!•* &
bSIA*. ’i-'-
IPyjlilSl
SAS&S';'
sTv
Mesas
MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA.
B.T OLIVER O. HOWARD, MAJOR-GENERAL , IT. S. A.
W HEN Sherman decided to march south from Atlanta , he ordered toThomas at Nashville Schofield with the Twenty-third Corps , Stanleywith the Fourth Corps , all the cavalry, except Kilpatrick’s division, all thedetachments drawn back from the railway line, and such other troops, includ-ing A. J. Smith’s, as Sherman’s military division could furnish. Shermanreserved for his right wing my two corps, the Fifteenth and Seventeenth;and for his left wing the Fourteenth and Twentieth under Slocum. Mine,the Army of the Tennessee, numbered 33,000; Slocum’s, the “Army ofGeorgia,” 30,000; Kilpatrick’s division of cavalry, 5000; so that the aggre-gate of all arms was 68,000 men. All surplus stores and trains were sentback to Tennessee . The railway south of the Etowah was next completelydemolished. Under the efficient management of Colonel O. M. Poe, Sherman’schief engineer, all that was of a public nature in Atlanta which could aidthe enemy was destroyed. Wrecked engines, bent and twisted iron rails,blackened ruins and lonesome chimneys saddened the hearts of the fewpeaceful citizens who remained there.
Behold now this veteran army thus reorganized and equipped, with mode-rate baggage and a few days’ supply of small rations, but with plenty ofammunition, ready to march anywhere Sherman might lead. Just beforestarting, Sherman had a muscular lameness in one arm that gave him greattrouble. On a visit to him I found his servant bathing and continuouslyrubbing the arm. As I understood the general’s ruling, I would commandnext to him, because I had from the President an assignment to an army anda department. I was therefore especially anxious to know fully his plans,and plainly told him so. While the rubbing went on he explained in detail
663