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4 of Featherston’s entire front. A de structive fire was here opened upon them from the entrenchments, which compelled a halt; but, taking position in the forest, amid the tangled under growth, they kept, in return, a furious fire upon the Confederates, lhe bat teries upon the mountain, and those located along Featherston’s lines, pour ed forth a terrific storm ot shot and shell upon their front and flanks. For almost an hour they gamely held their position, unable to advance and reluc tant to retreat; but, at length, having lost seven commanding officers of reg iments and hundreds of men, some of them within thirty feet of the Confed erates’ principal works, Logan ordered his men to retire to the line of rifle pits they had first captured. During the same time an impetuous assault was made upon Wheeler’s troops, and Quarles' brigade of Wal thall’s division, in front of and upon the mountain, in the shelter of rifle pits. A body of Federals charged in to Quarles’ rifle pits, where most of them were killed or captured. Many of the Federals also were picked oft by the Confederate skirmishers, firing from behind trees, rocks, etc., on the ■ side of the mountain. These were scattered irregularly among the crags and forest growth below the Confeder ate breastworks, but high enough above the field to command a full view over it, and the Federal advance, which is said to have been made by a i portion of Blair’s corps. Against the lesser Kennesaw there was a heavy demonstration and hot fire maintained in front, and a very vigorous charge was made upon the j western end of the mountain, which was held by French’s division. • • i The attack upon Cockrell’s Missouri ! brigade, which occupied the extreme j west of the ridge, on French’s left, was I very determined and impetuous —the | Federal advance driving in the skirmish- I ers, and pressing resolutely forward ! till within about twenty paces of the Confederate line; but here it was met by a cool steadiness which checked and finally repulsed it. This attempt was principally by Howard’s corps, under the cover of the concentration of about fifty field-pjeces, which, bursting forth from battery to battery, were bom barding the Confederate position with terrible fury. The assailing columns likewise advanced rapidly from the west, and dashed fiercely through the skirmishers on Walker’s right, imme diately south of the mountain, taking in reverse those on the right and left, while they were also being attacked in front. Within a few minutes about eighty of Walker’s men, it is said, had been bayonetted or capturedintheir ri fle-pits. Walker’s line was assaulted with great vigor; but here, in addition to the musketry fire from his front, the Federals were enfiladed by that of the Confederate batterieson little Ken nesaw, some of the guns of which General French had rolled back from facing north, and turned upon them. This tempest of bombshells, grape and canister, within a short time, drove them back, and relieved Walker from the attack. An exciting episode of the battle here occurred when a schrapnel shot, with a smoking fuse, passed under the head log and fell among the men in the ditch. A stampede instantly com menced, in the midst of which a Geor gia sergeant leaped forward, seized the projectile, and threw it cut of the trenches, where the explosion did no harm. But the most determined and pow erful assault was made by Palmer’s corps of the Army of the Cumberland, THE GREAT KENNESAW ROUTE GAZETTE. with Hooker in reserve, and with such other support as could be spared, upon the entrenchments held by Cheat ham’s and Cleburne’s divisions, which extended through the rolling country south of the mountain. The Federal troops, several lines deep, conscious of their very decided superiority in num bers, pressed forward, with bayonets glistening and banners waving, and with wild cheers, through the forest, which was badly tangled with under growth, until they came almost to the Confederate fortifications. Here an appalling fire was opened upon them from all along the works. By Cle- 7 \ H ,. ~, * \ J C \ \ ' ZWwO/ 7 / OliveN > f\ School I V . Ch. J ' ewton ' s 1 HousmT■ ) K V i-/ CaValryffiatUe <A KeiMieskiw ■ ,s( JWSw '? //>/ A L-J 1A Greafr'B'attle of \ Z*7 \ A / \ "yr ail gal z Xlll ‘ iVy li" \ ' S '~\ 'd f Cliurelik y \ A y-J ARI ETTA AU q J \ 7 S S X (SeceUe syChuj lchc; MAI’ ()i i / i ijoZioulChurZli ' /UpAhawJP.O. ) S < <\Z. f j •MARIETTA- // AND VICINITY y | 1 '/a a 1 2 MILES J \ // '? ..., U / TA ~, f Li MATTHEWS. NORTHRUP & CO.. ART PRINTING. V/jRKS, BUFFALO. N. Y. burue’s troops, particularly, they were permitted to approach within nearly twenty paces before a gun was fired. i Then there burst forth from beneath the headlogs a fearful sheet of flame and smoke, and, at one or two points, almost the entire Federal column was prostrated by the volley. Succeeding this murderous sweep of i death, there arose from behind the en ; trenchments a wild and piercing sound It was the “ rebel yell.” Often ere ! *• this had it been heard on the fields of strife ; but never before had it smote the ears of those whom it now greeted with mere daring defiance than in this minute of horror and blood. Above the roar of battle, clear and shrill, it rang out, and again and yet again was it re-echoed from the mountain crags back to the woody recesses of the plain. Like an inspiration from the genii Jft '■&-=?■ JB&Fi 4T # wO mF of ruin, it seemed to arouse those from whose throats it leaped forth to more than mortal energy ; and now, from ten thousand muskets, and from a score of cannon there poured forth an inces sant blaze, which scattered carnage and death for hundreds of yards an und. 'J his storm of missiles from theearth works in front was so destructive that further advance was impossible. The ground and the forest were torn up by musket balls, grape and canister, solid shot and exploding bombs. From French’s batteries, on the crest of Ken nesaw, also, a furious bombardment was c irected upon them. So continu ous and rapid was this that the moun- tain seemed literally on fire ; and the murky clouds of smoke enveloping its summit, and rising majestically toward the heavens, combined with the tumul tuous roar from their midst, presented, in terrific grandeur, the veritable ap pearance of a volcanic eruption ; while the air, above and around the assault ing columns,- wasobscured by the puffs of smoke from the bursting shells, which hurled their fragments in a thousand directions among the Federal ranks, or, screaming through the for est, tore whole trees to pieces, scatter irg the branches with swaths of de struction on every side. The Federal troops, dreadfully scourged, lay down upon the ground, within range of the murderous mus ketry fire of their enemy, and sought all the shelter possible, in the mean time pouring back volley after volley in return ; and finally entrenched themselves beneath this fearful tem pest —it being safer to remain than to flee. Once, under General Harker’s lead ership, they attempted to renew the assault; but, almost at the very para pet, Harker fell mortally wounded, and the whole line was swept back be fore the awful iron hail which was poured into their faces. At one or two points the charging columns press ed forward to the very ditches before the breastworks, and some of their dead were found against the- works themselves. The fall of General Harker was greatly deplored by officers and men alike. Gallant, dashing and generous, he had conspicuously distinguished himself on every field of battle from i Chickamauga to Kennesaw inclusive; and, of all the field officers in the Fed eral army, was probably more admired for plucky courage, and more highly esteemed for genial, sociable personal traits than any of his comrade lead- i ers. In the midst of the melee attending this last dash, a United States flag was planted on Cheatham’s works. A Con -1 federate captain immediately sprang to the top to gain possession of this. The federal color-bearer faced him brave-1 ly, and a hand to hand struggle en- sued between the two over the flag, which resulted in the Tennesseean’s being shot dead by his antagonist. But the next instant a dozen bullets, fired from within the entrenchments, rid dled the intrepid color-bearer, and he fell, slain, with his hand tightly clasped around the staff of the ban ner he had defended so well ; but which now became the trophy of the exultant Confederates. Near this same point a Confederate sergeant leaped over the works, seized the standard of the 27th Illinois regi ment, wrested it from the bearer, and Drought it triumphantly back with him. For this daring act General Hardee presented the flag to its cap tor. Just after the repulse of this second desperate assault, the dry leaves, etc., in the forest before the Confederate entrenchments were set on fire by the bombshells and gun wadding, and be gan burning rapidly around the Fede ral wounded. This horrible scene was observed by the Confederates, who were ordered instantly to cease firing, and one of their commanders called to the Federalsand stated that, as an act of humanity, his men would suspend further battle until the assailants could carry off their wounded, who were in danger of being burnt Hive. The of fer was accepted, and the Federal wounded were rescued from the awful fate which threatened them, and then the combat was renewed by both sides with the most determined zeal. In the meantime, along the entire line for miles, there was maintained between both armies a tremendous fire of artillery and musketry. From the crest of Kennesaw Mountain, this is said to have presented an imposing pan orama. General French says of it: We sat there perhaps an hour enjoying a bird’s-eye view of one of the most magnifi cent sights ever allotted to man—to look down upon an hundred and fifty thousand men arrayed in the strife of battle on the plain below. As the infantry closed in the blue smoke of the musket marked out our line for miles, while over it rose in cumuli like clouds the white smoke of the artillery. Through the rifts of smoke,or as it was wafted aside by the wind, we could see the assault made on Cheatham, and there the struggle was hard, and there it lasted longest. So many guns were trained on those by our side, and so incessant was the roar of can non and the iharp explosion of shells, that naught else could be heard. * * * * The battle, in its entirety, became a pa geantry on a grand scale, and barren of re sults, because the attacking columns were too small in numbers, considering the char acter of the troops they knew they would encounter. In this great struggle the Federal army numbered about er over a hun dred thousand men, the Confederates had about fifty-five thousand engaged; the Confederate loss in killed, wound ed and missing was 808 men; that of the Federals has never been exactly rt ported, but it is conceded that it went up into the thousands. Sherman’s Generals, after some three hours, withdrew their shattered battalions from nearly all the points of assault, and, for one time, there was a confessed failure of a great move in the campaign. , Has any one referred to Sullivan as the “ noblest Roman of the maul?” If not, we hope it will not be men tioned-, for he isn’t. He (solemnly ) —“ You had a very narrow escape last night, Miss Julia. She —“Why, what do you mean? He—“ Well, you see, I had a dream about you. I thought I was justabout to kiss you, when the housemaid rapped at the door and I woke up.” She (after a pause) —“ That girl must go.