

Early in the fall of 1861 Governor Brown, having visited the coast and ascertained that the measures taken for its defense by the Confederate government were insufficient, determined to call out the state troops. Early in September George P. Harrison was appointed a brigadier-general of state troops and ordered to organize a brigade and arm it as far as possible with army rifles and the balance with good country rifles and shotguns, and place the men in camps of instruction near the coast. This brigade was rapidly formed of volunteers eager for the service and put in good condition. F. W. Capers was commissioned brigadier-general and assigned to the same duty. A third brigade was formed by Brig.Gen. W. H. T. Walker.

During this period Ira R. Foster ably acted as state quartermaster-general, and Col. J. I. Whitaker as commissary-general. Hon. Thomas Butler King had been sent to Europe as commissioner to arrange for direct trade. In equipping Fort Pulaski and other fortifications, and in arming and maintaining troops and other expenses of war, Georgia had spent $1,000,000. Among these expenditures was the purchase of steamers for coast defense.

Commodore Josiah Tattnall, a native Georgian who, while an officer in the United States Navy, had been greatly distinguished in China and Japan, having resigned from the old navy upon the secession of his native state, was appointed senior flag officer of the State Navy, which did not then possess a boat or a gun. In March, 1861, he was appointed commodore in the Confederate States Navy, and assigned to whatever navy he could find or create in the waters of South Carolina and Georgia. He went diligently to work, and during the summer produced, in what was called a "Mosquito fleet," the semblance of a navy by arming a river steamer and a few tugs with such guns as could be procured. He was ordered by the Confederate government to distribute this little fleet along the coast from Port Royal south, for the special purpose of aiding vessels coming from England with war supplies.

Early in September Brig.-Gen. A. R. Lawton, who had been in command of the district of Savannah since April 17th, informed the secretary of war that additional troops were badly needed for coast defense. He had at this time an aggregate present of about 3,000 men at sixteen posts, the most important of which were Tybee Island, Camp Lawton, Fort Pulaski, Sapello Island, Fort Screven, Savannah and Brunswick. On Oct. 26, 1861, the military department of Georgia was created and General Lawton was put in command, with headquarters at Savannah. Three days later he was notified that the enemy's fleet had sailed for the South. Lawton's force had, by efforts already described, been greatly increased, and Col. Hugh Mercer was appointed brigadier-general. General Lawton now had in his department about 2,000 men under General Mercer at and near Brunswick, and about 3,500 north of the Altamaha and generally near Savannah. About 500 of these forces were cavalry, well mounted and armed, and the remainder included three batteries of artillery. About 2,000 of the infantry were well drilled and disciplined. There were also available about 3,000 state troops "armed in a fashion" within a few hours' call. The channels of approach to Savannah were being blocked by the efforts of the navy under efficient officers. The coast defenders were cheered by the tidings that Gen. Robert E. Lee, who had during the latter part of the summer and fall been commanding in West Virginia, had been appointed to command the military department, including the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and East Florida. Commodore Tattnall, with his little flotilla of three vessels, with great audacity attacked the Federal fleet at the entrance of Port Royal sound November 4th and 5th. After the capture by the Federal fleet of Forts Walker and Beauregard, and the occupation of Hilton Head by the enemy, Tattnall succeeded in bringing off his little fleet in safety. There were other skirmishes between the Federal gunboats and Tattnall's mosquito fleet. In order to force the Federal gunboats to pass under the fire of the guns of Fort Pulaski, as they approached Savannah, piles were driven into the channels which open into the river on the north and south, and other obstructions made which, for the time, were effective. Lieut. James H. Wilson, later a great cavalry leader, endeavored to remove these piles, and had nearly cleared a passage when detected and driven off by Commodore Tattnall.

Ordnance Officer W. G. Gill, just before the fall of the forts near Port Royal, South Carolina, gave the following statement of the condition of the Georgia coast defenses: On the south end of Jekyl Island, one 42-pounder and four 32-pounders, with 60 pounds of shot and shell; on the St. Simon's Island batteries one 10-inch and one 8-inch columbiad, two 42 and five 32-pounders, with 75 rounds of ammunition; at Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur Island near the mouth of the Savannah River, five 10-inch and nine 8-inch columbiads, two 10-inch mortars, two 42-pounders, twenty 32-pounders, one 24-pounder and a very good supply of ammunition. Fort Jackson, near the city of Savannah, had one 32-pounder rifle, five 32-pounders and three 18-pounders. Thunderbolt battery had one 8-inch gun and three 18-pounders. Green Island battery had one 10-inch rifled gun, one 10-inch and two 8-inch columbiads, two 42-pounders and four 32-pounders.

After the occupation of Hilton Head and Port Royal by the United States forces, Federal light draught gunboats went through Ossabaw, Warsaw, St. Helena and Cumberland sounds as far down as Fernandina, Fla., rapidly taking possession of the whole coast line, except the entrance to Savannah harbor. They did not, as yet, attempt to attack Fort Pulaski.

In November the famous steamship Fingal, that had been bought on the Clyde in September, 1861, by Capt. James D. Bulloch, of Georgia, naval agent of the Confederate States, and which had sailed from Greenock, Scotland, early in October under the British flag and with a British captain, under the direction of Capt. Bulloch and Pilot Makin, evading the blockaders, entered the port of Savannah. She brought 10,000 Enfield rifles, 1,000,000 ball cartridges, 2,000,000 percussion caps, 3,000 cavalry sabers, 1,000 short rifles and cutlass bayonets, 1,000 rounds of ammunition per rifle, 500 revolvers and ammunition, two large rifled - cannon, two smaller rifled guns, 400 barrels of cannon powder and a lot of medical stores and material for clothing. No single blockade runner ever again brought into any port of the Confederacy so large a cargo of military and naval supplies.

Of this rich cargo, 1,000 Enfield rifles had been shipped directly to Governor Brown, and 9,000 for the Confederate government. One-half of these were ordered to be distributed by General Lee to the troops of Georgia and South Carolina, with the condition that the troops receiving them must enlist for three years or for the war.

On the latter account, Colonel Dow's regiment of Mississippians was armed out of the guns expected by Georgia.

Captain Bulloch made several attempts to get to sea again with the Fingal, but was foiled by the blockaders.

Gen. Henry R. Jackson, who had, as brigadier-general, commanded Georgia troops in the West Virginia campaign of Cheat Mountain and along the Greenbrier River during the summer and fall of 1861, having been appointed by Governor Brown major-general of the state forces, assumed command Dec. 28, 1861, with headquarters at Savannah. General Jackson hastened to inform General Lee that the division of state troops under his command was placed at the latter's disposal for the defense of Georgia, whereupon General Lee expressed gratification, adding "I will direct General Lawton to indicate to you where your troops can be of most service and to designate such points as you may take under your exclusive charge."

The year 1862 opened with considerable activity along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. On January 26th an expedition comprising 2,400 infantry under Gen. Horatio G. Wright, in transports convoyed by six gunboats, anchored in Warsaw sound and on the next day made a reconnaissance of Wilmington narrows up to the obstructions of sunken hulks and piling, while a similar reconnaissance reached the obstructions at Wall's cut. On the 28th four months' provisions and supplies of ammunition were sent down to Fort Pulaski under the protection of Commodore Tattnall and his fleet. Upon nearing the fort they were fired upon by the Federal gunboats north of the Savannah under Rodgers and by those south under Davis, presenting the strange spectacle in which the contestants were separated by land. The supplies were successfully thrown into the fort; but as the gunboat Samson and her two unarmed companions sailed back up the river, several rifle shells were sent through her, hurting no one and doing no serious damage. As the boats, on their return from their adventurous errand, approached the docks at Savannah, they were wildly cheered by the vast crowds there gathered.

When the Federals succeeded in removing the obstructions from Wall's cut and were becoming more and more aggressive, General Mercer, in command at Brunswick, under orders from General Lee, removed the batteries from St. Simon's and Jekyl Islands and sent the heavy guns to Savannah.

The terms of service of many state troops expiring, great difficulty was experienced in getting them to reenlist. But there was no delay in supplying every regiment which Georgia had been asked to contribute to the Confederate service, for when twelve regiments were asked, eighteen were furnished.

On February 18th came news of the fall of Fort Donelson and the capture of its garrison. President Davis now called General Lee to Richmond as his military adviser, and sent Maj.-Gen. John C. Pemberton, an officer of the old army, having a fine reputation as an engineer, to command the department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The Federal forces, which since the last of January had been erecting batteries along the north side of Tybee, were ready by April 10th to attack the Confederate garrison of 400 who, under Col. Charles H. Olmstead, were holding Fort Pulaski. The land troops of the Federals operating for the reduction of the fort numbered near 3,000 men under Maj.-Gen. David Hunter and Brigadier-Generals Benham, Viele and Gilmore. To the demand for a surrender, Colonel Olmstead replied that he was there "to defend the fort, not to surrender it." So at 8:15 on the morning of April 10th all the beleaguering batteries opened fire. After a gallant resistance the fort was rendered untenable and terms of capitulation were arranged by Colonel Olmstead and General Gilmore. The terms of capitulation were that the sick and wounded of the garrison should be sent under a flag of truce to the Confederate lines, but this provision General Hunter refused to ratify, and the whole garrison was sent to the forts in New York Harbor. General Hunter on May 9th issued a proclamation declaring all slaves in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida to be henceforth free forever. President Lincoln, however, annulled this order and rebuked the act of General Hunter. The first negro regiment in United States service was at this time organized by Hunter.

It soon became evident that the fall of Fort Pulaski did not involve the capture of Savannah. The Confederate force on the Georgia coast was amply able to resist any force of Federals then in that quarter.

On April 16th a reconnaissance of Whitemarch Island by seven companies of the Eighth Michigan Regiment under Col. W. M. Fenton led to a spirited affair. This force, 300 strong, was resisted by 100 men of the Thirteenth Georgia Regiment under Captains Crawford and McCally, who held the superior force of the enemy at bay until reinforced by Col. Marcellus Douglas, when they drove back the Federals, with a loss to the Georgians of four killed and fifteen wounded. Colonel Fenton reported his loss as ten killed and thirty-five wounded.

Outside of the state, Georgia soldiers appeared to great advantage in all the campaigns of 1862 east of the Mississippi River. At Shiloh the Washington Light Artillery of Augusta (known also as Girardy's battery), Capt. Isadore P. Girardy, attached to the brigade of John K. Jackson, rendered conspicuous service and suffered severe loss, while the Mountain Dragoons of Capt. I. W. Avery, by their efficient and arduous labors, proved themselves worthy of their comrades of the infantry and artillery.

The proximity to the northern part of the state of the Federal forces in the spring of 1862 led to the celebrated raid of James J. Andrews, whose purpose was to break up railroad communication south of Chattanooga, so that Buell might the more readily capture that important point. Andrews and nineteen of his men, at an appointed time, were in Marietta, Ga., and, buying tickets to various points as regular passengers, boarded the northward-bound .mail train. At Big Shanty, now called Kennesaw, while the train stopped for breakfast, Andrews and his men uncoupled a section of the train consisting of three empty box cars with the engine (called "The General"), which they at once manned with two experienced engineers, who set this fraction of the train in rapid motion before the sentinels standing near suspected the movement. Wm. A. Fuller, conductor of the train, and Anthony Murphy, foreman of the Atlanta machine shops, who happened to be on the train, comprehending what had happened, ran on foot until they found a hand car, with which they pushed on until they found an engine ("The Texas"), and then pressed Andrews and his party so closely that they abandoned "The General" and took to the woods. They were all captured within a few days and Andrews, with seven of his men who had gone into the expedition with full knowledge of its character, were convicted and executed as spies. Some of the others finally escaped and some were exchanged. It is probable that the Federal officer was correct in his views, who said that Andrews and his bridge burners "took desperate chances to accomplish objects of no substantial advantage."

Though the battle of Shiloh, which began with such glorious promise and closed with such disappointment of exalted hopes, had failed of its main object, it, together with subsequent movements of the western Confederate armies, gave a check to the triumphant march into the heart of the Southwest, which Grant had planned and begun immediately after his great victory at Donelson.

The brilliant campaign of Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, his skilful march to form a junction with Lee at Richmond, and the raising of the siege of the Confederate capital by these combined forces under the leadership of Lee in the Seven Days' Battles, changed the whole plan of the Federal armies for 1862, and for months threw the invaders upon the defensive and kept them there until near the close of the year. Although after the end of the Maryland and Kentucky campaigns the Union armies began another advance, their aggressive was halting and timorous and brought to a sudden termination for several months by the decisive Confederate victory of Fredericksburg in Virginia, the drawn battle at Murfreesboro in Tennessee and the disastrous repulse of Sherman's attack at Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, Miss. In all these movements the soldiers and officers of Georgia bore their full share of hardship and danger, and obtained their full proportion of all the honors won by as gallant hosts as were ever marshalled for battle since time began.

The short space allowed for this sketch of Georgia in the Confederacy does not permit the recital of the exploits of Georgians beyond the borders of the state.

In July, 1862, the armed cruiser Nashville ran the blockade into Savannah with a cargo of arms. This was the first commissioned armed cruiser of the Confederate States.

In November, 1862, Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, with his regiment of South Carolina negroes, committed many depredations on the Georgia coast.

The message of Governor Brown to the legislature in November described the military work of the year. Of $5,000,000 appropriated, $2,081,004 had been expended; 8,000 state troops had been employed and supported for six months ; the state's quota of Confederate war tax, $2,500,000, had been paid; a state armory had been established in the penitentiary, which was turning out 125 guns a month.

The constitutionality of the Confederate Conscription Acts, submitted to the legislature by Governor Brown and referred by that body to the State Supreme Court, was by the latter body fully sustained. Other war measures of the legislature of 1862 were acts restricting the cultivation of cotton to three acres a hand, for the purpose of diversifying agricultural industry and making the people self-supporting; appropriating $500,000 to supply the people with salt; $100,000 for cotton cards; more than $500,000 for obstruction of rivers; $400,000 for the relief and hospital association; $1,500,000 for clothing for Georgia soldiers; $2,500,000 for the support of widows and families of dead or disabled soldiers; $1,000,000 for a military fund and $300,000 to assist in removing indigent non-combatants from any part. of the state threatened with invasion. The governor was authorized to raise two regiments for home defense and to impress slaves for work on the defenses of Savannah.

At the beginning of 1863 the United States authorities were collecting at Charleston harbor a fleet of nine iron-clads for an attempt to capture Fort Sumter and Charleston harbor. Admiral Dupont, commander of the fleet, detached one of these, the Montauk, for a trial against McAllister. This work, constructed on Genesis Point to guard the approach to Savannah by the Ogeeshee river, was in charge of Maj. John B. Gallie, supported by troops under Col. R. A. Anderson, its main armament consisting of one rifled 32-pounder and one 8-inch columbiad. The Montauk, under John L. Worden, who had fought the Virginia in Hampton Roads, assisted by four wooden gunboats, on Jan. 27, 1863, attacked Fort McAllister, and after a four hours' bombardment, withdrew defeated.

A still more determined attack followed on February 1, and the Federal monitor and gunboats again suffered defeat, though the Confederates paid for their victory by the death of their brave commander, Maj. John B. Gallie.

On February 27th the Nashville (or Rattlesnake, as she was now called) ran aground not far above the obstructions in the Ogeechee. On the following morning Worden, having observed this, steamed down with his vessel under the guns of the fort, and from a point about 1,200 yards from the cruiser, poured in such a fire as to blow up the vessel. But the Montauk was so much injured by the explosion of a torpedo in the channel that she was compelled to run upon a bank out of range to repair damages, while her pumps, with difficulty, kept her afloat. But the most formidable attack upon Fort McAllister was made on March 3d by the three new monitors, the Passaic, Patapsco and Nahant, assisted by mortar boats. For seven hours 15- and 11-inch shell and shot were hurled at the fort, and the mortar boats kept up the din all night with no effect, except slightly wounding two men and temporarily dismounting the 8-inch gun and 42-pounder. But the dawn of March 4th found the damage repaired and the fort as good as ever.

Admiral Dupont, who was preparing for his naval attack upon Charleston, now decided to save his ammunition by letting Fort McAllister alone.

An expedition, which set out from St. Simon's Island on June 8, 1863, for the purpose of destroying the Confederate salt works near Brunswick was defeated; but on June 11th another expedition burned the town of Darien.

On the morning of May 3d, in North Georgia, the celebrated raid of Col. A. D. Streight, who, at the head of 1,500 men, had set out from Tuscumbia, Ala., on the night of April 26, 1863, for the purpose of destroying railroads and machine shops, was brought to an end by the capture of the Federal raiders, who, deceived by the skilful strategy of Gen. N. B. Forrest, with a Confederate force of about one-third their strength, surrendered unconditionally to that wily and fearless chieftain, and were sent as prisoners of war to Richmond, Va.

The famous ship Fingal, whose successful running of the blockade with arms and ammunition in 1861 has already been narrated, having been converted into an ironclad and named the Atlanta, was placed under the command of Lieut. Wm. A. Webb, and under orders from the Confederate government on June 17, 1863, entered Warsaw sound for the purpose of attacking two of the best monitors of the Federal fleet, the Weehawken and Nahant. But the Atlanta was not suited for shallow water and ran fast aground within 600 yards of the Weehawken, where she became an easy prey to her enemies and, with very heavy loss of her crew, was compelled to surrender.

As the fall of 1863 came in, Georgia for the first time during the mighty struggle of the sixties felt the shock of a great invading host. Her troops had won distinction upon every battlefield of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and thousands of her valiant soldiers, through every grade from general officers to privates, had shed their blood for the Southern cause. At last upon the Georgia line the contending armies met, and the brilliant victory of Chickamauga drove back, for a time, the tide of invasion. In the Confederate army under Gen. Braxton Bragg, assembled in August, 1863, for the defense of Chattanooga, were the following Georgia commands : In John K. Jackson's brigade of Cheatham's division the second battalion of the First Confederate Regiment, Maj. James Clark Gordon; Fifth Regiment, Col. Charles P. Daniel, and the second battalion of sharpshooters, Maj. Richard H. Whitely; in Bate's brigade of Stewart's division the Thirty-seventh regiment and fourth battalion of sharpshooters; in the brigade of Marcellus A. Stovell of John C. Breckinridge's division the Forty-seventh Georgia Regiment, Capt. W. S. Phillips; in W. IT. T. Walker's division, S. R. Gist's brigade was half Georgian and C. C. Wilson's brigade almost entirely so; in the brigade of Col. John H. Kelly of Brig.Gen. Wm. Preston's division the Sixty-fifth Georgia, Col. R. H. Moore ; in Maj.-Gen. Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps in Col. C. C. Crew's brigade the Second Georgia Regiment, Lieut.-Col. F. M. Ison, the Third, Col. R. Thompson, and the Fourth, Col. I. W. Avery; in Brigadier-General Forrest's cavalry corps the First Georgia, Col. J. J. Morrison, and the Sixth Georgia, Col. John R. Hart in H. B. Davidson's brigade of Pegram's division; Co. G of Second Cavalry, Capt. Thomas M. Merritt, escort for General Cheatham; Scogin's Georgia Battery Melancthon Smith's battalion; Capt. Evan P. Howell's battery attached to Walker's division ; Dawson's battery, Lieut. R. W. Anderson, and Co. E, Ninth Artillery battalion, Lieut. W. S. Everett, attached to Stewart's division; the batteries of Capts. Tyler M. Peeple and Andrew M. Wolihin of Leyden's Ninth battalion; in the reserve artillery under Maj. F. H. Robertson the Georgia batteries of Capts. M. W. Havis and T. L. Massenburg.

Of Longstreet's corps, Anderson's, Wofford's and Bryan's Georgia brigades did not arrive in time to take part in the battle. But the brigade of Gen. Henry L. Benning shared the fight of both days. In his brigade were the Second Georgia, Lieut.-Col. Wm. S. Shepard; the Fifteenth, Col. Dudley M. DuBose; the Seventeenth, Lieut.-Col. Charles W. Matthews; the Twentieth, Col. J. D. Waddell.

When on Sept. 7, 1863, Rosecrans sent McCook and Thomas to such positions south of Chattanooga as would flank that Confederate stronghold, Bragg abandoned the town and retired southwards. After several days of marching and counter-marching, being reinforced by a part of Longstreet's corps from Virginia, he began an advance against Rosecrans, who was concentrating his troops at Lee and Gordon's Mills, 12 miles south of Chattanooga. On September 19th Bragg attacked General Thomas, who commanded the left of Rosecrans' army. The day closed without decisive advantage to either side. During the night of the 19th each commander prepared for the decisive struggle, which all believed the morrow would bring.

General Bragg placed Lieut.-Gen. Leonidas Polk in command of his right wing, consisting of the corps of D. H. Hill and Wm. H. T. Walker, the division of Cheatham and the cavalry of Forrest. To Lieut.Gen. James Longstreet he gave the left wing, embracing the corps of Buckner and Hood, the division of Hindman and the cavalry of Wheeler. Thomas, still commanding the left of Rosecrans' army, so arranged his force as to cover the Rossville (or Chattanooga) and Dry Valley roads. His line of battle began 400 yards east of the Chattanooga road on a crest which was occupied from left to right by four divisions: Baird's of Thomas' corps, R. W. Johnson's of McCook's corns, Palmer's of Crittenden's and Joseph J. Reynolds' division of Thomas' corps. On the right of Reynolds stood the divisions of Brannan and Negley. Across the Chattanooga road toward Missionary Ridge came the divisions of Sheridan and Jeff. C. Davis under McCook as corps commander, while Crittenden stood in reserve with the divisions of Wood and Van Cleve.

Bragg's plan of battle was successive attacks from right to left. When the battle opened on the morning of the 20th, the divisions of Breckinridge and Cleburne of D. H. Hill's corps made a fierce assault upon Thomas, while to their help came the divisions of Gist and Liddell in the corps of Gen. Wm. H. T. Walker, and the strong pressure of the Confederates was increased by the advance of Cheatham's division. So hard was Thomas pushed that he called for help, and Rosecrans responded to his appeal by hurrying troops from the Union right, who, as they hastened to the left, exsposed to the watchful eye of Longstreet a gap in the Federal line, through which that wary leader pushed the eight brigades of Bushrod Johnson, McNair, Gregg, Kershaw, Law, Humphrey, Benning and Robertson. Under the leadership of the dashing Hood, this strong force swept from the field Sheridan's entire division, two brigades of Davis' division and one of Van Cleve's, Hood falling desperately wounded as the shouts of victory rang in his ears. Longstreet, seeing at once the necessity of disregarding the order of the day, wheeled to the right instead of the left, overrunning and capturing battery after battery, wagon-trains, thousands of prisoners and the headquarters of Rosecrans, who, forcibly borne away with his routed right, hastened to Chattanooga-which had been for more than ten days in his possession-seeking in its fortifications refuge for his routed wing as well as for the troops under Thomas, who, helped by Gordon Granger, fought desperately to hold his ground, until night should enable him to withdraw the left wing of the defeated army without further disaster. As the shades of evening were gathering thick around, under the continued attack of the left wing under Longstreet and the right under Polk, the Federals were forced to give way, Gen. Wm. Preston's division gaining the heights and firing the last shots of the battle by moonlight. As the Federals fell back, a tremendous shout from the charging Confederates thrilled their entire host with the story of victory.

The defeated Union army retreated to Chattanooga, where Rosecrans spent the day and night of the 21st hurrying his trains and artillery out of town, but, finding that he was not pressed, remained there with his army. Bragg spent the 21st in burying the dead and gathering the trophies of the field, among which were fifty-one cannon and 15,000 small arms. During the next two days he came slowly into position on Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, which he connected by a line of earthworks across Chattanooga Valley and sent into Lookout Valley a force which commanded the twenty-six-mile wagon road to Bridgeport, thus compelling the Union army to draw its supplies by an almost impassable mountain road of sixty miles. Thus Bragg hoped to force the defeated army to a surrender. The Federals were reduced to the verge of starvation, when the two corps of Howard and Slocum, from their Army of the Potomac under Hooker, and Sherman's army from Mississippi, came to their relief, and through dispositions made by Gen. U. S. Grant opened the way for obtaining supplies and for attacking the army under Bragg.

While Grant was concentrating everything for raising the siege of Chattanooga, the Confederate government sent 15,000 men from Bragg under the command of Longstreet to drive Burnside out of East Tennessee. Thus it happened that a little over two months after the great Confederate victory of Chickamauga, Bragg was defeated, November 25th, at Missionary Ridge, and Longstreet was repulsed at Knoxville November 29th. The silver lining to the cloud that overhung the South and Southwest was the brilliant little Battle of Ringgold, where Cleburne gave check to the pursuing victors and turned them back for the time.

Chickamauga was the greatest battle fought on Georgia soil. Missionary Ridge and the Battle of Knoxville were entirely fought in Tennessee, and Ringgold made illustrious northwest Georgia. In the assault on Fort Loudon at Knoxville, November 29th, four Georgia brigades were conspicuous, Bryan's and Wofford's of McLaw's division, and Anderson's and Benning's of Hood's division, Benning being in support of the other three upon whom fell threefourths of the loss in that day's battle.

In the Battle of Missionary Ridge, November 25th, Lieut.-Gen. Wm. J. Hardee commanded the right wing of Bragg's army and John C. Breckinridge the left. If George Thomas, who held the left of Rosecrans' army at Chickamauga, deservedly obtained by his bold stand the title "Rock of Chickamauga," Hardee, who just as stoutly held Bragg's right at Missionary Ridge, deserves equally the wreath of fame. Gen. Alfred Cumming's brigade of Stevenson's division won high praise from General Cleburne, who commanded Hardee's right in the repulse of Sherman at the Tunnel, and the Georgians who were in Bate's brigade of Breckinridge's division were also distinguished in repelling attacks upon their front. According to the reports of both Stevenson and Cleburne, the Georgians of Cumming's brigade joined with the Tennesseeans, Arkansans and Texans of Cleburne's division in driving back Sherman's troops, capturing prisoners and two of the eight stand of colors, taken in this victorious charge. The disastrous result elsewhere on the ridge made it necessary for Hardee to withdraw his wing that night, Cleburne's division covering the retreat.

At Ringgold Cleburne received orders to hold the main gap in Taylor's Ridge and check the pursuit of the enemy until the trains and rear of Bragg's army were well advanced. Here Cleburne advantageously posted his division, embracing troops of Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, and Goldthwaite's battery of Napoleon guns. Hooker, with the three divisions of Osterhaus, Geary and Cruft, at 8 A. M. of November 27th formed line and moved to the attack, which was so effectually repulsed by Cleburne's one division that the pursuit was checked and Hooker, by Grant's orders, returned to Chattanooga. By this brilliant battle, for which Cleburne and his men received the thanks of the Confederate Congress, the artillery and wagon trains of Bragg's army were saved, and the Confederates went into quarters around Dalton, which they fortified with a strong outpost at Tunnel Hill. In this new position they remained during the winter of 1863-64, and until the opening of the Atlanta campaign, May 5, 1864.

On June 22, 1863, Governor Brown, in obedience to a requisition from the Confederate government, issued a proclamation calling for the organization of a force of 8,000 men over the age of 45 years, or otherwise not subject to military duty, to be mustered in for six months from August 1st for home defense, stating, that "the President is obliged to mass the armies of the Confederacy at a few important keypoints and cannot, without weakening them too much, detach troops to defend the interior points against sudden incursions. He therefore calls upon the people of the respective states, who are otherwise not sub-ject to be summoned to the field under the conscription laws, to organize, and, while they attend to their ordinary avocations at home, to stand ready at a moment's warning to take up arms and drive back the plundering bands of marauders from their own immediate section of the country." The governor requested the citizens of the various counties to assemble at their court-houses on the first Tuesday of July and organize the number required of them by counties. To this call not merely 8,000, but 18,000 men responded. The command of this force was conferred upon Howell Cobb, promoted to major-general with headquarters at Atlanta, and under him were Brig.-Gens. Alfred Iverson, Jr., with headquarters at Rome, and Henry R. Jackson at Savannah. Maj.-Gen. Gustavus W. Smith, who, on account of ill-health, had resigned from the Confederate army, entered the service of the state, with special charge, for the time, of fortifications.

According to a statement published by authority of the government at Richmond, at the close of the year 1863, Georgia had lost a greater number of soldiers than any other state of the Confederacy. The list, as published, stands thus: Georgia, 9,504; Alabama, 8,987; North Carolina, 8,361; Texas, 6,377; Virginia, 5,943; Mississippi, 6,367; South Carolina, 4,511; Louisiana, 3,039; Tennessee, 2,849; Arkansas, 1,948; Florida, 1,119. In Georgia's loss were included the following general officers killed in battle: Francis S. Bartow, acting brigadier at First Manassas; Capt. W. F. Brown of the Twelfth Georgia, acting as brigadier-general at Chantilly or Ox Hill (commanding Trimble's brigade); Col. Marcellus Douglas, acting as brigadier-general (in command of Lawton's brigade) at Sharpsburg; Brig.-Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb, at Fredericksburg; Brig.-Gen. Paul J. Semmes at Gettysburg; Col. Peyton H. Colquitt, acting as brigadier-general at Chickamauga. To Georgia's loss in general officers should be added Brig.-Gen. Claudius C. Wilson, who died in the service after the Battle of Chickamauga and just before that of Missionary Ridge.

At Dalton, Dec. 2, 1864, General Bragg issued a farewell address to the army of Tennessee and turned over the command temporarily to Lieut.-Gen. Wm. J. Hardee. On Dec. 16, 1863, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was assigned to the command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee at Dalton.

On Feb. 17, 1864, on account of Sherman's Meridian expedition, the divisions of Cheatham, Cleburne and Walker under Lieutenant-General Hardee were sent to reinforce Lieut.-Gen. Leonidas Polk in Mississippi, but they were soon recalled on account of Sherman's return to Vicksburg. When Grant learned of the departure of troops to Mississippi, he ordered Thomas to move forward and get possession of Dalton and as far South of that as possible. On February 24 fighting began near Dalton and continued during the next two days, when this attempt was abandoned and the Federal army returned to the neighborhood of Chattanooga.

Although the year 1863 had closed in gloom, yet before the opening of the spring campaigns in Virginia and Georgia the hopes of the Southern people had been revived by a series of brilliant triumphs. At Oulstee, in Florida, the troops of that state and Georgia (mostly those of the latter state) under 'Brig.-Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt and Col. George P. Harrison, with Joseph Finegan of the Department of Florida in chief command, gained a decisive victory (Feb. 29, 1864) ; at Okalona, in Mississippi (February 22), Forrest scored a success over Sherman's cavalry under Wm. S. Smith, then after other victories captured Fort Pillow (April 12) ; while the defeat of Banks in Louisiana (April 8 and 9) and Steele in Arkansas (April 25 and 30) with the recovery of much lost territory in both states, the naval triumph of the Albemarle on the Roanoke River in North Carolina, and the capture of Plymouth by General Hoke (April 19 and 20), and the defeat of the raid of Kilpatrick and Dahlgren in Virginia in March, raised to the highest pitch the hopes of the valiant hosts, who, under Lee in Virginia and Johnston in Georgia, stood ready to dispute the advance of the invading hosts of Grant and Sherman respectively.

In each of the grand armies Georgia was well represented. In that of Northern Virginia, four of the nine brigades of Longstreet's corps were Georgians; those of Wm. T. Wofford, Goode Bryan, George T. Anderson and Henry L. Benning. In Ewell's corps were the Georgia brigades of George Doles of Rodes' division, and of John B. Gordon of Early's division. In A. P. Hill's corps were the Georgia brigades of Ambrose R. Wright of R. H. Anderson's division, and Edward L. Thomas of Wilcox's division. The Georgia batteries of Callaway and Carlton (the latter known as the Troup Artillery) were attached to the artillery of Longstreet's corps, commanded by a Georgian, Brigadier-General E. P. Alexander. With the second corps was the Georgia battery of Capt. John Milledge, while with A. P. Hill's corps was the Georgia artillery battalion of Col. A. S. Cutts, known as the Sumter Battalion. In the cavalry corps of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, Georgia was represented by the brigade of Gen. P. M. B. Young, containing the Seventh Regiment, Col. W. P. White; Cobb's Legion, Col. G. J. Wright ; Phillips' Legion; Twentieth Battalion, Col. J. M. Millen; and after July, one Georgia company with the Jeff. Davis (Miss.) Legion.

The Georgia troops in the Confederate Army of Tennessee at and around Dalton in early May of 1864 were: In Hardee's corps and Gen. Wm. H. T. Walker's division, J. K. Jackson's Georgia and Mississippi brigade, Gist's Georgia and South Carolina brigade, C. H. Stevens' Georgia brigade and H. W. Mercer's Georgia brigade; in the same corps and Wm. B. Bate's division, Tyler's Georgia and Tennessee brigade; in Maj.-Gen. C. L. Stevenson's division of Hood's corps, Alfred Cumming's Georgia brigade, and in Maj.-Gen. A. P. Stewart's division of Hood's corps, Stovall's Georgia brigade. In Maj.Gen. Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps in Maj.-Gen. W. H. Martin's division was the Georgia brigade of Alfred Iverson.

In artillery of Martin's battalion, Capt. Evan P. Howell's Georgia battery; of Palmer's battalion, the Georgia batteries of Capts. R. W. Anderson and M. W. Havis ; of Johnson's battalion, Capt. Max Van D. Corput's Georgia battery; of Robertson's battalion, Georgia battery of Lieut. W. B. S. Davis.

The State Guards and Reserves consisted of men who had been regular soldiers, but were honorably discharged, of men over the military age or of youths under military age, also of state and county civil officers or employees in government shops who, upon the invasion of the state, were called into the field. These troops consisted of: First Battalion, Maj. W. R. Symons; First Regiment, Col. J. H. Fannin; First Battalion, known as "Augusta Fire Brigade," Lieut.-Col. C. A. Platt; Atlanta Fire Battalion, Lieut.-Col. G. W. Lee; Georgia State Guards, Lieut.Col. J. R. Freeman; Second Regiment, Col. R. F. Maddox; Third Regiment, Col. E. J. Harris; Fourth Regiment, Col. R. S. Taylor; Fifth Regiment, Col. J. B. Cumming; twenty-six independent companies.

During the siege of Atlanta the following state troops participated : First Brigade, Brig.-Gen. R. W. Carswell, consisting of Col. E. H. Pottle's regiment (First) ; Second Regiment, Col. C. D. Anderson; Fifth Regiment, Col. S. S. Stafford; First Battalion, Lieut.-Col. H. K. McCoy; Second Brigade, Brig. Gen. P. G. Phillips, consisting of Third Regiment, Col. Q. M. Hill; Fourth Regiment, Col. R. McMillan; Sixth Regiment, Col. J. W. Burney; Artillery Battalion, Col. C. W. Styles; Third Brigade, Brig.-Gen. C. D. Anderson; Fourth Brigade, Brig.-Gen. H. H. McKay. The regiments composing the last two brigades are not given in the official records.

The Cadet Battalion from the Georgia Military Institute (Marietta, Ga.) served with distinction during the campaign from Dalton to the sea.

Sherman's Campaign in Georgia.

The army under Johnston numbered about 50,000 men at and near Dalton on May 5, 1864, when the Georgia campaign began. At Resaca, when Polk's corps from Mississippi had joined him, his strength was something over 70,000.

The three field armies concentrated under Sherman for the advance against Atlanta numbered 98,235, increased soon to 112,000.

On May 7, 1864, the Federal army had advanced past Tunnell Hill to Mill Creek Gap. On the 8th and 9th on Rocky Face, before Dalton and at Dug Gap, fierce attacks were made by the Federals and all their assaults were repulsed. The fight, said Sherman, "attained the dimensions of a battle."

Meanwhile McPherson's flanking army reached Snake Creek Gap near Resaca, and encountered only Grigsby's Kentucky cavalry and the cadets of the Georgia Military Institute, supported by Cantey's brigade. McPherson, deceived by the stout resistance of this small force, withdrew for the night to a position between Sugar Valley and the entrance to the gap.

Johnston had sent Hood with the divisions of Hindman, Cleburne and Walker to Resaca, but, learning of McPherson's withdrawal, ordered Cleburne and Walker to Tilton, midway, and being advised that Polk had arrived at Resaca with Loring's division of the Army of the Mississippi, maintaining his position at Dalton during the 11th and 12th, during which time Wheeler, moving around the north end of the mountain, defeated Stoneman's cavalry, inflicting on them considerable loss in men and wagons.

On May 14 Sherman's movements caused Johnston to abandon Dalton and concentrate his army around Resaca. The fighting around Dalton had cost the Federals 800 men and the Confederates 400.

During May 14 and 15 there was heavy fighting around Resaca, in which Hood, with Stewart's and Stevenson's divisions, drove the Federal left from its ground, and Hindman repulsed Hooker's advance, but McPherson drove Polk's skirmishers from the hill in front of his left, which commanded the Western and Atlantic railroad bridge over the Oostenaula, and held it. John K. Jackson's brigade, having failed to drive back General Sweeney's flanking force, Johnston decided to abandon Resaca and retire toward Kingston.

On May 19, in and around Cassville, there was heavy skirmishing and Johnston planned to give battle here, but for reasons which were subject of considerable dispute between him and two of his three corps commanders, Hood and Polk, he decided to retire and crossed the Etowah next morning. Meanwhile a Federal division had occupied Rome, capturing a large amount of commissary and quartermaster stores.

Learning that the Federal army had crossed the Etowah far to the Confederate left, Johnston moved forward to meet them and took up a position between Dallas and the railroad. Along this line there were ten days of continuous fighting, which included heavy skirmishing and three fierce engagements between portions of the two armies. On May 25, at New Hope Church, Hooker attacked Stewart's division of Hood's corps, but his vigorous assaults resulted in a succession of bloody repulses. A heavy storm with vivid lightning and peals of thunder blending with the cannon's roar and the musket's sheet of flame added to the grandeur of these awful charges. Hooker's loss was 1,406 and Hood's less than 400.
Two days later Sherman sent Howard with two divisions to turn Johnston's right, which brought on a desperate encounter at Pickett's Mill in which Howard suffered a severe defeat, losing 1,500 men to a Confederate loss of 400.

Next day, as McPherson began to withdraw from Dallas, Bate's division of Hardee's corps quickly assailed his three divisions, meeting with a repulse in which the loss of the opposing forces was about 400 on each side.

On June 4 Johnston found that the Federal army extended far beyond his right and drew back to a new line.

Sherman and Johnston agree in calling this series of engagements near Dallas, from May 25 to June 4, the Battle of New Hope Church, and Sherman calls it a drawn battle.

Now for several days there were constant skirmishes between the two armies, whose comfort was greatly interfered with by steady rains. On June 14, on Pine Mountain, Lieut.-Gen. Leonidas Polk was killed by a cannon shot while reconnoitering the position of the Federals.

On June 19 the Confederate army was placed in a new position, the key to which was Kenesaw Mountain. On June 22, at Kulp's (or Kolb's) Farm, Schofield's and Hooker's troops attacked Hood's corps and were repulsed by the Confederates, who in turn, trying to capture the Federal entrenched artillery, were repulsed, their loss of 1,000 men exceeding that of the Federals by several hundred. After five days more of steady skirmishing, Sherman made an assault all along the Confederate front (June 27). This assault was preceded by a furious cannonade, which fairly shook the ground. Then the bugles sounded the charge and the attacking columns rushed forward. Logan, supported by Blair and Dodge, moving against the Confederate right east of the mountain and against the mountain itself, lost heavily, seven of his regimental commanders falling dead or wounded. A furious attack upon Cockrell's Missourians of French's division was also repelled with heavy loss. The skirmishers of Walker's division, attacked in front and on each flank, were forced to withdraw, but being halted on the crest of a little hill and aided by French's cannon on Little Kenesaw, drove back the Federals before they came near Walker's line of battle. The determined assault of Palmer's corps with Hooker in reserve upon the intrenchments held by Cheatham's and Cleburne's divisions was repulsed with great slaughter to the assailants. "By 11:30 the assault was, in fact, over and had failed," says Sherman in his Memoirs, and in another account of this battle he states: "We failed, losing 3,000 men to the Confederate loss of 630." Among Sherman's killed were Generals Harker and McCook. After a few days Sherman tried another flank movement and on the night of July 2 Johnston abandoned Kenesaw Mountain, the scene of his recent victory, and Marietta, leaving no trophies of any kind to the enemy.

In all the fighting on this line the Federal army had lost 8,000 men and the Confederate army 4,000.

Johnston fell back until he had crossed the Chattahoochee river, and on July 17 received instructions to turn the army over to Lieut.-Gen. John B. Hood, temporarily commissioned as general, a leader more aggressive and less cautious than General Johnston. He had been disabled in an arm at Gettysburg and lost a leg at Chicamauga, yet was in the field at the opening of the campaign of 1864. The army turned over to General Hood, when he took command (July 18) was about 50,000 strong, to which must be added about 5,000 state troops under Maj.-Gen. Gustavus W. Smith.

On July 20 Hood sent the corps of Stewart and Hardee to attack Thomas' wing of Sherman's army, while only partially intrenched at Peachtree Creek. The attack proved a failure. Brig.-Gen. H. H. Stevens, of South Carolina, was among the killed.

McPherson, with Sherman's left wing, had already seized the Augusta railroad and was preparing to continue his flanking movement to the Macon road. Unless this movement could be checked, Atlanta was in danger of speedy capture. Hardee was directed to move with his corps to the extreme left and rear of the Federal army, Wheeler's cavalry accompanying him, and to attack at daylight or as near thereafter as possible. When Hardee became fully engaged, Cheatham was to take up the movement from his right and G. W. Smith, with the Georgia state troops, was then to join in the attack. General Stewart on Hood's left was ordered to watch Thomas and prevent his going to the aid of Schofield and McPherson, and to join in the battle the instant that the movement became general. The attack was made July 22 with great gallantry, but was only partially successful. At the close of the day the Confederate right held part of the ground previously occupied by the Federal left, Hardee bearing off as trophies eight guns and thirteen stands of colors, and Cheatham capturing five guns, and five stands of colors. Both Hood and Sherman claimed the victory. As to these claims this much can be said: Sherman's orders prove that he expected to swing into Atlanta that day, which he had failed to do; Hood hoped to surprise and drive Sherman's army down Peachtree Creek, and this he had failed to do. But he had defeated Sherman's flank movement toward the Macon road and saved Atlanta for a time. The loss of the Federals in this day's fight, known as the Battle of Atlanta, was near 4,000 men, among whom Gen. James B. McPherson was killed. The Confederates lost somewhat more, the exact number not being given separately. Among their killed was Maj.-Gen. W. H. T. Walker, of Georgia.

Six days after this an attempt upon Sherman's part to turn the Confederate left brought on the battle of Ezra Church, which was fought by Lieut.-Gen. Stephen D. Lee, now in command of Hood's old corps" against Sherman's right. The Confederates failed with heavy loss in their fierce assault, yet the Federal movement also failed of complete success.

Meanwhile Sherman sent out two great cavalry raids, one under General McCook down the right bank of the Chattahoochee and thence across the West Point road to the Macon road below Jonesboro, and the other under General Stoneman from the left flank of the Federal army toward the railroad from Macon with instructions to push on to Andersonville, if possible, and release 34,000 Union prisoners there confined. Wheeler sent Iverson to look after Stoneman, while he attended to the column under McCook. Near Newnan General Wheeler defeated , McCook, inflicting heavy losses in killed and wounded and capturing 950 prisoners, two cannon and 1,200 horses with equipments. Wheeler pursued beyond the Chattahoochee and well nigh completed the destruction of McCook's command. On the same day (August 2) Stoneman, with 500 of his men, surrendered to Gen. Alfred Iverson, who, with Maj.Gen. Howell Cobb, had defeated the Federals the day before at Macon and then had pushed after them in swift pursuit.' Iverson also captured many more of Stoneman's routed troops as they fled toward Eatondon, together with the horses of all the men captured with Stoneman and two cannon. These two brilliant victories put out of the combat about 3,000 of Sherman's 10,000 cavalry. Wheeler, being now sent to the rear of Sherman's army, burned the bridge over the Etowah, captured Dalton and Resaca and destroyed thirty-five miles of railroad, then going into Tennessee, together with Forrest, did much damage to the Federal lines of supply in that state.

But Sherman continued to extend his lines westward and southward from Atlanta. In one of these movements General Schofield's corps of Sherman's army attacked Major-General Bate near Utoy Creek (August 6) and was repulsed with heavy loss.

Thinking that in the absence of Wheeler he could employ his own cavalry to advantage, Sherman sent Kilpatrick against the Mac-on road, but this expedition was defeated by Gen. W. H. Jackson's Confederate horsemen, and a Federal raid along the Augusta road was at the same time (August 22) repelled.

During the month of August, from the 9th until the 25th, Atlanta was subjected to a furious bombardment, that of the 9th being the most terrible of all. General Hood, in his Advance and Retreat, says: "Women and children fled into cellars. It was painful, yet strange, to see how expert grew the old men, women and children in building their little underground forts, into which to fly for safety during the storm of shell and shot. Often mid the darkness of night were they constrained to seek refuge in these dungeons beneath the earth. Albeit I cannot recall one word from their lips expressive of dissatisfaction or willingness to surrender."

On the night of August 25, Sherman, despairing of taking Atlanta by direct attack, disappeared from the Confederate front and began a flank march to the south and west of Atlanta. He sent Slocum with his sick and wounded to hold an entrenched camp on the Chattahoochee with one corps, while with his other five he marched to Fairburn on the West Point road and then turned southward towards Jonesboro, which place the head of his column reached August 30. Thither Hood sent Hardee with his corps and that of Stephen D. Lee to attack the Federals. But Hardee found them already intrenched and failed to drive them out (August 31). Lee's corps then marched back to protect Hood's line of retreat from Atlanta. Hardee's single corps was now attacked by greatly superior forces of the enemy, but, notwithstanding the piercing of his centre and the capture of the greater part of Govan's brigade and eight of his cannon, by hard fighting he restored his line and stoutly held it until night. By this gallant stand at Jonesboro, Hardee enabled Hood to withdraw in safety from Atlanta and concentrate his forces at Lovejoy next morning, September 2.

On this same day Sherman took possession of Atlanta, scoring the first decisive victory won by the Union armies in the campaigns of 1864.

But Hood, instead of retreating southward, in less than two weeks moved westward, and on September 20 fixed his headquarters at Palmetto on the West Point railroad. Here President Davis visited the army, to which he made an encouraging speech and in conjunction with General Hood formed a plan, by which it was hoped Sherman might be made to let go his conquests in Georgia. By marching northward and destroying the single line of railroad over which the Federal army drew its supplies, it was hoped that Sherman could be compelled to retire into Tennessee. But, if he should start from Atlanta to march through Georgia, Hood's army could fall upon his rear, while other forces placed in his front might, by united efforts, effect his overthrow. President Davis never intended that General Hood should move his army beyond striking distance of that of Sherman.

Hood crossed the Chattahoochee on October 1 and marched to Dallas, destroyed the railroad for fifteen miles above Marietta and sent General French to capture Allatoona. That officer attacked this post in the early morning of October 5, captured part of the Federal works and drove the Federals under Corse into a little star fort, which he would have forced into a surrender but for the approach of Sherman with his army. French, retiring, rejoined Hood, who, still moving northward, tore up the railroad from Resaca to Tunnel Hill and captured the Federal posts at Tilton, Dalton and Mill Creek Gap. Then, avoiding battle, he marched to Gadsden in Alabama, where he had abundant supplies. Thence he moved in the direction of Florence on the Tennessee. Sherman says that thus far Hood's movements had been rapid and skilful. He had thus far prevented any farther advance of the Federal army in Georgia, for Sherman, leaving one corps to hold Atlanta, had marched northward after Hood. Thus, for more than two months after the fall of Atlanta, Hood kept Sherman in North Georgia. Sherman now sent by rail two of his six corps to reinforce General Thomas, who had been put in command of Tennessee with headquarters at Nashville. With the rest of his army Sherman then turned back toward Atlanta. Hood, instead of hanging on his rear, after consulting with General Beauregard, who had been placed in command of the western department, decided to march into Tennessee.

Let us pause here to consider the losses of the opposing armies from the opening of the campaign at Dalton, May 7, to the fall of Atlanta, Sept. 2, 1864. The greatest strength of the Union army during that period was 113,000 effective troops. Its losses were reported as 4,423 killed, 22,822 wounded and 4,442 captured or missing - 31,087.

The greatest strength of the Confederate army is placed by some at 65,000, by others at 84,000. Probably 71,000 effectives is a correct estimate. The Confederate losses were 3,044 killed, 18,952 wounded and 12,983 captured - 34,979. Major Dawes, of Cincinnati, estimates that each army lost, in round numbers, 40,000.

Soon after Sherman had captured Atlanta, he thought that Georgia could be politically isolated from the other states of the Confederacy, and sent ambassadors to Vice-President Stephens and Governor Brown; but they refused to have anything to do with his propositions and announced the determination of Georgia to succeed or fall with her Southern sisters.

On November 14 Sherman concentrated around Atlanta 60,000 infantry in four corps, the right wing under Howard and the left under Slocum, and 5,500 cavalry under Kilpatrick.

Under Sherman's orders Capt. O. M. Poe "thoroughly destroyed Atlanta, save its mere dwelling houses and churches." There was no effort to keep the flames from spreading and about eleven-twelfths of the city was destroyed. Capt. Daniel Oakey, of the Second Massachusetts Volunteers, says: "Sixty thousand of us witnessed the destruction of Atlanta, while our post band and that of the Thirty-third Massachusetts played martial airs and operatic selections." Nothing can be added to this testimony of the barbarism that marked this whole transaction, which was a fitting sequel to the expulsion of the people of Atlanta soon after its occupation by General Sherman.

There was no force to oppose Sherman's march except 3,000 Georgia Reserves (state troops) under Maj.-Gen. Gustavus W. Smith and Wheeler's cavalry. These forces, by presenting a bold front at Griffin, Forsyth and Macon successively, caused Howard to pass those places unmolested.

At Griswoldville the state troops, contrary to the orders of General Smith, made an attack upon an intrenched Federal division and were repulsed, losing 51 killed and 472 wounded. Yet they remained close to the Federal line until dark, when they were withdrawn to Macon and sent by rail to Thomasville, and from that point to Savannah.

As the Federal army approached Milledgeville, attempts were made to remove the state property and archives. Since the penitentiary had been used for the manufacture of arms and would probably be destroyed, Governor Brown released the convicts and organized them into a uniformed and enlisted battalion under Captain Roberts, which did good service in removing property and in resisting the advance of the enemy.

Along the line of march, Sherman's "Bummers" entering private houses, took everything valuable, burned what they could not carry off and sometimes set fire to the house itself. They tore rings from the fingers of ladies and hung up old men to make them tell where treasures were buried.

Wheeler, with his cavalry, was almost ubiquitous, defeating exposed detachments, preventing foragers from going far from the main body, defending cities and towns along the railroad lines, and in some instances saving arsenals and depots of supplies.

The gallant defense of the railroad bridge over the Oconee river by part of the Georgia reserves and the cadets of the Georgia Military Institute held Howard's advance in check during the 23d and part of the 24th of November. Throughout the 23d the cadets under Austin held the railroad bridge, and Maj. A. L. Hartridge drove back a Federal detachment which had found its way over the river. Throughout the 24th, Gen. H. C. Wayne, in command at this point, kept the bridge until night, stoutly holding one end of it, though the enemy set fire to the other.

Wheeler, at midnight on November 25, learning that Kilpatrick was moving against Augusta, hastened to check him, his march lighted by the barns, cotton gins, corn-cribs and houses fired by the Federals. Near Waynesboro he routed Kilpatrick so effectually that the Federal horsemen sought the protection of their infantry, from which they did not venture again during the campaign.

Since Beauregard was unable to collect troops enough to do more than delay Sherman's march, the Federal army appeared on December 10 near Savannah, which city was defended by 18,000 troops under Lieut.-Gen. Wm. J. Hardee. The approaches to Savannah by water had been hitherto successfully defended, and on the night of July 3, 1864, the Federal gunboat Waterwitch had been captured by a boarding party under Lieuts. Thomas P. Pelot and Joseph Price, and added to the Confederate navy with Lieut. W. W. Carnes in command. In this brilliant affair Lieutenant Pelot was killed. We have seen that Fort McAllister had scored victory after victory over the Union fleet. Now the little fortress was put to the severest test of all. On December 13 Maj.-Gen. Wm. B. Hazen, with his division about 4,000 strong, assaulted Fort McAllister, which was defended by only 230 men. These fought the assailants until they were individually overpowered. Sherman was now able to communicate with his fleet. For eight more days Hardee, with his little army, held Savannah against Sherman's army of more than three times his numbers, and then withdrew across the Savannah, having made one of the most successful retreats of the war.

Before the evacuation Commodore Tattnall destroyed the Confederate ships and naval property, blowing up the water battery Georgia, burning and sinking the Milledgeville and Waterwitch and destroying the navy yard and a large quantity of ship timber. The small steamers Beauregard and General Lee, an unfinished torpedo boat, 150 cannon and 32,000 bales of cotton fell into the hands of the Federals. The ironclad Savannah was still in the river when the United States flag was raised over Fort Jackson, and its commander, Captain Brent, promptly opened fire, drove the troops from the guns of the fort and defiantly flew the Confederate flag until the night of the 21st. Then, running his vessel over to the Carolina shore, he disembarked his crew to join Hardee's column, and at 10 o'clock blew up the Savannah.

General Sherman reported that he had destroyed the railroads for more than 100 miles, had carried away more than 10,000 horses and mules, as well as a countless number of slaves. He said: "I estimate the damage done to the state of Georgia and its military resources at $100,000,000, at least $20,000,000 of which has inured to our advantage, and the remainder is simply waste and destruction."

At the close of 1864 the polls of the state had decreased from 52,764 to 39,863. The state's expenditure for the year had been $13,288,435, and bank capital had decreased one-half. It required $49.00 of Confederate money to buy $1.00 of gold. Governor Brown claimed that during the fall and winter Georgia had a larger proportion of her white population under arms than any other state in the Confederacy. On Jan. 23, 18G5, Gen. Wm. T. Wofford assumed command of the Confederate force in North Georgia with headquarters in Atlanta. There was great destitution through all this section. He called in and organized several thousand men and obtained corn which he and General Judah, of the Federal army, distributed among the people, the two generals having made a truce for that purpose.

Notwithstanding the dreadful condition of affairs, the legislature, which assembled in February, passed resolutions sustaining the continuance of the war.

When the campaign of 1865 opened, the soldiers of Georgia, both in Virginia and in the Carolinas, were ready as ever to stand by their colors to the bitter end. It was the chivalric Georgian, John B. Gordon, who made the desperate attack upon Grant's lines at Fort Stedman, and who, at Appomattox, led the last attack made by the army of Northern Virginia. It was Brig.-Gen. Clement A. Evans, acting as major-general in command of Gordon's division, which included the troops of the old Stonewall Brigade, who, after Lee and Grant had agreed upon terms of surrender, but being on the extreme left, knowing nothing of what had happened, led a successful charge, which shed a parting glory over the army of Northern Virginia.

The last noteworthy military event in Georgia was the cavalry raid of Maj.-Gen. James H. Wilson in April, 1865, who, with 10,000 cavalry, swept through Alabama and entered Georgia near West Point, one of his detachments under Colonel LaGrange defeating a small Confederate force under Gen. Robert C. Tyler (who was killed) April 16. On the same day at Columbus another division of Wilson's force defeated Howell Cobb, capturing 1,200 men and fifty-two field guns. Wilson's forces now took up the line of march for Macon, but when within thirteen miles of Macon they were met by Brigadier-General Robertson of Wheeler's corps under a flag of truce, bearing a letter from General Cobb announcing an armistice between Generals Johnston and Sherman; but before General Wilson could take action, Colonel White, of his command, dashed into the city and received its surrender, Generals Cobb, G. W. Smith and Marshall and the garrison being held as prisoners of war. When informed of the armistice, General Wilson issued the necessary orders to carry it out. On April 30 he received notice of the final capitulation of all the Confederate forces east of the Chattahoochee river.

The last cabinet meeting of the Confederate government was held in Washington, Ga., on May 4 and 5, 1865. On the morning of May 10, 1865, near Irwinville, Ga., President Davis was captured.

Georgia at Close of War.

The close of the war found Georgia in a sad condition. The assessed valuation of the whole taxable property of the state had been reduced from $600,000,000 in 1860, to less than $200,000,000, her resources of every kind had been fearfully depleted, her territory ravaged, her workshops destroyed, her slaves had been freed and her people reduced to poverty. But, with the same courage that had been displayed through all the four years of war, the brave men and noble women of Georgia wasted no time in pining over their lost cause and ruined fortunes. With indomitable spirit they went to work to repair the waste and desolation of war. How well they have succeeded is shown by the proud position which Georgia holds to-day in the restored Union.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. - Avery, Isaac W.: Avery's History of Georgia; Derry, Joseph T.: Story of the Confederate States; Evans, Gen. Clement A.: Confederate Military History (12 Vols.); especially the sixth volume of the work entitled Georgia by Joseph T. Derry; Century Company's Battles and Leaders of the Civil War; Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Rebellion Record), published by the United States Government.

JOSEPH T. DERRY,
Author of The Military History of Georgia; The Story of the Confederate States, etc.

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