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crushed by Bragg’s pursuing army,
pressing the whole of them from
behind. Even admitting that they
could have gathered provisions enough
to live on, the almost daily battles
would soon have exhausted their
ammunition, and then what? Sur
render.
The fact that Bragg failed to appre
ciate the value and extent of his vic
tory, and failed to take that advan
tage of it which some of his best gen
erals insisted to the utmost degree
that he should take, and which even
his private soldiers were bitterly dis
appointed that he did not, is in no
sense an argument that the battle
of Chickamauga was a drawn battle.
Let us let that stand on its own merits,
and then nobody can properly claim
that it was other than a great Confed
erate victory.
The direct results of the battle, for
the Federals, were a consciousness of
discomfiture, of failure to drive their
enemy, and further, of failure to pre
vent their enemy from driving them
back, of the loss of thousands of men
killed and wounded, and of other
thousands captured, of about fifty can
non, some 15,000 small arms, dozens
of standards (which soldiers consider it
the essence of shame to lose) and
immense quantities of stores lost to
their enemy, of being cooped up and
besieged in a fortress which all their
skill and exertions were spent in
strengthening against assault by the
army which had driven, and was
investing them to such an extent that
their line of communications with their
base of supplies was broken and they
were sorely pressed for the actual food
to supply life. If this was not defeat,
then by what name shall we call it?
The direct results to the Confeder
ates were unbounded exultation over
the fact that, after a prolonged strug
gle of an extraordinarily desperate
character, they had forced their enemy
entirely from the field of combat, and,
at nearly all points, in a helter-skelter
manner, that they had captured
enough of supplies and military muni
tions to fully equip an army one
third as large as their own, that the
foe so lately aggressive, was now
penned up in the city of refuge it had
fled to, and was lying closely under the
shelter of its fortifications, daring no
offensive movement. If that was not
victory, then there is no such thing as
victory.
The writer has read, over and over
again, from Federal authors about
how Thomas stood as “the rock of
Chickamauga.” He, in this article
and in no other, would detract one
iota from the credit which belongs to
General Thomas and his soldiers; but
it might just as well be claimed that
the battle of Missionary Ridge was a
drawn battle, because, although the
Confederate center and left wing were
broken to fragments and thoroughly
routed, yet, while they were melting
away, Cheatham and Walthall formed
their men across the ridge and com
pletely repulsed the Federals who had
swept everything off the crest until
they were reached, while farther on
to the right, Pat Cleburne and his
matchless command not only resisted
every assault which Sherman made
upon them during the day with
at least three times their numbers, but
thoroughly routed his troops, chased
them down the ridge, and captured
eight flags from them in their head
long flight; and, although the rest of
the army was routed at four o’clock in
the afternoon, Hardee with the right
wing remained on top of the ridge
until after eight o’clock at night, three
hours after darkness came, the de
feated Federals in Cleburne’s front
particularly attempting no assault
upon him.
He then withdrew, leaving not a
cannon, not a trophy of any kind for
the Federals, and on the second morn
ing after that was still so far from
being demoralized that, when attacked
by Hooker with largely over twice his
number, at Ringgold Gap, Cleburne
turned upon him, and, after one of the
gamest the war, gave him a
licking which might have been ex
pected only from an army accustomed
to naught but victory, and k which cer
tainly spoke words of unmeasured
honor to his command after the serious
events of the preceding couple of days.
It is a well-known fact that after this
very decided repulse which Cleburne
gave the pursuing Federals, they find
ing its continuance very unhealthy,
abandoned the pursuit of Bragg’s army
and retired to Chattanooga, probably,
the Federal writers may claim, to re
fasten their grip upon it, as it was
“the objective of the campaign.”
No, sirs, gentlemen, let us be honest
and fair, and admit that the battle of
Chickamauga was a Confederate vic
tory in every sense in which the word
victory is entitled to be used, and that
the battle of Missionary Ridge was a
Federal victory of equal magnitude
and moral weight.
The battle of Chickamauga was one
of the great battles of America’s his
tory, and might well be selected as the
highest type of its kind to exemplify
outhern and northern dash, pluck,
heroism, bull dog grip and endurance,
and, in fact, every quality which
makes up the courageous and skilled
soldier. The percentage of losses of
the total number engaged on each side
was the greatest suffered in any great
battle of the world’s history, and this
fact alone proves more than volumes
of argument and encomium. But it
was not a drawn battle, and the Fed
eral writers who claim that it was,
allow no credit for intelligence to the
impartial or even the discerning partial
reader. Joseph M. Brown.
Some of the grandest scenery in
America is exhibited from Lookout
Mountain, rightabove the city of Chat
tanooga. By the Western & Atlantic
Railroad from Atlanta, and the rail
road leading to the top of the moun
tain you now go upon grand old Look
out without the tedious hack drive
which was formerly an inevitable part
of the trip. See that your tickets read
over the W. & A. R. R.
THE KENNESAW GAZETTE.
Summer Resorts
ON OR NEAR THE
Western <& JLtla.ntio Railroad.
Rate Rate Rate
per per per
Name of House. Name of Proprietor. day. week, month. No. Ace.
ACWORTH:
Mineral Park Housesl 00-$ 5 00 $lB 00 40
Summer Wave Place 100 500 18 00 25
Acworth Hotel(Open July Ist) 150 700 25 00 100
ADAIRSVILLE:
Stanton House Mrs. Hilburn and Miss Penn 100 400 15 00 10
Wood House Mrs. L. J. Wood 100 400 15 00
CALHOUN:
Calhoun Hotel 150 700 20 00 15
Haynes House 200 500 20 00 15
CARTERSVILLE:
Shelman HotelP. S. Shelman 200 10 00 25 00 20
Southland T. Sharp 200 10 00 25 00 60
Vandiver HouseA. D. Vandiver 200 10 00 25 00 20
Etowah Heights,. Mrs.C. T. Shelman, P.O. Stilesboro, Ga. 200 10 00 25 00 20
CASS STATION:
Taylor House Mrs. R. F. Taylor 400 15 00 6
CATOOSA:
Catoosa Springs (and P. O.)R. F. Powel 250 12 00 40 00 500
CHATTANOOGA:
Commeicial Hotel 100 600 25 00 40
Delmonico Hotel 150 500 25 00 40
Stanton Hotel 250 30 00 50 00 400
Kennedy House 200 11 50 35 00 200
Read I louse 200 14 00 50 00 500
Southern Hotel 200 12 50 45 00 150
Skillern Hotel 100 400 16 00 100
Willard Hotel 150 600 75
Eureka House 100 500 20 00 30
Hamilton House 100 450 20 00 100
Wisdom House 100 400 20 00 225
Lookout Mountain:
Lookout Inn 300 20 00 60 00 1800
Mountain House 200 10 00 35 00 250
Point Hotel 300 15 00 40 00 100
Natural Bridge Hotel 200 10 00 35 00 75
CHICKAMAUGA:
Scott House 50 300 12 00 10
Robertson House 50 300 12 00 4
DALTON:
Lewis House 200 10 00 25 00 50
Rudd House ]OO 350 15 00 12
Evans House Mrs. J no. Evans 100 350 15 00 10
Bender House Lewis Bender 150 450 25 00 15
EMERSON:
Emerson Hotel 150 900 25 00 150
KINGSTON:
Cloud Mouse 1 50 6
Beck House Mrs. Josephine Beck 25 00 30
MARIETTA:
Elmwood HotelT. H. Shockley 2 00 10 00 100
Kennesaw Houseß. M. Shelman. 200 800 75
Wright House Mrs. M. I. Wright 8 00 40
Dunwoody House Mrs. H. A. Dunwoody 8 00 50
Reed HouseJ. L. Reed 8 00 25
Marlow House Miss Idel Marlow 8 00 1 5
Bisaner House Miss Hattie Bisaner 8 00 20
Lyons HouseM. R. Lyons 6 00 20
RESACA:
Resaca Hotel 75 15 00 10
RINGGOLD:
Whitsitt House 150 500 20 00 20
Cherokee House 100 400 16 00 20
TUNNEL HILL:
Tunnel Hill Hotel 200 700 20 00 25
Robinson House 100 500 20 00 10
VININGS:
McAfee Houseß.N. McAfee 25 00 12
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SHARP’S “SOUTHLAND”, CARTERSVILLE, CA>,
Is the only Hotel in town with such improvements as Gas, Water, hot and cold
Baths, etc. Handsomely Furnished and absolutely Clean; with unsurpassed Table fare.
All who patronize the Southland say it is the most Artistic and Home-like place they
ever stopped at. Official stopping place of the S. T. A. (Myls)
The W. &A. u always “on time.” |
| The W. & A. is a very resourceful road.
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