The Civil War Lives On 4

During Sherman’s infamous March to the Sea, after he had taken, and then burnt, Atlanta to the ground, his well-fed, well-equipped army of 65,000 began cutting a 50-mile swath of devastation through Georgia estimated by Sherman himself at $100,000,000 in value. His rampaging troops were seldom opposed – except at one point when Federal veterans on a hill-top with swamp ground to left and right and a clear field of fire directly to their front encountered a force of 1,500 infantry with, as one Federal observed, ‘more courage than discretion.’ They attacked them across that open ground. The dug-in Yankees greeted them with a blistering volley that left scores on the field. Astonishingly they regrouped and charged again, with the same result. After yet a third attempt to dislodge the invaders, the pathetic remnant was beaten back for a final time. When the engagement was completed the Yankees, who had incurred a mere 62 casualties, walked over that field of blood only to discover that their attackers were old men and young boys – more than 600 of them in all.