HOOD'S THIRD STROKE. subordinate in the 20th Corps command), | were broken and scattered Howard's new army was partially deployed on the evening of the 27th. The 16th and 17th Corps were fully in line, and drove well | in the rebel outposts. On the morning of the 28th, Logan's 15th Corps was put in line on the right, and at the same time Jeff. C. Davis' division of the 14th Corps, which had been thrown in reserve by the movement of the Army of the Tennessee, was ordered to Turner's ferry, thence to come in on the Lickskillet road, well on the right flank of the 15th Corps. 433 Hood's Third Stroke. again they rallied, renewing the assault, while their artillery filled the air with shells; but, Logan's men never wavered. Crouching behind their little log-piles--in places scarce two feet high-every charging column was broken, although its leading files frequently reached the parapet, only to fall dead upon it, or to be hauled by main force over the lines, as prisoners. Now was the time for Davis' division to have been on hand. Coming on Hood's left flank he could have rolled up the regiments one by one, bringing rout and disaster upon the rebel army. But, he had become entangled among the multitudinous Turner's ferry roads, and, being obliged to move very cautiously, did not arrive at his post until after the enemy had withdrawn. In this battle Hood lost from 3000 to 5000 men, of his veteran troops. The proportion of the killed was unusually large. In one place-where a regiment of the 15th Corps had used the Spencer repeating rifle upon the flank of the charging column, a Louisiana The whole army now advanced to the crest of the ridge. The 16th and 17th Corps were halted just beyond the Utoy road, which ran along this crest, and at once commenced to fortify their line as best they could. Near the point where Blair's right touched Logan's left, stood a little old church, known as Ezra church. Howard and Sherman both were with Logan. In expectation of another of Hood's dashes, Sherman instructed the General to have his line fortified instantly | regiment left the best part of its ranks dead on getting the troops in position. By this time it was near ten o'clock at night. The men gathered rails, logs, stones-any thing for a temporary shelter, pending the construction of the usual earthen parapet. Scarce ten minutes had elapsed, when Hood attacked, after his usual style, striking full on the front of Logan's corps. He had massed on his left during the night of the 27th, hurrying his troops across the diameter of his semicircle of defense, as soon as he discovered the movement of the Army of the Tennessee. Supposing that he had got well beyond the Union right flank, and expecting to find Howard's troops still in motion, and of course without fortifications, the Confederate advanced in solid lines to the charge. Striking Logan's pickets, he swept them away at a blow, and then, as his over-confident troops sent up their wild, triumphant cheer, they fell full upon the little piles of logs and stones held by the 15th Corps, and received from them such a whirlwind of bullets, that line after line of Hardee's best men upon the ground-Lieutenant-Colonel and Major, four Captains, three Lieutenants and a long row of enlisted men, marked in blood the place where this regiment had been. ▲ rebel Colonel, captured, being asked how many men Hood had left, replied, looking mournfully around: "About enough for two more such killings!" Hood now was satisfied to remain quietly in his works, waiting for Sherman to attack. Sherman, finding that the Army of the Tennessee did not reach the railroad, threw the entire 14th Corps, and the Army of the Ohio, upon his right. Palmer, of the 14th Corps, was directed to receive orders from General Schofield in his movements; and while the 14th Corps extended the line of the 15th, Schofield's 23d Corps was to strike out boldly for the railroad. The success of this move depended entirely upon Schofield's reaching his objective point, before Hood could extend his left to check him. Palmer, however, did not obey Schofield's orders in relation to the movements of the 14th Corps, raising, it was understood, some question of Prolongation of the Lines. Wheeler's Raid. did no especial damage, burning a few bridges and tearing up some track, besides capturing a large drove of beeves, which were being driv en from Chattanooga. To seriously cripple rank. The delay which ensued was fatal to the expedition; for, by the time General Sherman had been appealed to and the matter settled by the deposition of Palmer, Hood's lines had been extended to confront | Sherman's movements by such means was Schofield's advance, with the usual fortifications. Hood's lines were now nearly twelve miles in length, and held in part by the large militia force which Gevernor Brown of Ga., had called out for temporary service. Weak points were inevitable in such a line, although militia were fully qualified to hold the heavy works about Atlanta. As much of the line was well hidden by timber, and a strongly fortified picket covered the whole, it was no easy matter to determine these weak points. An advance of the 23d Corps, Aug. 6th, with a view to piercing through to the railroad, was repulsed, with considerable National loss. The weak point certainly was not there. The "Siege." Both armies for a time refrained from serious open operations Sherman silently but surely pressing forward, till nearly all the troops of his three armies were encamped within easy range of the powerful works. A constant picket firing and cannonading was maintained, which rendered it extremely uncomfortable to move about, except under cover of the fortifications. The men faced their sleeping places with miniature parapets, to keep out bullets and shells, and heavy traverses were erected around the regimental and brigade headquarters for the same purpose. The provision trains were encamped a mile or two to the rear, but even there the shells of the enemy's 100-pounder rifle guns occasionally penetrated. Some 30-pound Rodman guns were brought from Chattanooga and used with good effect upon the enemy's line. But, all this produced no change in the general position of affairs on either side. General Sherman resolved upon a bold move, and prepared orders on the 16th for a grand flank movement of the entire army. Most opportunely at this time General Hood dispatched his cavalry under Wheeler to cut Sherman's communications-the long slender rail-artery which supplied his army. Wheeler impossible, for his heavy fortifications at Allatoona covered vast stores of provisions and ammunition which could well sustain the army, even if the railway north were badly damaged. Kilpatrick's Counter Raid. Steedman and Rosseau's commands were detailed to take care of Wheeler; while Kilpatrick was dispatched with a strong force of cavalry to effectually destroy the West Point and Macon roads, the orders of marching, to the main army, meanwhile being suspended. Kilpatrick returned on the 22d, reporting a serious damage done to the Macon road at Jonesboro', where he had driven off Ross' cavalry, and where he had been in turn driven off by infantry from Atlanta. Sherman, not deeming it safe to trust entirely to the effect of Kilpatrick's work on the Macon road, renewed his orders for the general movement of the army. Thomas was instructed to send the 20th Corps, under Slocum, to the strong fortifications about the Chattahoochee railroad bridge. His other two corps General Order No. 57. the 4th and 14th-he was to place upon the right of Schofield, who would merely describe a small circle around East Point, as the armies moved. Howard's Army of the Tennessee was assigned to the extreme right flank, his line of march being given by circuitous roads near the river, to Fairburne, on the West Point road. At night, August 25th, Stanley's 4th Corps drew out of its works on the left, and passing in the rear of the main line, moved well out upon the road designated. The trains with fifteen days' rations were placed on roads between Thomas' and Howard's line of march, so as to be out of reach of an enemy. Next night-the 26th-Sherman's army loosed its hold on Atlanta. The 20th Corps fell back to the Chattahoochee, covering all the crossings, while the other troops also carried out the instructions contained in that remarkable General Order No. 57. Advance of the Army. On the 28th the entire | pushed on, sending word to Sherman from army was on the West the Renfew house of what he had done. He Point railroad; Howard at Fairburn, Thomas succeeded in forcing his way over Flint river, at Red Oak, and Schofield at Diggs' and saving the bridge, but was compelled to halt, Minns'. One entire day was devoted to de- at dark, with a rapidly accumulating force stroying the railroad. Ties were dug out of the enemy on his front, within a half mile and burnt, rails were bent and twisted around of Jonesboro'. Neither of the other columns the trees, and the deep cuts were filled with met with resistance, and then were camped trees well packed down with earth, and in- on the Fayetteville road-Thomas at Couch's, terspersed with torpedoes. Schofield by Warren's mills. Hood now felt the need of his absent cavalry. Sherman's host had disappeared, and he could only guess where it had gone. By making investigations toward the river he speedily found that the bridges were strongly held, and the Confederate commander had just come to the conclusion that some unexpected success of Wheeler had obliged Sher- | man to fall back behind the river, when news came from the south that a large force of cavalry and infantry had cut the West Point road, and were moving toward the Macon road! Lee's corps at once was dispatched down that railroad, to keep off the intruders. Then, hearing further reports of the strength of this expedition-which he still regarded as but a powerful raiding party - Hardee's | corps was sent after Lee, with orders for Hardee to assume command of both corps, and to move to the threatened point, wherever that might be. Stewart's corps was held with the militia in the works around Atlanta. The West Point road having been utterly destroyed for twelve miles, the army moved eastward. All the columns had instructions to halt, and communicate with headquarters, on reaching the main road from Fayetteville to Decatur. Schofield, nearest Atlanta, was surprised to meet no opposition, while Howard met more of the enemy than he expected, as Hardee had taken it for granted that Jonesboro' was the threatened point, and was sending every man he could get, to delay Howard's march till his two corps could reach Jonesboro'. On reaching his designated halting place, General Howard felt that it was important to reach the railroad that night, as the enemy evidently were anxious to gain time for concentration on his front. Accordingly, he Next morning, Sherman put the entire army in motion for the railroad. He also re-enforced Schofield with one of Thomas' corps the 4th-as if he still expected Hood on that flank. Howard, finding himself in the presence of a large force of the enemy, deployed his army at day-break, the 15th Corps in the centre, with the 16th and 17th Corps on either flank, General Kilpatrick's cavalry connected with the 16th Corps on the right. The troops were directed to fortify at once, and sending word to General Sherman, Howard awaited further developments. About three o'clock in the afternoon, Hardee threw his own, and Lee's corps upon Howard, evidently expecting to carry all before him. Logan's 15th Corps bore the full force of this attack, and, coolly standing up to their work, the men poured telling volleys full into the rebel columns. It was a mere repetition of July 28th, except that here the 15th Corps had better defenses. After two hours of alternate attack and repulse, Hardee withdrew, leaving dead and wounded upon the field, and many pri-oners in Howard's hands. His loss was nearly three thousand; Logan's was four hundred and fifty. All this time Schofield and Thomas had been busily tearing up the Macon road. Reaching the track in three places about the same time, they at once commenced its destruction, as General Sherman desired to make sure of what he had gained. When Howard's messengers arrived, and later, when the sound of his guns was heard, Sherman turned the army upon Jonesboro', to take advantage of Hood's mistake in dividing his forces. Thomas was directed to connect his right with Howard, and then to perform a right wheel of his army, upon Hardee's left, while Schofield, at Rough and Ready, was to turn | fused murmur. Men sprang to their feet to south, and march by roads easterly of the listen, and the wildest rumors floated through railroad, so as to come in on the left of Tho- camp of fierce battles being fought, no one mas, and in the rear of Hardec. knew where. Then it was whispered that Atlanta- the stronghold-was ours; that the campaign was ended; that Hood was outgeneraled by this great flank movement ! Prisoners, picked up as the army moved after Hardee in hot pursuit, said that Hood had evacuated the city. Not until the morning of September 3d, while the troops lay in the trenches before Lovejoy's station, did they receive the official announcement, with cheers that roused every echo in those old hills"Atlanta is ours, and fairly won !" About noon of September 1st, General Jefferson C. Davis, who had succeeded Palmer in command of the 14th Corps, had formed a long line stretching away from the left of Howard far to northward. Howard's artillerists kept the enemy busy while the lines were forming, and twenty guns massed on a hill to his left were battering away at the rebel works about Jonesboro', while Sherman and Thomas stood by watching the formation of the lines. It was even so. The work was done. Hood, securely happy in the belief that the siege was raised, remained in Atlanta, re As Davis' troops came into position, Blair's 17th Corps had been thrown in reserve, and was now ordered to move rapidly around to Howard's right, to take the place of Kilpat-ceiving the gratulations of the citizens, who rick's cavalry, which Sherman had sent to cut the railroad below Jonesboro'. His The day was passing; still Schofield and Stanley were far back on the road, delayed by the execrable by-ways over which they must pick their way, retarded by swamps, by bridgeless streams, by morass and woods. Messenger after messenger was sent to hurry them up; Stanley even was not available for General Thomas. At last Davis was ordered to advance without waiting longer. troops already had been moved close under the rebel works, so that there was one moment's pause, then a prolonged cheer, a sharp roll of musketry and quick volleys of artillery from the rebels, and Hardee's left was broken. An entire brigade of infantry, and two batteries of artillery were among the captured in this charge. But now, to rout Hardee, Stanley was necessary, for Hardee's men rallied quickly and fought well. Stanley did not come till dusk, howThen he was moved up into the rear of the rebels, capturing hospitals and wounded, but darkness prevented further work. Next morning of course Hardee was gone, and Jonesboro fully abandoned. But, during the night, strange rumblings had been heard, muttering low in the northern horizon; then bursting, out into fierce explosions as if a hundred cannon had fired at once, and again dying into a muffled, con ever. Atlanta Won! were assured that Hardee and Lee could take care of the raiding party on the Macon road. On the 31st of August came a courier, his horse reeking with sweat. Soon the stunning news crept out. "Sherman's whole army had possession of the railroad, and had turned upon that fraction of the rebel army as it lay helpless at Jonesboro'!" The information came with the distant sound of booming guns. Nothing remained for Hood but to acknowledge himself outwitted, and all but lost. He could but abandon the city and hasten to unite with Hardee's remaining troops. Hurrying the motley mass of militia out of his way to Covington, he put Stewart in motion at once for McDonough. Three trains of cars loaded with ammunition were sent to the outskirts of town and fired, waking the country far and wide with those tremendous explosions which had so puzzled our troops at Jonesboro'. Everything that could be destroyed by fire was burned, and so Hood left the city he had vowed to defend to the last. By daylight of the 2d Slocum's watchful pickets ascertained that no enemy was in their front, and, shortly after, the Stars and Stripes waved again in Atlanta as the 20th Corps marched through its streets. Another great railroad centre was lost to the rebels; another city of founderies, machine shops and arsenals was gone. The |