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6 VIEW OF KENNESAW /KOVNTAIN- ®\S) ' : ‘ DEPO T '- BREW.TTER.- <r?
Vol. 11.
Planting the Guns on Kennesaw.
[During the fighting around Marietta,
Ga., between .Johnston’s and Sherman’s ar
mies in June, 1864, Kennesaw Mountain
was the key to the Confederate line. Its
“wood-covered sides, breaking down into
deep ravines, made an impregnable military
position.” The road leading to the crest of
Little Kennesaw being difficult of ascent,
and exposed to the enemy’s fire, the Confed
erates dragged their artillery straight up
the side of the mountain, on the south, by
ropes (prolongues,) and thus planted them
“above the dizzy heights.”]
Ho! comrades, haste, a famous task
Is named for u> to-day,
No soldier in soft ease must bask
When comrades join the fray;
Fair Marietta—beauty’s haunt! —
And fields where strife’s the law;
We’ll leave the while until we plant
The guns on Kennesaw.
Chorus —
A long pull and a strong pull,
Tho’ our hands be torn and raw,
We’ll sing fame’s anthem as we drag
The guns up Kennesaw:
Then hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!
’Mid crags where eagles nested,
Where proudly ravens caw,
Above the dizzy heights we’ll plant
The guns on Kennesaw!
Three weeks the storm of battle drear
Hath raged ’niong hills and wood,
Three weeks its thunder’s rattle, here,
Hath echoed where we’ve stood ;
Three weeks our land hath grieved
’Neath tread of martial hosts, —
God grant it be delivered
The fate told in their boasts!
War’s tempest dash’d ’gainst Lost Mount
steep,
Ting’d Noonday’s stream with blood,
Burst ruin’s gory fountain deep,
Drenched Gilgal with its flood :
With wrath almost romantic e’en
It hugged the railroad’s trail,
Each Western and Atlantic’s scene
Hath heard some Rachel’s wail.
But ah! could dark Pine Mountain speak
Death’s saddest tale ’twould tell, -
For there upon its lonely peak
Our bishop warrior fell,
Lo! sanctified henceforth fore’er
By his pure blood ’twill stand
A monument, an altar dear,
A shrine for freedom’s land,
A. humorous dare-clevil—the very man. to suit my purpose. Bui.w er.
SPRING-TIDE KT U NIB ER,.
And now, with sounds like ocean’s roar,
The foe’s hosts ’round us draw,
Until their tides of fury pour
Against grand Kennesaw:
They’ve till’d each wood which skirts
base,
They’ve crown’d each hill with guns,
They hurl hate’s darts into the face
Os each of Dixie’s sons.
But ah! we’ll thwart them here to-day,
We’ll climb this hill of Mars,
We’ll seem with lightning’s tires to play,
To hurl bolts from the stars;
We’ll scale the cliffs where eagles Hew,
We’ll raise the wild huzza,
And plant ’mid clouds of golden hue
The guns on Kennesaw !
So now, like busy woodmen, quick,
With axes«6cores appear, ».
And up the slopes, through forests thick,
A roadway for us clear ;
Then with long ropes to each piece tied.
Which hundreds taut do draw,
We ready stand to drag, with pride,
The gunsup Ken ,wour
ATLANTA. CA., MARCH 1, 1887.
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PLANTING THE GENS ON KENNESAW.
All through the eve, all through the night
We climb, and toil, and groan;—
The crags how steep!—no stars give light !
Our songs sunk to low moan :
But as we view, west, on the plain,
The foe’s camp fires, “Hurrah!”
We shout, “we’ll plant, ’spite sweat and
pain,
The guns on Kennesaw!”
But praise to God! our labor’s done,
We’ve reach’d the mountain’s brow,
The-dawn comes, and the golden sun
Gilds all with radiance now ;
But not more glorious to our sight
His beams appear to-day,
Than to our hearts doth wild delight
The hymn of triumph play.
“The guns, the guns on. Kennesaw !”
The gladsome shout we raise,
“The guns, the guns on Kennesaw,
Now terror’s fires shall blaze!
Ho! swarm ye from ten thousand tents,
Yea, fill the plains with arms,
’Gainst all your wrath we’ve sure defense,
We scoru your threats of harms I
“Upon the South’s grand citadel
We’ve placed the crown of war,
Its gems, the guns we love so well,
Whose Hash outshines morn’s star;
And when is heard their thunder’s boom
The royal mount shall wear
Os towering smoke a lordlier plume
Than Henry’s of Navarre!”
Thus up the slopes of Kennesaw
The guns our heroes drag,
Thus’on its crest with joy, yet awe,
Plant them ’mid clill'and crag;
The fleecy clouds drift far below,
Our banners kiss the skies,
And, ’neath this battlement, the foe
Knows we Ids power despise.
IMleut of the Bombardment of
Kennesaw.
On the northern'side of Kennesaw Moun
tain, slightly below the summit, running
full length, are still the remains of the Con
federate entrenchments which were occupied
by their infantry lines during a portion of
June, ISGI. Their batteries were stationed
on the summit of the mountain above them.
The Federal batteries on the hills and in
the forest below occasionally maintained a
tremendous bombardment upon the summit
of the mountain.
In conversation with a distinguished mil
itary officer, who was on the mountain dur
ing the military operations at that time, we
inquired of him if during these bombard
ments the infantry were not withdrawn from
their entrenchments on the north side oi the
mountain and sheltered on the south side.
He answered that this was never the case;
that they were as safe in their entrenchments
and among the crags and forest growth as
they would have been on* the other side of
the slope. He added that the woods were
so thick that the Fedcrals could not deter
mine the location of the infantry lines with
any degree of accuracy; hence, were not
able to annoy them to any great extent-.
It is stated that thousands of tons of solid
shot and shells were hurled at the two sum
mits of Kennesaw Mountain from the Fed
eral batteries, during the numerous bom
bardments which they directed against
them, yet the loss of the Confederates was
comparatively insignificant.
The eflect of the lire from the Federal
batteries, however, was to almost denude
the top of the mountain of its forest growth.
Thousands of Parrott shells flew among the
trees, knocking them to pieces, and it was
frequently unsafe for parties to walk on the
summit oi the southern slope of the moun
tain, near the crest. The Hying limbs of
the trees added to the deadly eflect of the
shells which had struck them. The summit
was littered with the debris of the forest.
The Keuuesaw Route always ahead.
NO. 5.