" There is
madness and demoniac fury in the way those gray columns struggle
for that ridge.
In vain does Hood send out his bravest stormers to crown the
wished-for position of Leggett.
Sherman is as sure of Atlanta now, as if his eagles towered over
its domes. Drawing to the left the corps of Wood, massing Schofield
with twenty heavy guns playing on Hood's charging columns, Sherman
throws Wood, backed by John A. Logan's victorious veterans, on the
great body of the reeling assailants. The final blow has met its
stone wall, in the lines of Leggett. The blue takes up the offensive,
with wild cheers of triumph. They reach "Uncle Billy's" ears.
Some decisive stroke must cut the tangle of the involved forces.
When Hood sees that his devoted troops have not totally crushed the
Union left, when his columns reel back from Leggett's Hill, mere
fragments, he knows that even his dauntless men cannot be asked to
try again that fearful quest. It is checkmate!
But Wheeler is still careering in destruction around Sherman's rear
parks, and ravaging his supplies. Hood persists in his desperate
design to pierce the Union lines somewhere. He throws away his
last chance of keeping an army together. His fiery valor bade him
defend Atlanta from the OUTSIDE.
Pages:
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325