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F" " If— > I ■ KtHWSAV K V ' ■ "' J fci*-ALLEYi N-Y) f ' Vol. 11. The Heroic Deeds of Women. From the “Battle-fields Folder of the Western & Atlantic Railroad we make the following extract which ac companies the description of the bat tle of Resaca, May 9, 1864: While the Federal army was fight ing General Canty’s forces on the out skirts of Resaca, a body of Federal cavalry went northeastward to Green’s wood-station, on the Western & At lantic Railroad, between Resaca- and Tilton. One or two of the men climb ed the poles and cut the telegraph wires, thus breaking communication between Resaca and Dalton. Shortly afterwards, a Western & At lantic train which had been sent up to this point from Resaca for wood ar rived, and as the engineer was blowing his whistle at a lively rate, the Feder al cavalry presumed that the train had a force of Confederates who had been sent to drive them away. They accord ingly stampeded toward the west to join McPherson’s army. The train having passed, Mrs. Bach man and her sister, Miss Carrie Sims, who both had, from Mr. Bachman’s house on a hill near by, noticed the Federals cutting the telegraph wire, went down to the railroad, carrying with them a piece of telegraph wire which they had picked up near their gate. Mrs. Bachman told her sister that they would endeavor to fasten the ends of the wire and restore communication between Dalton and Resaca, inasmuch as the fate of Johnston’s army might depend upon the telegraphic commu nication being restored before day break. The ladies requested a couple of men employed in furnishing wood to aid them in their undertaking; but the men, who had hidden in the bushes, refused to come out. The ladies then said that they would fasten it them selves, and began the undertaking. Just about this time a Confederate officer (Captain Clark) appeared, and being informed of the state of affairs, compelled the other two men to come and assist in fastening the wires togeth er, which was done within a few min utes. General Johnston then received in telligence of the attack upon Resaca by the Federals in heavy force, and of their temporary repulse. During the night he sent down Hood’s corps of three divisions, under Generals Hindman, Cleburne and Walker, to re-enforce the garrison at Resaca, and the place was thus made -A- humorous da.r*@-d@vil---tlie very man to suit my purpose. Bulwer. “WOZMEN’S HEROISM” NUMBER. impregnable against McPherson’s fur ther attempts. The heroic deed of these two ladies possibly saved Johnston’s army, and / PM I ggKL ~ 'I w% 'B ■ CTI 7 entitles them to a high position on the page of fame. How often, during the world’s histo ry, have great results ensued from deeds apparently insignificant at the time of their occurrence. This re mark is not more fully exemplified by any incident on record than by that above shown. The movement by McPherson’s ar my through Snake Creek Gap against Resaca was in overwhelming force — there being about twenty-three thou sand men against only about three thousand who were garrisoning Re saca. The two ladies above referred to, noticing the cutting of the telegraph wires by a detachment of Federals, (who, by the way, were a portion of the Ninth Illinois mounted Infantry, un der command of Captain Hughes,) and hearing the sound of artillery firing in the direction of Resaca, correctly sur mised that there was a movement be ing made against the rearjof the Con federatearmy, and against its line of communication with Atlanta. When the Federal cavalrymen had ATLANTA, CA., MAY I, 1887. disappeared, the two went down to the side of the railroad, and, as shown in the above extract, from the “Battle fields Folder,” restored telegraphic communication between Resaca and Dalton. The fact that there was a piece of telegraph wire lying near their gate, was another one of those “mysterious happenings-so,” as the world terms it, which enabled them to do this. Their quick wits called to remembrance the fact that this niece of wire was lying there, and that it could be used, and therefore it was used. Had McPherson captured Resaca it would have resulted in the break down of the Atlanta Campaign right at that point, so far as the Confederates were concerned, as they would have been compelled to have abandoned all of their army stores and to have retreated over rough mountain roads toward the east, and Sherman could have arrived at Atlanta almost as soon as they. But the heroic deed performed by Mrs. Bachman and her sister, who is now Mrs. Robert S. Rush ton, of Dal ton, proved the means of salvation for Johnston’s army, and deferred the fall of Atlanta for months, and consequent-1 ly that of the Confederacy. No matter how people may differ as to their ideas in regard to the Federal or Confederate side of the great con- “''Hi —jlj l,: A|r" jWb r ' WwaJSnLj J vw--1v 1 v-li® / z -An h troversy at arms twenty-five years ago, there can be nothing but agreement that the deed of the two ladies was one which deserves to stand high upon the roll of fame. | The Western & Atlantic Railroad is proud of its heroines, and wishes for them many more years of life and hap piness. The Swiftsure, One of the old-time locomotives of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which was in service before'the war, during the war, and for some years after the war. was sold by the Western &' At lantic Railroad company to a road in Alabama sometime during the ’7o’s. The “Swift sure” was at one time a brag engine, and did a great amount of service. She finally ran off the track, we understand, down in Ala bama, and tore herself to pieces. During the bombardment of At lanta, in 1864, she had a pretty close call. She was standing at the west ern end of the union passenger depot one day, ready to go down to Macon, when a shell from a Federal battery west of Atlanta struck her front cen tre-plate about as square as it was pos sible for it to be done. The shell crashed through the centre-plate and struck against the end of the boiler I within; but did not explode. Had it done so, the “Swiltsure’s” career would have been brought to an end as sud den as it would have been disastrous. The train-men were pretty chary about handling the shell for a number of minutes after the occurrence; but some one finally removed it, and she was then tak en off for repairs, and with in the next day made all right again. If you want to be sure of having a good and safe ride in luxurious cars on through schedules, the Western & Atlantic is the road you are hunting for. It fills all the re quirements, and the way its passenger business has increased, shows that the public have found this out. The Kennesaw Route always ahead. NO. 9.